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anna_hepworth's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
I've read this collection slowly over the course of a month, and despite having made notes after reading each story or poem, I'm not finding many of them particularly memorable. While the stories are all very well written, I didn't adore them in the way I kind of expected to. They are all, despite Gaiman's statement about trigger warnings, not all that triggery. Tiny references to bad things, told in very bland and soothing language. Maybe I'm just missing the subtext, and other people would find them scary.
The intro annoyed me somewhat. Gaiman is a little self-congratulatory that they don't think that trigger warnings are really necessary, that adults should just go out and read without knowing what is there. Nice to have that privilege, to not have things hidden in your sub-conscious. Felt about it about a bit the way I feel about people without food allergies talking about just going out and 'eat everything, have an adventure'. Much of the intro is discussions of the stories to come, little snippets of the whys and wherefores.
My favourite story: "An incantation of incuriousity" - oh, this was a very clever portal fantasy where a greedy individual gets their comeuppance, and the maligned youngest son escapes his father
Memorable stories
The intro annoyed me somewhat. Gaiman is a little self-congratulatory that they don't think that trigger warnings are really necessary, that adults should just go out and read without knowing what is there. Nice to have that privilege, to not have things hidden in your sub-conscious. Felt about it about a bit the way I feel about people without food allergies talking about just going out and 'eat everything, have an adventure'. Much of the intro is discussions of the stories to come, little snippets of the whys and wherefores.
My favourite story: "An incantation of incuriousity" - oh, this was a very clever portal fantasy where a greedy individual gets their comeuppance, and the maligned youngest son escapes his father
Memorable stories
- "The Thing About Cassandra" - protagonist's made up girlfriend of their teen years isn't as fictional as they thought
- "The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains..." - very clever bit of Celtic myth inspired nastiness)
- "Click clack the rattle bag" - gentle slowly mounting horror, about what happens when you aren't paying attention; that is slightly thematic through the collection
- "Feminine Endings" - supernatural creepiness plus stalker with ever increading WTF
- "The Sleeper and the Spindle" (mishmash of various fairy stories, plus tropes, plus some other interesting bits)
- "Black Dog" - good story to end the collection on. Very gentle, slow moving story about the English countryside, about old beliefs, and about mental illness.
There are two transformative works, one for Sherlock Holmes, and one for Doctor Who. I found both of them a bit meh. The Doctor Who one I would probably have abandoned partway through for not having believable characterisation or a storyline that I found convincing.
There are a number of poems. I'm not one for poetry, it being a form that requires a reading style I no longer aspire to, so as a general rule the rating on the book hasn't been influenced by the poems. They were readable, and might be better read aloud. At least one of them I got to the end and wondered what I was supposed to get from it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Mental illness
Minor: Dementia
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