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ghostlydreamer's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
I admit, this one fell a little flat for me. The prose, as always, was marvelous. I mean, Neil Gaiman just knows how to write a damn good story. And I quite liked the premise of visiting a circus, because I'm at the height of my clown/circus phase right now.
In typical fashion, the story didn't answer a whole lot of questions for me. I finished it still wondering many things. It's very open ended. I can see why this might be bothersome to some people. I personally didn't mind it. I feel that's become a trademark move for Gaiman's stories, and a short story is no exception. The lack of answers did not make the story feel incomplete, because already, we enter the story knowing that there is a mystery abound, and it's unsolved, and we're merely retracing our steps through the memories of the MC to see everything leading up to this.
I guess I just wasn't very engaged in the story itself. I didn't care much about Miss Finch, or any of the other characters. I didn't spend enough time with them to bond with them. And I honestly didn't even know about this story until I found it by accident while scrolling Gaiman's works on Hoopla. I'm kind of on the hunt to read all of his works, so I'm glad that I read this, but maybe it just wasn't for me.
I think the biggest turn off though was the art style. It seemed a little...scribbly? It certainly wasn't bad. I think overall the artwork is actually rather incredible, and a lot of effort and skill went into creating it. But it simply wasn't for me, and that made it a little harder to enjoy the story. Art style is very important for me as a reader of these types of books, so given that it didn't draw me in so much, I left the story a tad disappointed. I might have liked it more for different, more appealing artwork.
I guess overall it's very middle of the road for me, and it won't be very memorable later on down the line. The story definitely isn't bad. Gaiman knows how to write a short story. But this one missed the mark for me. I even procrastinated on finishing it. I hate to say that about a Gaiman story, but here we are.
thestoryowl's review
3.0
Very short, rather silly in its way, but still a good quick read. I loved the watercolor graphics.
unladylike's review
2.0
Really, Neil? I felt like I had already read this story several times (having read most of Neil Gaiman's other works) and was annoyed by the self-referential attempts at blurring the lines between fiction and personal history, and even more annoyed by one of the characters' attempts at cleverly justifying animal abuse by making a horrible heteronormative joke. The art was great but Gaiman's writing has rarely been this bad.
abbyistrying's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
lelandbuck's review
3.0
This didn't do much for me. Like many Graphic novels there's not enough time/length to the book to tell the story well. I felt this story should be longer, have more development, more resolution. I generally think that the main difference between Comic books and Graphic novels is that comic books are extremely short (25-50) pages and the stories are designed to fit those constraints. Graphic novels represent the comic book breaking free of these limitations. Unfortunately, I felt this story was too ambitious for a comic, but too quickly told and thus unable to become a decent graphic novel.
bengisue's review
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
saidtheraina's review
3.0
I'm actually not a fan of Zulli's illustration style. But the writing is, of course, fabulous. The back of this book uses the term "magic realism" in relation to Neil, and it's the first official time I've seen that term applied. It's so right. And I so love magic realism/urban fantasy. Great stuff.
paper_mache's review
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0