Synopsis

Hidden beneath the streets of London is an alternate, upside down world full of unfortunate people who have slipped through the cracks of the London Above. This dangerous yet enchanting place has floating markets that appear unpredictably, doors that can transport a person across space, and tyrannical talking animals hidden away in secret tube stations. We are first introduced to Richard, who is feeling very lost in his life. His fiancé seems to care about impressing her boss more than their relationship, and his coworkers are overly critical. All that Richard ever wanted was a place to belong; a place where he didn’t feel invisible and could be himself. One day, as he’s walking down the street, he stumbles across a girl named Door who is collapsed and bloody in the middle of the sidewalk. He soon finds out that there are some very seedy characters looking for the girl, and they have something to do with her family’s mysterious and sudden demise. Richard becomes sucked into the universe of London Below, where he takes a leap of faith to help Door escape her pursuers. This dark urban fantasy is a tale of adventure, redemption, and choosing one’s own path in life. 

Review

Neil Gaiman has an incredible gift for creating new and ever-changing settings, for example in Coraline. The world building here is absolutely dazzling and the book’s greatest strength. It’s evocative of popular mythology and cult classics like Harry Potter and Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus. I really enjoyed this book up until about the three quarters mark when the plot seems to lose momentum. Gaiman also writes some great characters, but unfortunately their relationships never seemed to come together in a satisfying way. I thought the deneument was much too long and sentimental, to the point of being cheesy. The found family trope can be endearing, but it difficult to pull off without sounding childish or overly sentimental. I also found that certain vocabulary words were overused, which sort of takes the reader out of the story. Most of this book’s execution checked all of my boxes, but I think more line editing was needed and a more straightforward ending to really tie everything together. The setting Gaiman has created here is so well-done that I would still rate the book highly despite its flaws.