By Neil Gaiman

Rating: 5/5

Three-Word Summary: L’engle meets Lovecraft

Neil Gaiman is a pure and unadulterated storyteller. His stories have dominated across a number of spectrum, including novels and short stories.

I’ve never met a Gaiman story that I haven’t loved, and that includes The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

Much like so many of his stories, The Ocean at the End of the Lane balances delicately between the magic of childhood and the reality of adulthood. It’s about a young boy who comes across a mysterious evil and a trio of equally mysterious women who help him to overcome the darkness.

While reading it, I could not shake the comparisons to Madeline L’engle’s A Wrinkle in Time with a twist reminiscent of HP Lovecraft’s bizarre works.

There is a real sense of unknown magic and unlimited wickedness swirling around our young protagonist. For all of the horror within the story, the book also has an incredible amount of poignancy and sadness, especially in the end.

This book is not my favorite of Gaiman’s (that would likely be American Gods), but it certainly more than lives up to the large expectations created by his legacy.