Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman ~ Illustrations by Chris Riddell

National Bestseller

Selected as one of NPR’S Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of All Time

The #1 New York Times bestselling author’s ultimate edition of his wildly successful first novel featuring his “preferred text”—and including his special Neverwhere tale, “How the Marquis Got His Coat Back”

Published in 1997, Neverwhere heralded the arrival of a major talent and became a touchstone of urban fantasy. Over the years, a number of versions were produced both in the U.S. and the U.K. Now Gaiman’s preferred edition of his classic novel reconciles these works and reinstates a number of scenes cut from the original published books.

Richard Mayhew is a young London businessman with a good heart whose life is changed forever when he stops to help a bleeding girl—an act of kindness that plunges him into a world he never dreamed existed. Slipping through the cracks of reality, Richard lands in Neverwhere—a London of shadows and darkness, monsters and saints, murderers and angels that exists entirely in a subterranean labyrinth. Neverwhere is home to Door, the mysterious girl Richard helped in the London Above. Here in Neverwhere, Door is a powerful noblewoman who has vowed to find the evil agent of her family’s slaughter and thwart the destruction of this strange underworld kingdom. If Richard is ever to return to his former life and home, he must join Lady Door’s quest to save her world—and may well die trying.

Neil Gaiman is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty books, and is the recipient of numerous literary honors. Originally from England, he now lives in America. @goodreads 

I won this in a Goodreads/Firstreads Giveaway! Yay!

Look at these pictures! Sorry for the darkness. We were in the sunlight but it canceled us out.

Anyhoo! I am in love with the looks of this little book! It doesn't have a dust jacket! It's one of my fav hardbacks! I love them without the dust jackets. I have added a picture of the front and back. I have also added a picture of just one of the many illustrations through-out the book and the inside book flap that isn't really a flap but they made it look like one! Now if I can just love the book! =D







OMG! I sat here trying to think where I new Chris Riddell that did the illustrations through-out this book. As soon as I started and saw the picture of the older Richard Mayhew it freaking hit me! The picture looked like a grown up picture of Twig from The Edge Chronicles that Chris Riddell did the illustrations on =D I loved those books too.

Anyway, this was a dark little book but it also had hope for a man that was hopeless.

Richard Mayhew is living a life that is boring in my opinion. He goes to work doing boring work. He has a fiance, Jessica, that announces they are getting married and pretty much tells him everything to do, what to wear, etc. She's so beautiful that he just does it and he's a sort of a push over but I like him.

Once day a girl pops out of a door when Richard and Jessica are hurrying to a dinner with one of Jessica's clients. Richard stops to help the girl who is bleeding and pretty much blows Jessica off. Yay! Richard takes the girl named, Door, to his home and lets her rest as she doesn't want to be taken to a hospital.

Turns out these creepy dudes named Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar are after her. Suddenly Richard is dragged into the world of London Below. It's a very dark story in London Below. Richard is stuck there trying to help Door and some others. When he tried to go back home once, he didn't exist so he was stuck down below.

Richard wrote a diary entry in his head.

Dear Diary, he began. On Friday I had a job, a fiancee, a home, and a life that made sense. (Well, as much as any life makes sense.) Then I found an injured girl bleeding on the pavement, and I tried to be a Good Samaritan. Now I've got no fiancee, no home, no job, and I'm walking around a couple hundred feet under the streets of London with the projected life expectancy of a suicidal mayfly.

But over time, helping these people/creatures, Richard finds a meaning to his life. When he goes back to London Above, he realizes it's not where he belongs.

I loved the characters in this book, even the evil ones were written terrifically. I love, love, loved that Richard finally found his place in the world. He really is a good guy =)

Happy Reading!

Mel ♥

GOODREADS REVIEW:

 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1314404914