Spoilers.

I was a little trepidatious, starting an adult Neil Gaiman novel after my terrible experience with American Gods. I’ve liked all his YA and children’s books, and I really loved Good Omens, but this one worried me. Especially since it seemed to be universally loved. But I ended up enjoying it. It wasn’t life-changing, but it was a fun story.

An opal miner kills himself, waking up a spirit who comes to this world to give people what they want. A family of women who have been alive for longer than forever have to fight this spirit, complicated by the fact that the doorway from the spirit world to this one exists inside a little boy.

I liked that things were complicated, and at the same time, simple. Just like Coraline, in a way – the way to finish off the spirit just seemed really easy, and yet, the repercussions were far spread and long lasting. I liked that the adult version of this boy has come back to the farmhouse where the women live over and over, and never remembers it by the time he leaves. I like the circular nature of the story.

And as I haven’t gotten more than a few hours of sleep for a week now, that’s about all I can say about this one.