Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Nessun dove by Neil Gaiman

61 reviews

wyabook234's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, and Murder

Moderate: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood

Minor: Sexual content, Vomit, and Alcohol

an_actual_floof's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A very fun book full of adventure and wonder :) I love all the details about London Below and all the characters/groups that live there! Richard grew on me as the book went on, as did the Marquis - by the end I was so fond of them all. The little short story included with the author’s cut book (that I read) was also so pleasant, loved seeing more of the Marquis and his whole deal. <3

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Torture

embersbooknook's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

This book was really interesting - it’s my first Neil Gaiman read.  I thoroughly enjoyed Good Omens, of course - but a rather different reading experience, as it was co-authored by Terry Pratchett.  

Neil is an inarguably talented author - his prose, storytelling style, pacing, plots, character development, etc. are all fantastic.  This book was dark and gritty and real in a way that I think made it better, even if it was harder to read because of it.  

I typically don’t stray into the horror genre because I am an HSP, and my sensitivity to disturbing content makes it hard for me to look past that and enjoy the deeper meanings and content therein.  
For fellow sensitive readers, I would say …don’t read it before going to sleep.  But otherwise, if you can stomach some violence and disturbing ideas, it is a very well crafted and thought-provoking tale that has a lot to say about a lot of these that we ought to talk more about.  

While people don’t literally fall through the cracks in our world, they may as well do, frankly, for all the mind that we more fortunate folks pay to them.  The houseless, the sick, those living in poverty, hungry, etc. - our society casts so many away, wishing them to be unseen as Neil portrays them in this book.  
This book challenged me to try take the time to see people, and not look away just because I feel guilty that I have enough to eat and a warm place to sleep.  

I loved Door, the Marquis de Carabas, and Richard…so many complex characters that have a very real, flawed nature to them, which makes them leap off the page all the more.  

Neil is brilliant, this book definitely makes me look forward to continuing on with more of Neil’s works in the future.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Violence

Moderate: Body horror, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse and Child death

what happens to Anesthesia and her description of what happened to her before ending up in the Underground was upsetting to me, but it’s a brief mention which is why I listed it as minor. The animal cruelty and death are listed as graphic simply because of how often they are mentioned in passing and it’s very disturbing. London Underground is kind of a cutthroat place so…y’know, violence.

the torture aspect of the book was quite difficult to read at times, especially where de Carabas is crucified (literally). He ends up okay (miraculously) though. Other torture is mentioned by Croup and Vandemear throughout.

The self-harm/suicidal thoughts bit is from a situation that Richard goes through in his mind - a test of sorts. There are some things said to him during that bit that could be triggering to some folks. The murder, body horror, blood, and injury detail are pretty self-explanatory - we do get a couple chapters from the villain’s POV….thats where a lot of this comes from.

themissyreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Body horror, Child death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

meanbeanreads's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.75

I went into this one with high expectations, which makes rating difficult. Though it was a fun read, it's not as polished as some of Gaiman's other work. 

The plot is a fairly basic fetch quest. I don't have a problem with simple storylines if the protagonist is compelling enough, but the problem with Neverwhere is that its protagonist, Richard, is seriously dull. I just didn't enjoy reading about him. He's a weenie. It's true that we see a bit of growth, but it's not enough to make me care about him. 

On the other hand, the setting and the side characters are the stars of the show. I found myself wanting to experience even more of London Below, since it seemed that we only got to see a tiny sliver of it. I'd also read a whole book about the side characters. Even the evil goons, Croup and Vandemar, were great. It was a very whimsical read, despite my gripes with the main character. 

I'm realizing as I'm writing this that Neverwhere would make a great video game, maybe even a better video game than a novel. Alas, it will probably never happen. 

One last thing--I struggled with how old Door was supposed to be. It's a pet peeve of mine, but I hate when authors describe a character as being a "girl" and then don't specify their age. For about half the book I was thinking that she was in her early teens at the latest, but it seems more likely given some of the events in the story that she's late teens/early twenties. Definitely got the ick when

Richard thinks about kissing her.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Animal cruelty

soupynoodles's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

-.75 literally just for a couple lines during the climax that just Did Not Work for me and took me out of the atmosphere. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Blood

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

breamfish1138's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

This book is kind of like Paddington in that it's an unapologetic love letter to London and its landmarks and history. And there's also a lot of murder, urban decay, esoteric folklore, mild cosmic horror and rats. So yeah, just like Paddington. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Genocide, Sexual assault, and Vomit

wheat_singularity_bezforshort's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I listen through the audiobook in about a week, and nearly missed a flight because i was too engrossed in it. Dark at times, but the dreamlike world means that I could mostly leave it behind when getting back to the real world. I wish more fantasy stories ended like this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

Moderate: Grief and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse

mreequalsmc2's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Death, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Alcohol, and Classism

galexy_brain's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This felt like a pretty bog-standard hero's journey sort of book, though the action was great (I felt myself grimacing and cringing often). I wish Richard was a more compelling main character. The backdrop of a creepy London underworld was pretty cool. I've only been to London once so the references to city locations I'm familiar with were neat, though I'm sure it would have been cooler if I had been well-acquainted with the city. However, I found it hard to visualize London Below. I don't know if I missed something, but half the time it felt like they were

walking through subway systems and sewers and marshes, and other times it was described as having buildings, almost reflecting London Above?

idk maybe I'm inattentive. My only other qualm with this book is when

Richard, who seems as if he is in his mid-twenties, wants to kiss Door, who is described by Richard as appearing to be a teenager. Then they never bring this up again??? The final inconsistency that didn't bother me but caught my attention was that the Sewer People are introduced as not speaking English in Neverwhere, but in the short story prologue from this edition ("How the Marquis Got his Coat Back" or whatever), he had a full-on conversation with them.

Anyway, if you like gritty grimy creepy spooky hero stories this book may be for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Animal death, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Abandonment, and Alcohol