I like quite a few of Neil Gaiman’s books - Coraline was great, for example, and The Sandman is classic. So I figured I would enjoy these short stories in M is for Magic, which is a collection actually written for kids. I think kids aged 10 - 13 would enjoy them.
The stories are kind of spooky. They are each quite clever, and not actually linked together in any way other
than that they are all in the same book. One of the short stories was, I think, actually made into a book - it felt very familiar. (The story about the boy who is raised in a graveyard). There is a poem at the end that feels like it could link the stories together, but there are elements added and missing.
A couple of the stories were very short and didn’t feel ...
like stories. They felt more like someone was telling something that happened. Several of the stories, though, had stories within the stories, and those felt fun and interesting. I especially liked the layers in the Months of the year story and the Ponti bridge story.
Some of the stories were very impressive to read. You could really feel Neil Gaiman’s ability to write - the description was vivid, and the story just
sort of unfolded like a present. The Sunbird was like this, although it felt a bit contrived afterwards, but while you were reading it, it was great and the characters were funny - almost caricatures of people. And the Troll Bridge was clever although a bit sad, but it felt real. There is a story about the months of the year wherein you can almost taste the food the characters are eating.
The review was published as it's written by reviewer in August, 2010. The reviewer certified that no compensation was received from the reviewed item producer, trademark owner or any other institution, related with the item reviewed.
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