Review: The Ocean at the End of the Lane

Cover

At first, I wasn’t sure what to make of its odd, dreamlike tone or where it was going, but by the end, I found it strangely moving. Beneath the surreal imagery and mythic strangeness lies a tender story about loneliness, loyalty, and the quiet, saving power of friendship. Gaiman captures the disorienting wonder of childhood as remembered by an adult—how the small world of a child can brush up against the infinite, leaving a mark that never quite fades. I almost set it aside, but I’m glad I didn’t; it lingers in the way only something honest and quietly magical can.