Melise

My family listened to this book on the way back from vacation. The group consisted of my mother (62), myself (42) and my two sons (9 and 11). This story, as is typical of Neil Gaiman, was atmospheric, lyrical and always imaginative. My mother, who can be a talker, didn't interrupt the story even once. But, the story, which is about a girl's parents who are kidnapped by a fairy tale type character and replaced with strange reproductions, is pretty dark, and scary enough that my 9 year old asked if we could turn it off for a while at one point. Of course, the next time we got into the car, he wanted to hear the rest, so although frightening, it is still an involving story. So, if you have a particularly sensitive child, I would be careful with this book, but otherwise, I highly recommend it.

My sons, who are 9 and 11, really loved this book. The story, about a boy who discovers that he has incredible powers that he must use to save the world from evil, is exactly the kind of story that appeals to kids this age.

For me, though, I found that the story was strangely written; with a number of places in the story where I thought the story was coming to the final climax, but it just continued on. Also, there was a strange sense of paranoia that permeated the story that I found rather disconcerting; as the story continued, it felt as if the author was beginning to believe in the reality of his fictional scenario, and to really believe that these evil characters were stalking our world.

I am not sure if I would choose to read/listen to this book again, but I am sure that my kids would love to hear it again.

My sons (9 and 11) loved this entire series. However, I found that the stories were not as exciting, nor as well-written as they could have been. I frequently found that my mind would wander as I was listening to them, and that I would lose the thread of the story just because the language wasn't all that interesting, nor were the twists and turns of the story particularly surprising or exciting.

My sons (9 and 11) loved this entire series. However, I found that the stories were not as exciting, nor as well-written as they could have been. I frequently found that my mind would wander as I was listening to them, and that I would lose the thread of the story just because the language wasn't all that interesting, nor were the twists and turns of the story particularly surprising or exciting.

My sons (9 and 11) loved this entire series. I was not as interested in it. I found that the stories were not as exciting, nor as well-written as they could have been. I frequently found that my mind would wander as I was listening to them, and that I would lose the thread of the story just because the language wasn't all that interesting, nor were the twists and turns of the story particularly surprising or exciting. But, with that said, this, the last book in the series, was the best of the whole group. The author did a good job of pulling together plot elements from the earlier four stories, and there was a good amount of excitement and unexpected plot elements.

My sons (9 and 11) loved this book and clamored to hear the rest of the series, which they really loved as well; picking them before other audio books that they could have chosen. However, I found that the stories were not as exciting, nor as well-written as they could have been. I frequently found that my mind would wander as I was listening to them, and that I would lose the thread of the story just because the language wasn't all that interesting, nor were the twists and turns of the story particularly surprising or exciting.