Helpful Score: 6
When I first started reading this book, I felt like Homer Simpson when he was reading the Far Side: "I don't get it. I don't get it." But it grew on me, and I had fun reading it. However it's rather indescribable. It has fairies, the ghost of the New York Dolls' Johnny Thunders, a bag lady who thinks she's an ancient Greek general, and two very star-crossed lovers, among other things. If that's enough to interest you, then you'll probably enjoy the ride.
Helpful Score: 5
I picked this book up and decided to buy it based mostly on the rave review that Neil Gaiman gave it and the fact that it was a World Fantasy Award winner. But I have to be honest here. I just don't get it. I don't understand why Gaiman adores it so much or why it's award winning -- maybe because it was ahead of its time when it was originally published in 1992? I even enjoy other books this author has written under a pseudonym. I just don't get the attraction of this book.
The story itself is cute but very hampered by the fragmented way its told. Each character's story is chopped up into bits and pieces. All the chance meetings and coincidences that make the story fall together in the end really felt a bit forced. And worse yet none of the characters are completely fleshed out. They are all characatures - the tragic heroine, the loser who just needs a little guideance, the crazy homeless woman, and all the various fairy clans are complete stereotypes.
The final straw is that after everything is over and done with and all the strange little plot lines are tied up the book ends very abruptly and left me wondering what happened.
The story itself is cute but very hampered by the fragmented way its told. Each character's story is chopped up into bits and pieces. All the chance meetings and coincidences that make the story fall together in the end really felt a bit forced. And worse yet none of the characters are completely fleshed out. They are all characatures - the tragic heroine, the loser who just needs a little guideance, the crazy homeless woman, and all the various fairy clans are complete stereotypes.
The final straw is that after everything is over and done with and all the strange little plot lines are tied up the book ends very abruptly and left me wondering what happened.
Helpful Score: 3
Fantasy tale about fairies--beginning with two exiled Scottish fairies, Heather and Morag--who make their way to New York. Eventually the book encompasses the stories of several fairy clans both across the pond and in NY itself, with bits on the Isle of Skye to Cornwall to Ireland and different neighborhoods of New York. Some interesting humans pepper the story as well--Kerry, a young hippie-ish woman with severe Crohn's disease and a colostomy whom Morag befriends; Dinnie, an overweight, bigoted layabout whom Heather takes on as an improvement project since, like herself, he is a MacKintosh; and Magenta, a thirty-something mentally ill bag lady who has delusions that she is the captain of a mighty Greek army. Witty, funny and yet poignant with interesting characters and an interesting "world" I enjoyed this book quite a lot, though sometimes it was just plain silly. It's written in an easy reading style and sometimes the humor sneaks up on you and makes you laugh out loud.
Helpful Score: 3
I'd gotten it based on Neil Gaiman writing in praise of it, but I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped. There is some clever humor but a whole lot of silliness and more point-of-view jumps than I've encountered in a long time. It just wasn't a smooth read, and I ended up skimming to get to the end of the story.
Helpful Score: 2
This book starts off confusing. There are so many plot lines to follow. And I almost missed when they all came together. It happened so fast. Too much build up for so short a point. However, it was fun and silly to read. I could only read this book for about a half hour before I needed to find another book, that made sense, to read. I was still able to finish it in 4 days.
