The Doll's House

As a fan of the first volume of the series, which took me by surprise considering the (in my opinion) lackluster start - I was anticipating reading this, preparing myself for the wildly imaginative macabre world Gaiman crafts. And on that front he delivers, expanding the scope of the world.

But where the story faulters is Rose, the teenage girl who happens to be the vortex to the dream world. She was much too passive to be an interesting character, and the story suffers because of her lack of compelling traits. She loves her brother, but it only serves as motivation rather than something essential to her (which is seriously brushed off by the end). It is such a disappointing follow-up considering the great character in the previous volume.

The story is so dense with its ideas that it becomes cluttered. And while the story does somehow wrap up in a satisfying way, it has its highs and lows in getting there - suffering from a meandering story and inconsistent pacing.

I enjoyed this volume, but my hype for volume 3 of this series has waned a bit. Unfortunate, because the art and creativity behind this is awesome.