[gmw]

To answer your specific question " is it melancholy and/or depressing?", I would say that the book definitely has a melancholy feel, I would not say that it was depressing.

Gaiman writes well in this, as he always does, so his descriptions can be very affecting - as testified by poohbear_nc. In relation to that, I did not find the representations at all gratuitous, however I did come away from the novel feeling like I'd just read something from Stephen King (and note that he has recently done an extended interview with King). (Note: I do like King's writing too, so this wasn't a problem for me.)

I liked the book, but it doesn't make it to favourite status.

ETA: I'm not sure why people think of it as a fairy tale. Fantasy, yes, but nothing like the fairy tale feel of "Star Dust" - I love that book.