Review Detail

Reader reviewed by TheBookworm

Okay, What?
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
2 out of 5 stars

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman was a depressing, lifeless book.

Nobody Bod Owens has lived in the Graveyard with his dead ghost adoptive parents for as long as he can remember. As he grows, his studies expand. He learns more about his Freedom of the Graveyard, and its privileges such as the art of The Fade, The Fear, The Dreamwalk, and etc. But it doesnt take long for Bod to realize that he enjoyed being surrounded by breathing, living people rather than the dead of the Graveyard. As Bod roams farther from the Graveyard he learns more about the dangers in the living world. When his Guardian disappears for longer than usual he dwells more and more in the thought of searching and destroying his faceless enemy. But could a no name, parentless, lonely boy win?

This book was very creative and original, but I didnt really enjoy it. All it seemed to do was depress me.

I loathed the fact that every time Bod made a friend they left him, feared him, or died. Why did he have to be so alone?

With no one to talk to, why did he not fall into a pit of despair? A pro of the character Bod was that he is strong. Not physically strong, but mentally strong. No matter how bad things got he tried to move forward.

At the end, I wasnt sure where the author was going with the story. Bod had no friends or great knowledge to survive in the living world. He left the Graveyard with nothing, but his name, heart, and mind. One small speck in a big world. It felt rather depressing. Especially when you read that he left the Graveyard to live his small life until he to would ride the Ladys horse to his finally resting place, the Graveyard.

The Graveyard Book was a dark, one-of-a-kind story.