Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Booked Books

In Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, ghosts, werewolves, ghouls, witches, night gaunts and other supernatural creatures do not daunt Bod (short for Nobody) Owens at all. In fact, he has ghosts as foster parents, a werewolf as a teacher, and a witch as a friend; to him, the graveyard dwellers are the closest thing he has to a family. As Bod grows older, he starts to abandon the safety of the graveyard to venture into the living world. Ironically, it is there that he realizes the value of his learned ghostly skills as he tries to blend in with humans and discover the truth about his biological parents' deaths.


Ultimately, this book consists of Bod's many ghostly mini-adventures, a timeline of his life. Bod is a well fleshed-out dynamic character; his thoughts and feelings are always relatable whether he was a toddler or a preteen. I felt that I really got to know him, and that's what made the story so hauntingly beautiful. In fact, all the other characters are lifelike and convincing as well. What I love about Gaiman's writing style is that it's always so authentic and natural; nothing ever sounds forced or out of place. Gaiman also never slows down the pace of the book. Each chapter is filled with suspense, creativity, and most important of all, clever wit. This is what I call a page turner. Another thing I loved about this book is the subject matter itself, the idea of a boy being raised by ghosts. It's fresh, quirky, and attention-grabbing all at once. Who would've thought?

However, the main conflict's resolution wasn't quite what I had expected; I wish the explanation for the death of Bod's family was more elaborated upon though it was satisfactory enough. I also wish Bod had a stronger connection with the Lady on the Grey, a ghost who initially convinced the graveyard citizens to raise Bod&but I'm just nitpicking.


Reposted from: booked-books.blogspot.com


I definitely recommend this novel to everyone. Even though this book was inspired by The Jungle Book, I felt that The Graveyard Book was definitely in a class by itself.