Scan barcode
billyjepma's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
I can’t believe I’ve gone this long in life not knowing that Neil Gaiman wrote a retelling of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book with ghosts. If that’s not a book tailor-made for me, then I don’t know what is. And now that I've read it and loved every page, it's my contractual obligation to force everyone I know to read it and experience the emotions it gave me when I finished the final chapter in bed last night. An instant, all-time favorite that I might have to start revisiting every October.
Gaiman describes the book as a novel made up of short stories, and the approach works beautifully. Each chapter captures a pivotal experience in the protagonist's childhood, allowing us to watch him grow up without needing to spend 16 years with him. Gaiman's writing is as lovely as ever and expertly balances melancholy with tenders and adventure with scares. It's spooky without being scary, nostalgic without being trite, and is yet another example I can use in my argument that Gaiman's YA-leaning novels are his best works. This is a treasure of a novel. ❤️
Gaiman describes the book as a novel made up of short stories, and the approach works beautifully. Each chapter captures a pivotal experience in the protagonist's childhood, allowing us to watch him grow up without needing to spend 16 years with him. Gaiman's writing is as lovely as ever and expertly balances melancholy with tenders and adventure with scares. It's spooky without being scary, nostalgic without being trite, and is yet another example I can use in my argument that Gaiman's YA-leaning novels are his best works. This is a treasure of a novel. ❤️
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Death, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Blood, Car accident, and Death of parent
svangleboyer's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Neil Gaiman delivers another exceptional piece of work with The Graveyard Book. It is a bit spooky, full of ghosts, and a pleasure to read.
I LOVE Neil Gaiman's writing style because I feel like I am right there experiencing everything along with Nobody.
The Graveyard Book throws you right into some action that keeps a hold of you until the very last page. Each chapter is basically a story of Bod's life and I enjoyed each one. I definitely stayed up late finishing this one because I could not put it down.
The characters are all amazing and vibrant. Nobody is the sweetest kid that has to learn things a bit differently since he is raised by ghosts and a guardian but he does pretty well. Silas is a very strong presence but I wish we could have learned more about his actual background. Of all the fun characters we meet along the way, Miss Lupescu will always be my favorite. I wouldn't mind eating some of her more interesting food choices while participating in her lessons.
I highly recommend this to any Neil Gaiman fan, someone looking for a light spooky read, and/or anyone who liked Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas.
I LOVE Neil Gaiman's writing style because I feel like I am right there experiencing everything along with Nobody.
The Graveyard Book throws you right into some action that keeps a hold of you until the very last page. Each chapter is basically a story of Bod's life and I enjoyed each one. I definitely stayed up late finishing this one because I could not put it down.
The characters are all amazing and vibrant. Nobody is the sweetest kid that has to learn things a bit differently since he is raised by ghosts and a guardian but he does pretty well. Silas is a very strong presence but I wish we could have learned more about his actual background. Of all the fun characters we meet along the way, Miss Lupescu will always be my favorite. I wouldn't mind eating some of her more interesting food choices while participating in her lessons.
I highly recommend this to any Neil Gaiman fan, someone looking for a light spooky read, and/or anyone who liked Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Gore, and Death of parent
Minor: Bullying
chrisljm's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
4.5 stars; For a book that starts off with a triple homicide, it is surprisingly sweet and funny. The sole survivor of the family who gets murdered is Bod, a baby who essentially gets adopted by the ghosts of a cemetery. It’s stated that it takes a graveyard to raise a child and it was very sweet to see just how true it was. I loved all the characters very much, but especially Bod and Silas’ relationship, and seeing how they all leave an impact throughout various parts of Bod’s life. The greedy part of me wishes I could’ve read more anecdotes on Bod’s life in the graveyard, but realistically I think the amount written was just right.
I listened to the audiobook read by Neil Gaiman himself (on youtube) and he was fantastic and so funny. This has become one of my favorite audiobooks.
I listened to the audiobook read by Neil Gaiman himself (on youtube) and he was fantastic and so funny. This has become one of my favorite audiobooks.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Bullying, Stalking, and Car accident
Minor: Suicide
funky_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Death of parent
Moderate: Bullying and Murder
ozreus's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Bullying
emilija_l's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Violence, and Death of parent
littlefox1322's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Bullying and Grief
optimisms's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This book is lovely. It's dark but witty, heavy but charming. The prose of this story is so beautiful, never unnecessarily flowery or complex but you can tell that each word was chosen with care. The structure of the book is almost an anthology of short stories, but all with the same chronology, setting, and main characters. Without spoiling anything, I'll say that the ending does a great job of tying in most of the previous stories in surprising and entertaining ways. The only things I would change are I wish we had more information about Silas and what he is. I've seen a lot of people say he is clearly a vampire and maybe I'm just oblivious but that was not at all obvious to me and the Danse Macabre. Every other chapter somehow tied into the ending, but nothing from Danse Macabre ever came back or had any impact on the ending . Other than that, it was pretty much perfect. I would highly recommend anyone who's interested in this book to check out the audiobook, read by the author himself. Gaiman gives a fantastic performance, bringing the story to life in a truly remarkable fashion. It's difficult to decide whether he's a better author or voice actor.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Blood, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
veerau's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Bullying
tahsintries's review against another edition
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Bullying