Reviews

Though I’m a long-time Neil Gaiman fan(girl), I did not have particularly high expectations for this book. That’s because my first exposure to it was through one of its chapters, “The Witch’s Headstone,” broken off and separated from the rest of the narrative as a short story and published in the anthology [b: Wizards|34455798|The Wizards of Once (The Wizards of Once #1)|Cressida Cowell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1488558872l/34455798._SY75_.jpg|55569748] (and I believe in Gaiman’s own collection [b: M Is for Magic|47699|M Is for Magic|Neil Gaiman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1361750014l/47699._SY75_.jpg|2567355], which I’ve never sought out because I was pretty sure I’d read all the stories elsewhere.) (Turns out I was correct, save one. Oops.) While well-written and somewhat intriguing, “The Witch’s Headstone” makes almost no sense as a short story—it’s really hard to tell who (or rather, what) the protagonist is, not to mention who’s after him, etc. It raises more questions than it answers, and not in a fun way.

However, once that chapter is reunited with the rest of the story to which it belongs, The Graveyard Book finds Gaiman back on form. This is my favorite thing I’ve read from him in a while—much better than [b: Interworld|47701|InterWorld (InterWorld, #1)|Neil Gaiman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442777301l/47701._SY75_.jpg|2661] or [b: Eternals|47694|Eternals|Neil Gaiman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1400716940l/47694._SY75_.jpg|2670]. In paying tribute to [b: The Jungle Book|77270|The Jungle Book|Rudyard Kipling|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327873594l/77270._SY75_.jpg|17441265], Gaiman creates a wonderful, humorous, spooky, tragic little world—a real community, full of great characters. I read the whole thing on Halloween night, and I can’t think of a group of ghosts I’d rather have spent the evening with.

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4.0

Rating:3.5

An orphan adopted by a graveyard.
What's more intriguing than that?

This was my first Neil Gaiman book and I loved it.

Considering the number of supernatural elements involved several plot twists are left to the imagination.

If you love fiction you are in for a ride.