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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, Death of parent, Murder, and Blood
Minor: Bullying
jasperdotpdf's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
this was neat!!
i really enjoyed the premise, and the cast of characters was honestly delightful.
some parts of the characterisation of the main character bod didn't work for me all the time, and the way the middle of the book was structured into a few separate adventures made for a less fluid reading experience than i had hoped.
while you can definitely tell that this was written for children, i still had fun reading it.
i really enjoyed the premise, and the cast of characters was honestly delightful.
some parts of the characterisation of the main character bod didn't work for me all the time, and the way the middle of the book was structured into a few separate adventures made for a less fluid reading experience than i had hoped.
while you can definitely tell that this was written for children, i still had fun reading it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Child death and Death of parent
alic_is_bored'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, Death of parent, Death, Child death, and Violence
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: Murder, Stalking, Child death, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Bullying and Grief
miss_granger07's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Murder, and Death of parent
optimisms's review against another edition
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: Death, Death of parent, Child death, and Murder
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Kidnapping
lindseyrenee's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-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
5.0
This is such a whimsical middle grade that connected every single character in that graveyard directly to my heart. It’s been so long since I’ve teared up from a book but the ending got me. Nobody Owens officially has a permanent place with me.
Content Warnings
Minor: Murder, Child death, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
grrr8_catsby's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
A fast, fun read and modern adaptation of The Jungle Book that at times focuses too much on its source material rather than exploring the world that it created.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Death
Minor: Child death and Death of parent
booksthatburn's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
4.0
Nobody Owens ("Bod") is raised by the denizens of a graveyard after the rest of his family is killed when he's a baby.
Bod grows from a baby into a teenager over the course of the book, and he feels distinct at each age in how he interacts with the world and what kinds of questions he asks. His world is built from his relationships with the others in the graveyard, whether they're consistent visitors or permanent residents. It's also shaped by his attempts to be around living people, most of which go poorly and all of which are complicated. Because Bod’s perspective is the main (but not quite only) one in the book, his understanding is the filter for most of the worldbuilding. There are things he’s told but lacks additional context to understand, and some things he knows intimately but which are just mentioned.
The first two-thirds of the book is a series of vignettes of events which happened to Bod as he grows up. The episodic pacing culminates in one major event which comprises the final third of the book and is built on everything that happened until this point. It makes this large section feel important, tense, and distinct from the other sections while complementing them perfectly.
Bod grows from a baby into a teenager over the course of the book, and he feels distinct at each age in how he interacts with the world and what kinds of questions he asks. His world is built from his relationships with the others in the graveyard, whether they're consistent visitors or permanent residents. It's also shaped by his attempts to be around living people, most of which go poorly and all of which are complicated. Because Bod’s perspective is the main (but not quite only) one in the book, his understanding is the filter for most of the worldbuilding. There are things he’s told but lacks additional context to understand, and some things he knows intimately but which are just mentioned.
The first two-thirds of the book is a series of vignettes of events which happened to Bod as he grows up. The episodic pacing culminates in one major event which comprises the final third of the book and is built on everything that happened until this point. It makes this large section feel important, tense, and distinct from the other sections while complementing them perfectly.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping, Death, Murder, Child death, and Violence
Minor: Ableism, Suicide, and Cannibalism
toffishay's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Such a fun middle-grade read that was emotional and exciting with some surprising twists. Neil Gaiman, at his best (which he isn't always, in my opinion), has a great writing style and it makes his work very readable.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and Death
Minor: Violence