The Graveyard Book is about a living boy, Nobody Owens or Bod as he is know to his friends, who resides in a cemetery. Being raised by ghost parents and a whole graveyard of dead people from centuries past, Bod has many adventures that normal living people would never even dream of.There is much adventure to be had for a young inquisitive lad who walks the line between the living and the dead, such as meet
ing the Witch in the unconsecrated grounds outside of the graveyard proper, learning all about history from those that were actually there and the ghouls world with its entrance through a cold gravestone called the Ghouls Gate.
All of this would just be part of Bod's world if he could leave the graveyard and walk amongst the living, but there is a man named Jack who is after Bod to finish what he started years ago when he killed his family.
Jaki's review
A slow book until about half way through, then I couldn't put it down. It started by intriguing me and making me want to learn all about this mysterious boy who lives in the graveyard. Then as I read about different adventures Bod (Nobody Owens) experiences, my interest started to waiver as it was slow and appeared that each 'chapter' (and I use that term very loosely) was an individual story involving the setting of the graveyard and the same characters only.
But I kept on with it, helped by a night void of TV, and got to where the story starts to flow and move forward and it sucked me in. From there I finished the book without even thinking about it.
But I kept on with it, helped by a night void of TV, and got to where the story starts to flow and move forward and it sucked me in. From there I finished the book without even thinking about it.
There are twists and turns and bits from earlier in the book that are revisited that make this a wonderful story, even with the slow middle section and the strange language in which is it written. I fell in love with the characters, always wanting to hear more from the various inhabitants of the graveyard, and was upset when the book was drawing to an end knowing that I would not be visiting with them anymore.
I have not previously read anything by the author and so am not sure if this is a format he uses regularly, with it's strange language, phrases and style of writing. But if you stick with it, the book will pleasantly surprise you and leave you with a hole when it's over. Recommended to anyone who enjoys a quirky, character driven tale that will entrance you with it's story and make you feel for the characters.
Nadine's Review
Quite simply.. I found this story disappointing. I had heard so much about how clever, how unique, how wonderful and how quirky this story was. I am sad to say it was one that didn't live up to its hype. Saying that, I fear, the hype was the reason I found it disappointing.
It took me just over a week to read this story. Granted there were other things going on in my life and indeed the world, but a good, gripping story should be one that you pick up and just cannot put down.
Gaiman has an incredible reputation for creating such fantastic worlds and because of this, I am not going to give up on reading more of his works. Perhaps when I'm in a better mood I will read The Graveyard Book again and wonder why on earth I didn't enjoy it the first time.
