Reviews with content warning for Blood - The Graveyard Book

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. ❤️

Content Warnings

ozreus's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

optimisms's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Spoiler

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

Spoiler

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

booksandmo's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

starlessnights's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.75

Content Warnings

baponthecob's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious fast-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

4.5

A truly phenomenal book. Definitely holds up 9 years after the first time I read it in grade school.
My only real criticism is that we dont see enough of the Owenses. It really seems like Silas is the one who raised Bod. (I mean, Bod literally called him dad that one time.)
Of course, I know that his parents love him so much, but it would have been amazing to see them being a family more often.
It feels like for the most part, they dismissed Bod a lot bc they wanted to protect him. Silas was the only one who was straight with him.
Also, I'm glad the massive fucking tree trunk eventually fell out of Miss Lupescu's ass, but why was she such an asshole at first anyway???
Overall, I loved seeing Bod grow up and learn about the world and make friends :( it was really heartwarming to see how much everyone in the graveyard cared about him.
The ending was really bittersweet, and it hits different as someone who is supposed to have hit adulthood and gained independence already. But, yk, the time comes when it comes.

Content Warnings

a_d_a_m_h's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

More...