A review by piperclover
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

adventurous emotional inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective slow-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? No
Because I read this for a class assignment I won't give it a star rating, but I enjoyed it far more than I thought I would. It was interesting and fun and mysterious. I listened to he audiobook narrated by Neil Gaiman and that was a great experience. 

There are a few things that bothered me personally as a reader though. I know the point of the book is not to have answers to every single question but it bothered me that I didn't have answers to logistical questions like
how did Bod stay undiscovered in the graveyard? How did he get enough to eat and store it all? He can't have survived off off fruit, and bread. How does he just begin living in the living world at 15 with no parents or documentation beyond money and a passport? Did he ever hear I love you? No one told him they loved him when he left at the end of the book. How did they know he outgrew the graveyard? Why can't he go back? Who says he outgrew it and why?


Beyond that the structure of the book wasn't my favorite. It feels very episodic until you get more than half way through the book. The chapters are episodes of his life at various ages but they don't really connect. There's no passage of time, you're just suddenly set in a new age and you see a little bit of his life at that point and then it jumps to a different age. 

 The ending was so bitter sweet it had me tearing up a bit. 
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