The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $7.75 You Save: $10.24 (57%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $1.00 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of The Graveyard Book
Book Review: All Age Mystery
Summary: 4 Stars
I loved this book! I am student so normally,I read text books- so finding an "easy" read which is enjoyable as amusing is not an easy task. I would recommend this book to anyone from 10 years of age and up. N. Gailman is so unusual and creative- his writing is captivating and surprising!Book Review: Almost memorable
Summary: 3 Stars
Young readers are astute and there are too many unanswered questions in this almost memorable novel. If the author intends to write a sequel, and surely he has left room for that possibility, then he may be intending to answer some of those questions, but as the book stands, there is more than an element of dissatisfaction by the end.
I couldn't help but compare this book and many of its characters with those wonderful characters created by J.K. Rowling in her Harry Potter series. The ability to relate to the achievements, concerns and emotions of the characters when placed in an otherworldly environment is what makes those books transcend the elements of fantasy.
Neil Gaiman's characters are almost transcendent. Nobody Owens has the potential and gravitas. The denizens of the graveyard could supply a plentiful emotional backdrop as well as color.
Instead the reader is left asking "Why was Bod's family the target?" "What is the purpose of the Jack of all Trades?" "Who is the master the sleer protects...and what is the point of that being the oldest grave?"
Some scenes are brilliant (i.e. Bod at school) and some are too convoluted to follow (i.e. the ghoul gate chase.)
The premise made the book interesting and Neil Gaiman's imagination was fun to watch unfold, I just wish his story had been a little tighter and that Bod had had the tenacity throughout the book that he had during his school sequence and at the very end of the book.
Book Review: An enchanting read
Summary: 5 Stars
This book takes the reader to the world of Bod Owens, a young boy who is orphaned and taken under the protective wing of the inhabitants of a graveyard. The ghosts and creatures who raise and protect him demonstrate the kindness, love, warmth, and wisdom that we all hope to receive from a family.
I purchased the book after hearing Mr. Gaiman give a talk in which he described the original inspiration for the story and read an excerpt. After hearing his reading I could not wait to read the book and was not disappointed.
The story offers so many gifts - it is funny, poignant, thrilling, scary,
and mysterious. I was sorry that the story had to end, and that is something that I wish I could say about every book I have read.
Book Review: An exciting escape for youth and youth bound minds.
Summary: 3 Stars
Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book is an awe-inspiring story with challenges the imagination of a younger audience. Although the eccentric cast of unique and colourful characters is enough to broaden minds of both adults and children, the lack of plot and episodic events is enough for readers over the age of 12 to quickly discover the pattern which befalls the protagonist, making the rest of the book entirely predictable.
Adult readers should be reminded it is after all a children's book so don't expect anything remarkably profound. An easy read manageable within a day all without the use of a dictionary.
Children, and Adults reading to children, should be highly surprised by the cast of brilliant and expertly written characters without the complexity of plot.
Book Review: An imaginative novel for younger readers
Summary: 4 Stars
This is the story of Nobody Owens who escapes the murder of his family while still a toddler and wanders into the local graveyard where he is bought up by the ghosts who inhabit it. This is an easy to read book about a boy with a truly magical childhood who learns, despite living in the midst of death, the value of living. I recommend this story for readers of all ages, but especially for young teens and is probably one of the best of this age group novels I've read since Charmed Life (Collins Modern Classics) and Harriet the Spy.