The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman Review

Neil Gaiman has been one of the most acclaimed authors in the fantasy fiction space since almost two decades. While he has written several bestsellers in the genre, one of his most beloved books till date has been The Graveyard Book.

Now those who haven’t read the book yet and are not a fan of dark fantasy stories, they may mistake this book as one of the those serious darkish kind of books. I realized this when I recommended the book to some of my friends and they all came back saying – oh don’t think this is for us, we don’t like murders, dark figures etc.

That impression of the book comes from the synopsis in many places including the book description where the first two pages talk about a mysterious figure named The Man Jack who enters a house in the middle of the night and kills the mother, father and a young girl only for the baby of the house to escape and take refuge in a nearby graveyard.

So if you are also a bit put off by the start, know that firstly the scene described above has nothing graphic about it and apart from those couple of pages in the beginning, The Graveyard Book is one of the most heart-warming, coming of age, feel-good stories you will ever read.

In fact the book is the complete opposite of what many people think after reading the synopsis considering its all about a boy, who is being raised in a Graveyard and about his life, his growth, his relation with his teacher etc. It is a sweet, beautiful story with lots of adventurous parts and the story remains quite engaging till the end.

The story is about a boy called Bod. Short for Nobody Owens. In the beginning, when as a baby Bod managed to crawl out of his house to avoid being killed by the mysterious Man Jack, he went across to the nearby Graveyard where a bunch of ghosts saved him from being located by the murderer.

Since these ghosts did not know his name or who he was, they named him Nobody. An elderly couple whose graves were in that Graveyard adopted the boy and as they were the Owens, his full name became Nobody Owens.

It was really fascinating to read about Bod growing up in a graveyard with no idea about the outside world including what happened to his parents and sister. As the only living resident of the graveyard, Bod often has his adventures and run ins with all kids of mystical creatures, ghosts and even witches.

However, one of the main aspects of the book is the relation between Bod and his teacher Silas, who is another mysterious figure and the only ghost at the graveyard who can actually leave and go outside its boundaries.

As you read on and go on a journey with Bod, things get interesting with each new person or ghost he meets including when the Man Jack returns in the future.

The Graveyard Book is a must read for fantasy fiction fans and those who love a feel-good book.

The one possible negative aspect of the book is that not much attention is given to the villains i.e. Man Jack and his organization. It is all about Bod, his growth and his relationships.
Some parts of the evil organization felt like an afterthought, added in to close the open ends of the story.

Overall, as you may have already gathered, I highly recommend this book and give it a strong 4.5 stars out of 5. It is one of our favourite books at SpookShelf and is part of several best books to read lists on this site.

Note: There is a graphic novel version of this book as well. If haven’t read the book at all, I recommend starting with the standard edition first and only if interested, check out the graphics version.

Rating: 4.5 / 5

Book and Author: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

First Published on: September 2008

Pages: 312