Review: The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Paperback, 289 pages/Audiobook narrated by Neil Gaiman
Published December 2008 by Bloomsbury
I bought the paperback last year but ever since I have my new audiobook app, I mix things up to be able to read faster. Because of Nail Gaiman’s smooth and silky voice, I ended up listening to 75% and reading only 25% of the book. I also just didn’t want it to end! Because of this, I’m super late with my review. I already wanted to post it together with my All Hallows Read giveaway post. Which was from 10 days ago… If you’ve been wondering why the end date of it kept being pushed further back every day, it’s not because of some shady ploy to run off with the three paperbacks myself, but simply because I wanted to have this review up first.
HELLO OCD!! *waves*
This means the giveaway will still be open until 24 hours after posting this review. I’ll insert the sign-up link again down below.
After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own.
Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod’s family…
Let me make something clear again first: this is not a horror story or an incredibly creepy book. Instead, it’s a cute, heart-warming story about friendship and family. Okay, and dead people and ghouls. Oh, and there’s an ancient mummy fighting for justice. But my main point is that this is a child-friendly book, a book for all ages, so you needn’t worry about it being too scary for you.
As I absolutely loved this book and can’t find a single piece of criticism on it, this is a bloody hard review to write.
I could tell you about the incredible imagination which resides in Neil Gaiman’s brain and comes out on paper.
I could tell you that listening to him read is the most soothing yet exciting experience at the same time. He’s a fantastic narrator for kids with a friendly voice and nails the ‘voices’ perfectly, but he’s also a fantastic narrator for adults who aren’t afraid of having a little magic infused into their lives.
I could tell you that The Graveyard Book is one of those unique stories that will never leave your brain and which you will find yourself referencing to when you’re reading other books in the future.
I could tell you that every single character in this book is simply majestic. From Bod, the male protagonist (yay!), to Jack the Man, the perfect villain. From Mr and Mrs Owens, Bod’s ghostly foster parents, to Silas, Bod’s mysterious guardian who is the only one able to go out of the graveyard and buy food for Bod. From Liza Hempstock, a curious witch (who happens to be a distant relative of Lettie Hempstock [The Ocean At The End of The Lane] and Daisy Hempstock [Stardust])…
to Caius Pompeius, the oldest person in the Graveyard.
I could tell you that I haven’t discovered an equivalent for Gaiman’s stories yet, apart from most of Tim Burton’s movies.
I could tell you all of that (which I just did), but I could also simply tell you that if you have any connection left to your inner child, you should read this book. And if that connection has been severed long or not so long ago, you should also read this book and see if it restores some of it for you.
TL; DR
Read this?
I still have 3 illustrated paperback copies up for grabs for the next 24 hours over
HERE!!!
Links to the book:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
The Book Depository
Bol.com (Dutch Retailer; English version)
Bol.com (Dutch Translation)
Goodreads
YAY! It’s up! you NAILED your review Anne, LOVED it down to the little image of Bod sleeping on the tombstone haha! I was actually thinking of how to approach my review all last night & also if I’m sticking to my 5 star rating since I’ve been known to have a change of heart when I sit down to review a book lol. I also CANNOT find anything wrong to pick at with this book, it was a real feast for the ears & imagination. I DID NOT know Liza is a distant relative of Daisy Hempstock [Stardust], for shame! Stardust is the book that introduced me to Uncle Gaiman lol. Neat connection he made there, btw I friggin LOVED Caius Pompeus!
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Haha, I needed to do this pronto or my Halloween giveaway would still be up during Christmas :’). Thank you so much! ❤ Ha! I didn’t know what was going to happen either, but then I thought there is just absolutely nothing to pick at either! NOTHING! So it’s gotta be 5 stars. My 4th of the year or so, lol. I still have to read Stardust but I’m so looking forward to that. Uncle Gaiman is a genius ;). ME TOO! ❤ Can’t wait to see your words on it!! 😀
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Haha! I can see myself doing this since I’m a big procrastinator lol. I threw my hat in the ring for the giveaway, thank you for hosting one 😃💕
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Lol, at least you were on the dot with Amy Schumer’s book! I’m still only halfway in…I just can’t. W00t, that’s better than a towel! XD Thank you! ❤
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LMFAO! i’ll keep my towel thanks smh, I’m currently doing everything BUT what I’ve started on a word document…my Heartless review. I am TERRIBLE with pressure especially when it’s self imposed lol. At least I have the basics down so far…
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Ahahaha XD. Gawd, I know, the self imposed stuff is absolutely the worst. When someone else does it, you can always say “Screw you, you’re not the boss of me!”. But that’s pretty hard to say to yourself because if you aren’t the boss of you, then who is?!
Good luck dear! 😉 :-*
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Lol true & thank you 😊💕
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I just spent my whole lunch hour catching up on blogs, especially on The Tattooed Book Geek! darn it I’m so late to every part-ay! And then I saw your review pop up and I was like.. yep, sorry can’t work yet, I gotta read Anne’s review! 😀 oopsie!
First of all, I love the little graphics you’ve created for this review… totally morbid and right down my alley! When you mentioned that it was a cute story I thought of Tim Burton’s movies straight away and there you went, confirming it 🙂
I still haven’t read anything by Gaiman yet but I know you’re a fan and hence I should gear up and do something about it…
By the way, how is ‘Silas’ pronounced in this book? 😀
and LOL @ TL;DR- Read this? 😀 hahahaha… It’s going to turn into Sarcasm Section soon…”What you mean Too Long, Didn’t read? Scroll back up and start over!” 😀
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Oh man! I hope you managed to shove some food down at the same time! Every time I think I caught up, there are another 20 posts added. I remember last year when I was just following you and Andrew basically :’). Haha! ❤ Suck it Drew! 😉
Thank you! W00t! Yes, I have no idea if they ever worked together but they’d make the perfect team! 😀
Hahaha, but what if you end up hating his books?! 😉 I threw in a pingback to your review of Benedict Patrick’s book btw. That was a fab recommendation fo sho!
LOL! Sigh-las :’). I guess it all depends on where the particular Silas is from eh? 😀
Yeah, I was like, fuck this, it’s a fairly short review, I’m not going to repeat myself again. OOoh, the Sarcasm Section! 😀 ME LIKE!!
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Yeah, plenty of food had today.. the lunch I brought to work was consumed for ‘breakfast’ and had to go for some junk 😀 oops…
I doubt I’d dislike Gaiman’s books…well, only one way to find out! Maybe I’m even lucky with your giveaway, who knows 🙂 Thanks for the opportunity by the way… failing that, the local bookshop should defo have Gaiman so I’ll be sure to pick something up of his soonio!
Eh, awesome, I like Sigh-las… such a romantic name!
Sarcasm Section… hehe, funny story with that… my husbster said when they used to do school discos, then you know how the nights always end with slow dances etc for the hormone-raged teenagers… they called the slow music the ‘E*ection Section’… (didn’t want to spell that out because freaking spamjail! 😀 You’ve all been thrown in there was god knows what and I’m trying to lay low, you know? 😀
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and when I said ‘used to do school discos’ I mean when he was still a student in school… just clearing that up, so yeah…
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Ahahahaha XD. Thank god for that! 😉
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That’s good/bad, depending on your POV 😀 Gawd, now I’m dying for a greasy snack!
Cheers! If you don’t win a copy, I might’ve sent you a little something anyways ^^. Or well, I sent something to the return to sender address on my bday package :’). If that’s not where you live, somebody else in Dingle will be flabbergasted at some point XD. (I know, you said no presents, but I just had to send you this one, sawwy (A) ).
LOL! I hadn’t heard that one before :’). Oh myyyyyy. I’m glad no one ever wanted to dance with me on school discos XD. Yeah, spam jail is not as awesome as it seems. Stay on the right path Liis…
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Yay for grease! Just one tip- eat slowly… god I feel like a beached whale at the moment! And I don’t even mean it in a funny way…
Awwwwe! Thank you! My foreign name sticks out like a sore thumb in this area so the postman defo knows where to find me 😀 and if it should not make it to me- “I will find them, and I will…” 😀 OOoh, so excited now 🙂 Thank you- thank you 🙂
meh, school discos are over rated… bad dancing and sneaky cigarettes.. girls dancing and boys sitting around… ah, the old days! 😀 would not go back to those specific days I must says…
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Yeah, that was a great tip in hindsight :’). I was suffering from heartburn all night long. But totally worth it ^^. Hahaha, it’s still funny, though!! XD
Whew, I kinda hoped that would be the case. “Who’s this for? Ooh, it’s the Estonian chick that lives up there on the hill!” Except then with an Irish accent obviously, not using the word ‘chick’ :D. Hahaha, it said 2-4 weeks and I sent it last week, so we’ll see!! :3 Depending on the time it gets there, it can be an early Christmas OR birthday gift! Ugh, yeah. And secretly hoping to catch that one boy’s attention. Which never happened for me :D. Good times.
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Sigh, isn’t it usually the women who “sucks” it!😂
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Hmpf, this is 2016! Everyone can suck it XD
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Yuck!😂
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Well, that darn The Tattooed Book Geek blog does have some top quality content!
And…..you’re not the only one who hasn’t read Gaiman!😀
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😂 yeh, that tattooed bloke is some fantastic blogger, eh!
yay, will you read Gaiman? think it’s big boy enough for you Drew? 😀
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Ha, I know he wrote Coraline and the film is awesome so maybe…..I’ve also seen ARC’s of his latest book on Twitter about Norse Mythology and Norse Mythology is freaking awesome so there’s a chance I will!😀
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cool! Norse myth sounds enticing!!!
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Coraline is pretty damn awesome idd :D. Damnit, yes, I want that ARC!
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Ha, I think everyone wants that ARC!😂
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If that one girl gets one, I think I’m going to quietly be fuming about it for days!
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Quietly fuming?!?!?!?! Oh hell no, we want ranting! 🙂
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Haha! Quietly fuming for the people around me, ranting like a pro on the interwebz! \m/
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Well, it is what the internet is for! 🙂
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Well, that and other sinful things :’)
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Other fun things to and if it annoys others then even better!😂
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Hell yeah
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I think this is on the borderline of Drew’s definition of baby books XD. American Gods is way more big boy material, but also very different in general!
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hmm… good to know about American gods… yeah, I gotta go on Goodreads and just start checking out gaiman books to prioritize for reading 🙂
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Haha, peer pressure!! ❤
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At its best! 😀
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It’s a curse!
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I requested this from the library last night. I’m so glad you loved it. Your review makes me want to read it even more. Nice review!
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I hope you won’t think it’s as boring as Miss Peregrine’s though XD. I’m probably biased as fuck when it comes to Gaiman :). Thank you!
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I rented it from the library. I hope I like it. You are a definite Gaiman fangirl. 🙂
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I didn’t know I had any fangirling in me :’)
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One of my favorite scary stories is The Girl with all the Gifts by M.R Carey ♡ THANK you
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Woah apparently I need to read this !! What an awesome review! Although apparently I need the audio book 😁
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Also my favourite scary book is Dracula! Awesome giveaway m’dear!
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\õ/
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Hahaha, CLEARLY! And yup XD Too bad audiobooks are so expensive!
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Smooth and silky voice? No wonder everyone loves audiobook! I might need to give it a try 🙂 Those rare 5 stars you give out, I am really sold to this book by all the compliments you give it.
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Yes! I’m married but I’d love to have Gaiman read to me in person every night :3. Haha, they are rare for sure! But it definitely has to be your cup of tea I think :).
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Sounds amazing! And I am a bit of a Dracula fan (the book, obviously)…
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Hahaha, obviously!! 😉
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Great review!!! You are the third person in my “trusty blogger reviews” to give this a 5 star. I definitely need to pick this one up asap!
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Thank you!! ❤ It’s a quirky and awesome read fo sho!
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You’re welcome!
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Oh Uncle Naiman (as Lilly says) never seems to disappoint. That man is magic I tell you! And only you can do him justice in a review 🙂 I absolutely love that he narrates this himself. Never have I wanted an audio so bad. Remember your past comment about him and the Queen and the loo on twitter 😉 Haha best of times ❤ Excellent review where you could have told us a lot of things 😉
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I heard he and Amanda Palmer have an open marriage wink, wink. But yes, magic!! Awe, thank you so much! ❤ I was having such a hard time to convey my enthusiasm :$. D’awwe, if only that stupid free audiobook thing would’ve worked! :'(. Hahaha, yes, I do, I was so embarrassed! But I bet he never even read it with the 1000’s of tweets he must be receiving every day (phew). Lol, thank you!! ❤
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Haha open marriage. You are such an optimist ❤
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😉
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That’s called nailing a raving review of a favorite book 😀 They are so hard to write! I’m stuck with mine of A Suitable Lie. I’ll probably end up publishing my disorganized ramblings and apologize, haha! How can this book NOT be creepy or horror?? Have you looked at the cover?? You’re the first person who actually makes me want to read Gaiman’s books. There’s so much hype and the blurbs I have read felt a bit off for me, but this story sounds too good to miss!
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Thank you so much! ❤ ❤ I feel like I can never do my favourites any justice. Oh tuts, I’m sure it will be perfect as always! 😀 Yes! It’s a young boy with an odd looking fellow next to him, having a jolly good time at a graveyard. What’s creepy about that?! :’) :’) Aha, SCORE!! I’ve been a fan of his work since I was 16 or so, but I’ve only read 5 books of him so far. Lord knows why! But yes, if you want quirky and cute, this is a great story. Maybe as a boost to your holiday cheer 😉
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😀 This sounds amazing, I read another review a while ago and you both loved it so…! Ive only read one Gaiman book before
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I absolutely adored it! Which one did you read?
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I think it was Cover2coverMom 😃
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It was and I found the post she did <3. But I actually meant which book of Gaiman did you read? :’)
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Hahaha So Sorry! I read American Gods, I liked it but didn’t love it, maybe it wasn’t the right one for me!
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:-* I read that one as well, but it was way less spectacular than his other books so far. For me that is. So there’s still hope for you as well! 😉
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Ok 😄 I trust you!!
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I’m a big fan of Gaiman, and I cannot believe that I still haven’t read this book yet. I will definitely be snagging a copy from the library next time I go! Great review!
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That’s what I thought as well! And I haven’t read Coraline yet either. What kind of fuckery is this, right?! 😉 Oooor, you could sign up for my giveaway and get your own copy mayhap! Thank you!! ❤
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Now that I think about it, I haven’t read Coraline either! Ahhhh, what is wrong with me? 🙈 But that’s a great idea, thank you!
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Great review Anne, it sounds like a really good book.😀
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Thanks dear, it really is! 🙂
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Lol “dear” now that’s a term old people use!😂
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Then you shouldn’t be surprised that I’m using it! :’)
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Oh gosh oh gosh yes. Yes yes YES! I agree with everyone else in that this was a perfect review for when you have nothing else to say other than, “YOU NEED TO READ THIS! ASAP” applause I wish I had the audiobook now… Ooh, maybe it’ll go on sale for Black Friday?!
I’m also now holding out hope that I will have the opportunity to name my child something nearly half as wonderful as Caius Pompeius.
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Haha! Thank you so much!! ❤ Gasp! When is Black Friday?! LOL! Now that’s a GREAT name for a kid. Ain’t nobody messing with him on the playground for sure! Or playing, probably, but who cares when you have an awesome name like that!
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I have been lied to – apparently Black Friday is the 24th. So much disappointment!! Haha!
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Isn’t it on the 25th? When it’s actually a Friday? XD XD
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Shhhh – it starts midnight on Thursday/Friday, which is Thursday if you haven’t gone to sleep yet. 😉
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Your review is beautiful. It really is. I heard about this book just yesterday on another blog, and it made me want to read it, but there…Well it makes me want to scream and order the book right away. Or maybe be lucky enough to win your awesome giveaway ahah 🙂 I can’t WAIT to read it ❤
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Thank you so much Marie! ❤ I had such a hard time writing it. Hahaha, I just love quirky and cute! 😀 Keeping my fingers crossed for you! 😉
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Ahh agree with you- this book is so lovely!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
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❤ 😀
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Five yummy brownies!! That’s awesome. Great review! I think my son and I both would enjoy this book!
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Thank you! I think you both would as well! 🙂
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Great review! I also loved this book. So, Gaiman narrated this one himself??? That’s pretty cool.
Rebecca @ The Portsmouth Review
Follow me on Bloglovin’
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Thank you! high fives I believe he narrates most of his own books. Which is pretty darn awesome indeed!
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I’ve been seeing Neil Gaiman book reviews around the blogosphere a lot lately and need to give in and read one of his books already. This one sounds like the perfect book I could read with my niece, who is a little bookworm. Plus, it just sounds like a book I would end up loving in general. Great review! 😊
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Oh, this is definitely a story that would’ve stuck with me if I had read it as a kid! 🙂 And as an adult now all the same ;). Thank you!!!
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I really enjoyed reading your review. Will try to read it when I have a chance, but I even think that my friend has Graphic novel of this book, if he does, I’ll probably end up reading that one.
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Oh man, I saw the Graphic Novels of this one on Amazon, they look so colourful and cool! :3 And thank you!!
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I am going to start looking for this in hardcover on Book Outlet. I need this story in my head. Ha ha. Thanks for sharing you thoughts. 🙂
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Haha, I’m pretty sure you’d love it! 😀
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Neil Gaiman seems to never disappoint me omg I just read Neverwhere and LOVEDD IT. Sanman? LOVE IT. And now this ? I have to get my hands on every single boook he has written 😀 – Trang
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Neverwhere was amazeballs! ❤ I haven’t read any of the 500 volumes of Sandman yet but I will, damnit, I will! 😀 Hahaha, high fives, Trang!
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Anne,
I realize I am not one of your avid reader followers, but I wanted to let you know I would email you sometime today (as long as I keep remembering to do so) I had not forgotten you. LOL. Also did my answer about Gluten help? I wasn’t sure if it had helped, although I think that is part of the email you sent me, so I shouldnt be lazy and go read it! lmao
Shay-lon xxxx
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Don’t sweat it, you can save that for in the gym ;). I am SO behind on my emails for months now, it’s ridiculous! It did because it confirmed that I was right about it all along XD.
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Anne,
Are you really behind on emails? oh goodness, what have you been doing woman?! you should be on top of those emails everyday! lol. you don’t get any breaks away from blogging or emailing 🙂 Lmao. I emailed you back btw, but I am happy it did help you; and found out you were right! 😀
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Ha! On top of (peaks to see who’s blog I’m commenting on…oh, it’s my own) SHIT ALL at the moment. I’m talking months behind on certain emails sighs. I suck <3. Thank you for the email, though 😉 ❤
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Anne,
Catch up on your emails, no more breaks away from WordPress, okay:) we miss you too much when you log off.
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Haha! Just while I’m taking a bigger break XD. I have to though, I’m feeling like absolute crap at the mo!
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LOL. NO MORE BREAKS!
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Omg I love this book!!! Or actually, I loved this book and I should reread it in english one of these days because I read it a long time ago in french but aaaaah ❤
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Haha! It’s so awesome! And I was super late to the party with reading it apparently 😀
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Oh well we can’t read everything, and better late than never 😉
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See? I always get to the good stuff way too late!
I’ve yet to read a Neil Gaiman book (I know, don’t beat me!!)
I saw the movie Stardust: does that count? 😉
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