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