The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Seeing as how the whole internet seems to love him, I felt it was about time I read a book by Neil Gaiman. I chose The Graveyard Book for no reason in particular.

From Amazon.com:

It takes a graveyard to raise a child.
Nobody Owens, known as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a graveyard, being raised by ghosts, with a guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor the dead. There are adventures in the graveyard for a boy—an ancient Indigo Man, a gateway to the abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible Sleer. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, he will be in danger from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family. 

Less then two pages into the book I thought, I'm not going to like this. Even though it started with a triple murder by a mysterious figure known as the man Jack - very exciting - the premise of the story - a boy raised by ghosts - seemed pretty silly. I gave it chance though, partly because I always try to give books the benefit of the doubt and partly because, in my head, Mrs Owens sounds like Mrs Potts from Disney's Beauty and The Beast.

I'm glad I kept reading. Although it wasn't my favourite book ever, I really did like it. The characters were enjoyable and the story was sweet but dark at the same time somehow. And the ending was neither good nor bad, but it was right, which is more important anyway. It was just the right way for this story to end.

On a scale from Totally Awesome to Horrifically Awful, I'd give it a Very, Very Good. I'd like to see it as a movie, as long as Angela Lansbury is cast as Mrs Owens.