The Graveyard Book is a fantasy novel written by Neil Gaiman. It tells the tale of young orphan growing up in a graveyard: Nobody Owens. I think Gaiman used a great effect in calling him Nobody because it shows how unique he really is: he is not like any other person, he is ‘nobody’

‘ “He looks like nobody but himself,” said Mrs Owens, firmly. “He looks like a nobody.”                 
“Then Nobody it is,” said Silas. Nobody Owens.” ’

The first sentence in the novel, ‘There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife’ draws you in straight away.  Although it is only one sentence it immediately tells you something is wrong, that something bad is going to happen; it really draws you in.

The book starts with the murder of the family of Nobody, or ‘Bod’ as they call him in the novel. He is only a toddler at the time and by chance manages to escape. The perpetrator is referred to throughout the novel as ‘The man Jack’. Calling him this makes him a mystery as you continue to read the novel whereas if Gaiman had just called him Jack, the mystery would have been completely lost. The man Jack is part of this organisation called the Jack of all Trades and everyone that is part of this organisation is called Jack. The reason they killed Bod’s family is because a past member of the organisation had had a premonition that Bod’s family would put an end to the Jacks.

‘ “No. We killed you for protection. Long time ago, one of our people – this was way back in Egypt, in pyramid days – he foresaw one day, there would be a child born who would walk on the borderlines between the living and the dead. That if this child grew to adulthood it would mean the end of our order and all we stand for.” ’

At the start of the book when Bod’s family is killed all you want to know throughout the novel is why they were killed and when Gaiman reveals why it is completely surprising. It is not to do with love or something clichéd, it is completely original.

I think the middle of the book could have been slightly improved by making it tied to how the novel ended.

I can’t say I enjoyed this particular novel; I really enjoyed the plot but I don’t think I have the imagination to connect with characters like ‘The Sleer’ or some of the ghosts. I like that Gaiman still has the imagination to connect with younger readers and that he can still appeal to a younger audience. I think the novel really suited me but I still would recommend it to younger readers.