The Graveyard Book: a brief review

taken from goodreads.com

About a million years ago, when I was a Graduate Assistant working in the College of Education's office, a sweet friend and fellow Graduate Assistant recommended this book to me. I've had it on the super long list of books that lives somewhere in the back of my mind ever since, and I snatched it up when I saw the library had it on audiobook. It did not disappoint.

When an assassin murders almost an entire family one night, he realizes too late that he's let the barely walking toddler slip out of the house and into the neighboring (locked up) graveyard. The ghosts who live in the graveyard decide to adopt the orphaned boy and raise him as their own. Meanwhile, though, the assassin spends the next 15 years searching for the boy who escaped from his grasp that night.

This book is very Jungle Book-like. I really enjoyed it, possibly because I really enjoy The Jungle Book. It did get a little bit more magical/fantasy than I anticipated but it wasn't too overpowering and it worked. I really liked the book overall; the sweet dialogue between the boy and his ghostly guardians is incredibly endearing. The opening scene is horrifying and the end does get a little hectic and scattered feeling, but all in all I enjoyed this one a lot. I'd definitely recommend it, especially to people who tend to enjoy fantasy more than me.