1 Book Review - The Graveyard Book - Sun 13 Mar 2011

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


After hearing many a soul wax lyrical on the fabulous imagination of Neil Gaiman, I found myself drawn towards The Graveyard Book, figuring it would be an easy way to acquaint myself with his particular form of “brilliance”.

I was sadly mistaken.

The Graveyard Book is kind of like trying to stop a dog from eating crap - basically a good idea, but ultimately useless.

It follows Bod, a young boy who, after witnessing the murder of his parents in the first chapter (the highlight of the book), ends up living in a graveyard and being raised by it’s inhabitants.

The book, although clumsily tied together as a single narrative, is really a collection of short stories, the likes of which wouldn’t have been half bad if left that way - but the flimsy plot linking them together, which I’m sure was an afterthought, really detracts from what could have been some good writing.

The characters are kind of like faded water paintings, lacking any kind of substance or real colour, which is a shame given the potential for character growth and complexity that setting the story in a graveyard brings.

Although the book is aimed at a youthful audience, any 10 year old could have seen where the story was going, and no one would have been surprised by the turn of events leading to the book’s climax. Then finally, as if to punctuate the story’s generally lackluster meandering, the ending goes on for too long.

If I had to describe The Graveyard Book in one word, it would be “Meh”.

View all my reviews

2 Book Review - Her Fearful Symmetry - Sat 15 Jan 2011

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger


My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger is an interesting tale about the complexities of love, grief and family relationships. Strangely, it is also a ghost story.

When Aunt Elspeth dies in London, she leaves her apartment to her twin nieces, Julia and Valentina from Chicago, with two conditions - that they live in the apartment for at least a year, and that they never let their parents Edie (Elspeth’s twin sister) and Jack inside.

Little do the twins know, their aunt Elspeth is still inhabiting the apartment also.

Complex and multi-layered, Her Fearful Symmetry isn’t your average ghost story, but more a treatise on the difficulties between siblings, lovers and parents. It follows a number of characters, all on their own distinct yet inter-twined paths and is a slow and subtle read. Fantastically, there is a lot of time spent on character development, but unfortunately very little time spent on plot development. Sigh.

Her Fearful Symmetry reminds me a little of Paul Auster’s The Brooklyn Follies in that it tells a story about everyday people in a way that is still interesting and compelling. Where it differs from the Follies however, is in its dark and macabre turn of events, as the secrets of each of the characters are slowly revealed and the choices they have made come to fruition.

I am left feeling a little confused after reading this one - I’m both saddened and horrified, and am still not sure whether I like the book or not. I guess some would say this is the mark of a truly good book - that it has left me with questions requiring further contemplation, but I guess you’ll only know for sure if you read it for yourself.

View all my reviews

0 Book Review - The Presence

The Presence: A Ghost Story by Eve Bunting


My rating: 2 of 5 stars


The Presence tells the story of Catherine, a teenage girl who is struggling with the tragic death of her best friend. She goes to visit her Grandmother for the holidays, where a ghost in the local church takes an unusual and rather sinister interest in her.


Publisher’s Weekly said that the “crisp writing and questions that remain unanswered till tale’s end will likely keep fans of ghost stories engaged”. If “crisp writing” is a euphemism for “shallow, with little character or plot development”, then they’d be right, but unfortunately I don’t think that’s what they meant.


This book is such a shame. The plot concept had the potential to be fantastic – there’s some mystery, some danger, some supernatural themes – but unfortunately, Bunting falls short on the delivery.


Perhaps if the book itself was longer (it’s only 195 pages), Bunting may have been able to flesh out the characters and the general story idea, but unfortunately, as it is, The Presence is like a plastic skeleton hanging in an empty room rather than the chilling, spine-tingling ghost story it purports to be.

If you’d like to read The Presence and make your own conclusions, you can find it on the City of Gosnells catalogue here.

View all my reviews