The Devil You Know

I finished reading Mike Carey's The Devil You Know today. The book gets something of a mixed review from me. There were parts I found very clever and entertaining, sometimes catching myself just on the verge of laughing out loud as I read. But somehow, the book didn't hit me just right overall. It wasn't as "un-put-down-able" as some books, partly because there seemed to be a few parts where I saw what was coming a little too easily.

 I do like the premise of the tale, though, where the world of the future is one in which the dead and undead have come to mix in with the everyday lives of the living. Seeing how the people of that possible future world cope with the changes — and their moral implications — was actually pretty engaging. There's a lot of wry humor and a jaded tone overall, but underlying it there is a thoughtful consideration for whatever beings make up the vast race of humanity. I thought that was pretty well-done in the book, and it is probably the aspect of The Devil You Know that I liked best.

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The Graveyard Book

I finally got to spend a bit of time on some reading suitable to be reviewed at this blog, and I sure hit on a good one! I finished Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book in 2 days. I finished it that quickly because I just couldn't put it down. It was a very entertaining read.

The story was a typical well-paced Gaiman tale, with his usual dash of wry, clever humor. I found the character Bod particularly endearing. I really liked the trouble he kept stumbling into, and loved the resolution of his story, and how it formed him at last into a man instead of a boy. The heartbreaks he suffered along the way and lessons that he learned in the process all make for good read. It's a story I think is very good for sharing with older kids (preteens and teens), and is also an excellent read for adults.

I'm glad I finally got to this one. In between some reads I "need" to do, it was a real pleasure to get to squeeze out some time for something I wanted to do.


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