Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Paperback, 162 pages
HarperCollins
August 5, 2003
★★★★½☆
Genre: Young Adult
Source: My Boyfriend's Personal Collection
“Coraline's often wondered what's behind the locked door in the drawing room. It reveals only a brick wall when she finally opens it, but when she tries again later, a passageway mysteriously appears. Coraline is surprised to find a flat decorated exactly like her own, but strangely different. And when she finds her "other" parents in this alternate world, they are much more interesting despite their creepy black button eyes. When they make it clear, however, that they want to make her theirs forever, Coraline begins a nightmarish game to rescue her real parents and three children imprisoned in a mirror. With only a bored-through stone and an aloof cat to help, Coraline confronts this harrowing task of escaping these monstrous creatures.”
I should first say right up front that I read this book as part of The Four Month Challenge. One of the parts of the challenge was to read a book that was made into a movie. I had seen the film version of this about a week before I read the book, so accordingly this review will mention the film as well.
Every child has an imagination. Every child dreams of a world where everything is exactly how they want it to be, their parents never tell them “no”, and there is always their favorite foods to eat at dinner. Coraline Jones finds this perfect world on the other side of the door with her Other Mother and Other Father. But even though everything seems perfect, she quickly learns that all good things come to an end and do not come without consequences. One brave little girl goes on a mission to save her parents and some stray souls in her quest to get back home.
Reading this book was a short, pleasant break from my much longer historical fiction that I have been reading. There were fantastic characters and a fun, imaginative story line. The movie was very, very similar to the book (I think that was a good thing in this case as the book was so strong). In the movie there was a young boy character added that was not present in the book – I’m not sure that he was necessary. Other than that, there were not many differences between the two. I very much enjoyed both versions of this story. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a quick, light read or to any imaginative children out there.
Every child has an imagination. Every child dreams of a world where everything is exactly how they want it to be, their parents never tell them “no”, and there is always their favorite foods to eat at dinner. Coraline Jones finds this perfect world on the other side of the door with her Other Mother and Other Father. But even though everything seems perfect, she quickly learns that all good things come to an end and do not come without consequences. One brave little girl goes on a mission to save her parents and some stray souls in her quest to get back home.
Reading this book was a short, pleasant break from my much longer historical fiction that I have been reading. There were fantastic characters and a fun, imaginative story line. The movie was very, very similar to the book (I think that was a good thing in this case as the book was so strong). In the movie there was a young boy character added that was not present in the book – I’m not sure that he was necessary. Other than that, there were not many differences between the two. I very much enjoyed both versions of this story. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a quick, light read or to any imaginative children out there.
Reviews by other bloggers:
Where to Buy: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia
Also by Neil Gaiman:
Neil Gaiman has written many books, among those targeted at the YA audience include:
Hansel & Gretel
Stardust
The Graveyard Book
Unnatural Creatures
Find Neil Gaiman: Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter
Copyright © 2009 by The Maiden’s Court
Sounds interesting! I've seen this one around lately.
ReplyDeleteI've just read & reviewed Coraline, really enjoyed it but havent seen the movie yet. I'm trying to convince my 15yr old son to come with me, is the movie too 'young'?
ReplyDeletePerfectly said! Quick short read and a cute story.
ReplyDelete