Review: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Author: Neil Gaiman
Publisher: Sorry, forgot to check
Genre: Fiction, children
Format: Hardback, 162 pages
Source: the library

From mousecircus.com:

"Coraline discovered the door a little while after they moved into the house . . ."

The door once led to a room, but when the old house was converted into flats the doorway was bricked up. That is, until the day a curious little girl named Coraline sneaks the key from her distracted mother, opens the door . . . and enters an alternate universe, where dogs eat nothing but chocolate, cats can talk, and she is greeted enthusiastically by her Other Parents.

Her Other Mother looks quite a bit like her own mother -- except for the long spindly fingers and shiny black button eyes -- but it's her disposition that is most remarkable. Where her real mother always seemed too busy for Coraline, her Other Mother is attentive and affectionate. She cooks delicious meals, showers the little girl with praise, and asks Coraline to stay with her forever.

But Coraline misses her real parents -- tiresome as they sometimes are -- and insists on returning to the real world. There, she finds her parents trapped in the hallway mirror, victims of her Other Mother's evil spell. Now she must take a dangerous journey back into the other world . . . or risk never seeing her parents again!

My Thoughts:

This was a cute little story. Coraline is an adventurer and as the summer wears on, she becomes bored with her surroundings and parents. So when she finds that secret door, it just calls to her. Coraline visits the Other house. complete with an Other Mother and Other Neighbors. Coraline contemplates for a brief moment what it would be like to live there. She quickly decides that her real life and parents are just fine, but encounters some difficulties when she tries to go back.

I could easily relate to Coraline because in my younger days, I would go on adventures when I visited my Aunt's house. She lived next to a cemetery, that was rather beautiful, and there were all kinds of little grottoes and secret places I could discover. That's what Coraline does when she is in the Other house, goes on a little adventure trying out this Other life. Coraline is much smarter than the Other Mother gives her credit for. And at the end of the story, I was quite impressed with Coraline.

The descriptions in the book were excellent. Gaiman just has a way of putting the reader into his story. And just like my friend TeddyRee, I will never look at buttons the same way again either. Creepy little things aren't they?


My Rating: 85/100