Coraline

This is a somewhat scary children's (maybe middle grade) story - our POV character finds a portal to a somewhat different dimension and has to be brave and use creativity to save herself and others. In the end, she realizes that real life is quite interesting after all, and love isn't about always getting what you want. Well done.

This is a popular, well-known middle grade book (though, I suppose to most the movie is better known) that I've had the pleasure of revisiting recently. Still an absolute joy to read...an eerie, haunting, and disturbing joy, but a joy nonetheless. Gaiman always writers masterfully, and even though Coraline is geared toward a younger demographic, I loved it.

minor spoilers

This was very well written (although a bit creepy). I absolutely love Neil Gaiman reading aloud in creepy voices. I also really liked how Coraline was such a determined and smart little girl, who loved exploring and didn't shy away from problems she knew could only be solved by her and no one else.

That said, I got a nightmare thanks to the scene with the other-mother

This is like the perfect Halloween read that I read in winter instead; not that it was any less creepy. The author says in the interview that younger readers find this book to be an adventure whereas the adults get scared and I think that's the perfect description. It's eerie, terrifying and very unlike anything I would ever read, but ultimately it's a story about bravery and I ended up enjoying it.

I still won't say that Gaiman's writing style or humor works for me, but I now have hope that maybe I can get used to it given time. Let's see !!!

read for halloweekend: set around halloween/gives halloween vibesneil gaiman is a good story teller and i'm sure i would like this more if i didn't see the movie. the pacing of this book compared to the movie was just so off to me because everything was happening so quickly, it didn't have time to first develop coraline as a character and second give that creepy eerieness and tension the movie has. this isn't a bad book by any means especially since it's for children but it's still disappointing 

Oh Gaiman writes amazing stories! This is a quick read and the version I have had some great illustrstions. The story is not one specific type of supernatural charcter, which I love. You can't put it in a particular category. Coraline is a brave explorer girl and faces down some scary things to save people. In the process, she discovers how to appreciate those around her better. Gaiman is like Tim Burton, except it is books, so it is better.

I've been fan of Neil Gaiman ever since I read Sandman a couple of years ago. I'm always fascinated by his way of tying the themes of his work to the fantasy genre and how, with a few words, achieves images that stay with you. I strongly believe he's one of the best writers we have working today, and after reading a lot of his books and comics I can say that Coraline is one of his bests.

Gaiman has a language in this novel that radiates his style and charisma and uses it to put you in the perspective of a nine year old girl and makes you think and react like her. I've never seen someone describe childhood like this, it's like being a child who wanted to explore and play all day again.

The themes of this book are ones that everyone can feel identified and he portrays them in a way that every person, no matter their age, can comprehend. At the same time, he uses those themes to develop his characters achieving a very particular and lovable cast (especially the protagonist Coraline), but who also has a depth and complexity within them.

But Coraline is a horror book and one that never shies away of that. The novel chooses which moments lean over to these aspect and does it in an excelent way, always taking into account the themes and with the reason for what it's doing, achieving horrofic scenes at the same time that visualy and conceptualy shocking but, some how, that still work for every audience.

Setting up themes and situations since the first page to bring them up again later in the book, developing his plot and set of characters with a prose that puts you in the skin of a girl to small for her age trying to learn what means to be brave and the the value of things, Neil Gaiman achieved a work like no other.

In the past few months, I've heard a lot of good things about Neil Gaiman's work, and so I was really excited when I realised that Coraline was one of his novels. I can confirm that what I had heard was true, I wasn't disappointed!

Coraline is the story of a young girl who just moved into a new house with her family. Sadly, her parents are really into their work, and so they don't really pay attention to their daughter. Actually, they don't pay attention at all, and at first I was really shocked and angry at them (until I understood that the book was based on this).

The story is really fast paced. It took me about 3 hours to get through. I just couldn't put it down. And I really like that there were illustrations at the beginning of every chapters. The drawings were spooky and gave the book an extra touch of creepiness!

Overall it's just a really fun and creepy read! I'm definitely going to check out the graphic novel. The movie in 3D was also really really good! I highly recommend anyone to pick up this book, you won't be disappointed!

Full review over @ The Hungry Bookster