Names, names, names…The names are the first things to go, after the breath has gone, and the beating of the heart. We keep our memories longer than our names.”
-Neil Gaiman, Coraline
Synopsis: Coraline loves to explore, but when she enters a tiny door in her house and finds a home that is nearly identical to hers (only with an uneasy feeling and a pernicious other mother), she can’t wait to return to the same-old-same-old of her previous life.
The Good: The imagery is strong, the description is whimsical without being unrealistic, and Coraline’s character is enjoyable to read. It’s a great book for middle grade readers who are looking for something fantastical and a bit horrific as well.
The Bad: I’ve heard such amazing things about Gaiman’s writing, and I loved the movie version of Coraline, so I expected a bit more from the book. Nothing bad I could put my finger on, but not a whole 5 stars here.
Rating: 4/5 stars.
Challenge(s) satisfied: #5, read a middle grade novel.
Additional notes: If you haven’t seen the movie adaptation by Henry Selick, watch it. It’s extremely well done.
Coraline is book 9 of my Read Harder Challenge. You can also check out my reviews of The Giver and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.
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Victim to Charm 
Funny. I liked the book a lot, lot more than the movie. Which was a good movie, but the book is far more compex, in my opinion.
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Maybe if I’d read the book first I would feel the same way, but it was hard to not think of the book in terms of the movie.
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I found this book to be totally creepazoid.
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There’s a word for it!
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