Independent Reading Novel Review

Note: Since the intention of this blog is for a school assessment, I will rotate between the story of Bastien’s school life, and independent reading reviews. Please bear with this. 

Thank you.

Coraline review

Coraline is a novella that was written by Neil Gaiman during the year 2002.

About the author:
Neil Gaiman was born in 10th november, year 1960. He was an avid reader as a child, and enjoyed the Lord of the Rings, the Narnia Chronicles, and Batman comics, among several other books. He pursued journalism during his 20s, and has written several books, such as Good Omens and Coraline. He has also been involved with graphic novels, with notable works including The Sandman.

Synopsis:
Coraline is a “different” child. She is constantly bewildered by the behavior of her parents (they both work at home, and have no time to play with Coraline), and is surrounded by strange neighbors, such as the retired actresses Ms. Forcible and Ms. Spinks, and Mr. Bobo, a supposedly insane man who is training mice for a circus. Because of her unfortunate circumstances, Coraline is bored out of her wits.

Then, Coraline finds the Other World. The Other world is a reflection of Coraline’s home, only more exciting, and better: Her parents are extremely attentive to her, Spinks and Forcible are fabulous actors, and Mr. Bobo does have a circus of rats which do amusing tricks. In this world, in which every one of Coraline’s dreams come true, there is one strange difference, and it is the fact that everyone who resides in this world have buttons for eyes. When the mother from the other world asks Coraline to join the other world, and have her eyes sewed with buttons, Coraline runs away in fear to the real world, only to find her parents gone: Their parents were kidnapped by the other world.


To rescue her kidnapped parents, Coraline is forced to play a game against Belham. A game in which Coraline has to find the souls of the three children whom Belham has previously devoured. By using her inherent bravery and wisdom, Coraline frees the children’s souls, and rescues her parents. From the adventure, Coraline is finally able to appreciate her parents little by little, and realize the warmth her neighbors have within them.

Reviews & Thoughts:
Despite being a novella that was written for children, Coraline succeeds in the genres of fantasy and horror: Something that delights me, knowing that the reason I picked this novel up was to see the difference between the movie and the book.
Coraline is clearly a beautiful piece of work with a lot of imagination, but it also has a lot of similarity with Alice in Wonderland when it comes to main themes, such as understanding the adult world, and experiencing a world much different from the protagonist’s world.

From this book, I was able to learn that good books do not have to be long, and that, in certain cases, short novels work just as well.