Coraline by Neil Gaiman - Book Review

Our journey begins with Neil Gaiman’s young heroine; Coraline Jones, as she drags us through a tiny door that leads to her apartment. Only it’s not her apartment; it’s eerily different. Not in terms of furniture, but its owners as well. 

“Who are you?” asked Coraline.

"I'm your other mother," said the woman. 

The nightmare begins with Coraline’s parents moving into their new apartment, as Coraline commences her exploration journey, she meets her next-door neighbors and discovers her new apartment.

She finds an ominous-looking door that leads her to her other parents, other neighbors, and deadly creatures. As Coraline unveils the dangers of this world; she plays a dangerous game of saving herself and so many victims of the other mother. 

Gaiman’s characters are quirky and fun to get to know, especially Coraline, who is hungry for exploring her surroundings and persistently seeks adventures. Through Coraline’s miss unfortunate adventure, themes of bravery rise up to the surface.

Even though Coraline finds herself surrounded by dreadful beings; she summons the bravery to escape and beats them at their own game. Gaiman carefully constructs a strong protagonist, who has to run her life by herself, with the exception of her feline helper.

These two characters are the only two who don’t change within the two worlds; whereas everything else is mirrored. Which draws speculation to the cat, since it’s such a mysterious creature that doesn’t reveal its name, comes and goes as it pleases between the two worlds, and doesn’t have a double. Almost as if she’s part of Coraline’s identity. 

This novella creates the perfect balance between the grotesque and the horrific images that Gaiman perfectly sews in within the story-almost as perfect as the other mother’s sewed button eyes. 

This frightening piece is an absolute MUST READ, only if you can handle it.