Author
Dipika V. - Contributing Editor
9/15/2021
Coraline is a dark fantasy novel written by award winning author Neil Gaiman in 2002. There is also a movie adaptation of the book. The book follows around the adventure of young Coraline.
Coraline has just shifted a to a new apartment and she is already troubled. Her parents are often busy to spend time with her and tell her to go and ‘’explore’’ the new apartment. Being an obedient and a good child, she walks out of the apartment and decides to first meet her new neighbors.
The neighbor she met were 2 old ladies who were retired, Miss Spink and Miss Forcible. Both of them seemed very welcoming to her. Miss Spink tells her that she is in great danger and hands over her a circular ring painted in golden-yellow color.
She describes Mr. Bobo as the ‘’crazy old man’’ who lives upstairs and trains a mice circus. I feel like the name suits him pretty well but later on in the book he turns out to be a sweet guy.
She soon discovers a door in her new apartment which leads to nowhere. I guess the saying ‘’some doors are never meant to be opened’’ fits perfectly here as the door leads to the what Coraline describes as ‘’the other world’’. In the ‘’other world’’ she meets her ‘’other’’ mother who seems to be very caring and says that she wants to spend time with Coraline and play with her, unlike her mother in ‘’real’’ world.
The rest of the book follows Coraline meeting and exploring the ‘’other world’’ and how she finds out the terrible truth of ‘’the other world’’. The book is filled with plot twists that you won’t even see coming. And whole lots of mystery and creepiness.
It is the best horror-dark fantasy I have read so far and the illustrations before the start of every chapter are just amazing. I really loved the ending. The appropriate audience for the book would be 11+. It is a full dark, horror, mystery and a fictional treat.