A very readable children’s story, with flashes of cleverly drawn observations of human nature. I personally preferred Gaiman's The Graveyard Book (which I felt had more consistent depth). But I did like what Gaiman had to say about parenting, and boundaries, and the idea that perhaps getting all that you ever wanted in life was perhaps not what you really wanted at all. And like other reviewers here, I'm intrigued by the suggestion that Coraline is a book that children experience as an adventure, while it gives adults nightmares ... ( )

Creepy, quirky, and all things to be expected of a Gaiman novel, this is one of those books that I wish had been available to me as a young 10 to 12 year old when all I had to fall back on was the Nancy Drew series. There was certainly nothing this twisted and delightfully dark on the shelves of the school library. As a heroine, Coraline is such a likable, brave girl who takes matters into her own hands when her parents are kidnapped by a dark force that should scare her shitless. Young girls, force-fed Barbie worship and Twilighty longing for a an undead mate, need exposure to more of that. I also like that Gaiman sidesteps the whole "it was just a dream" scenario and ends with enough evidence that Coraline's experience was just what it was--a daunting quest undertaken by an undaunted little girl. ( )

I ♥ This book! ( )

This was excellent. Perfect level of creepy without going too far (i.e., without slipping into too-scary-to-be-enjoyable). Coraline herself is instantly engaging, and all the characters are unique and appealing (or fascinatingly horrible) and believable within the context of the story. Gaiman does such wonderful things with suspense and surprise and disturbing imagery, and there are nice little bits of humor throughout to help offset the horror elements. Coraline is both the (unintentional) source of her own troubles (her annoyance with her boring existence and her inattentive parents leads her to go through the door) and her own (and others’) savior, and even the help she gets from others results from her own actions/interactions with them. Her transformed attitude after her escape is earned and believable. My one complaint is probably just that at the very end, I had trouble believing that the trap Coraline arranged for the other mother’s hand is truly going to keep it trapped forever. I didn’t feel as safe as I think we are meant to by the very end of the story. ( )

Coraline has recently moved to a new apartment with her parents. Their apartment is one of four in a house that contains a kind older gentleman who lives upstairs and who is always talking about his mice and their soon to come show. Her other neighbors are the two older ladies who were once actresses and who have become somewhat eccentric. Coraline is lonely as her parents are very absentminded and sometimes treat her as a nuisance. But she has her neighbors and they are sweet and treat her well.

One day while exploring the apartment, she discovers a door way that opens unto a brick wall. Though this development proves to be unexciting, she on another visit discovers that the door rather than having the brick wall leads into a hallway. She follows the hallway and ends up in an apartment that looks exactly like hers with a few differences and most surprising of all is that the two adult inhabitants like exactly like her mother and father. In this version of her world, her parents are extremely attentive, cooking her delicious meals, allowing her lovely toys and a more beautiful room the one in her world. But Coraline is an unusually perceptive girl and though she is at first impressed with this new life, she wants to go home. Her look alike parents, "the other mother" and "the other father", try to bribe her with promises of all the good things that will be hers, but Coraline insists that she wants to return home. When she refuses all overtures her other mother somehow manages to kidnap Coraline's real parents. When Coraline returns home, she searches all over for her parents but they are nowhere to be found. She then realize what her other mother has done and she vows to rescue her parents.

I listened to this as an audio book and Neil Gaiman does the narration. Gaiman is a very good reader and I was immediately engaged. The story was quite creepy and there were moments where I was not sure how it would pan out for Coraline. Coraline may be a child but she was a very intelligent one who was not swayed by nice things realizing that though her parents were absentminded and sometimes careless of her feelings, they genuinely loved her. She rejects the offer of having whatever she wants and she tells her other mother that life is not supposed to be all about getting whatever you want because when you are denied something sometimes its for your own good. I really, really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read more by Gaiman.

I am not sure how appropriate this would be for a very young child as it may frighten them unduly. I think it is probably best for the 12 and above crowd. ( )