Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

17 reviews

nyctaea's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, and Child death

Moderate: Abandonment, Kidnapping, and Death

Minor: Animal death, Violence, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Animal cruelty, Blood, Stalking, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Toxic relationship, and Gore

pacifickat's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Neil Gaiman understands how to write magic, especially dark magic, in a way that makes it feel real and old and timeless. He also picks at the edges of our deepest, most primal fears without revealing too much at a time. Love the way he plays with old magic tropes (black cats, talismen, portals, the monster under the bed, mist) in ways that make them feel both refreshingly new and impossibly ancient at the same time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Confinement, Toxic relationship, and Body horror

Moderate: Slavery and Violence

Minor: Kidnapping, Murder, Animal death, and Abandonment

annie_brewer's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Having read the book after watching the movie, my imagination was spoilt! However, the colourful imagery in my mind from the screen fit in nicely with the tale and I am impressed how strong and accurate the movie adaptation was. The parts of the writing not included in the movie were also able to fit in seamlessly in my reccolection of the movie world and were testament to Gaiman's storytelling writing.
The impatient and paticular temprament of Coraline is exceptionally believable, the oddball characters she encounters are an unsettling delight, and the other mother is the queen of creepy!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Blood, Confinement, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Body horror, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Animal death

blitz_ramna's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

For starters, I do love the movie. Even though I do love the movie, for a long time I always wanted to read the book but I somehow never got around to it until now. My best friend bought me a copy for my birthday and I decided to wait to read during the Fall and Halloween. 
I have now found a new favorite. Such a great children's book. The dark themes of the film are there in the book, but with a few extras (not giving any spoilers). 
This book is a must read! 
I also love that I now have my own copy of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Body horror, Child death, and Gore

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Gaslighting

zakura317's review

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Abandonment, Death, Child death, Toxic relationship, Confinement, and Emotional abuse

bowlingforboots's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Confinement, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

fanboyriot's review

adventurous dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I love the vibe of this book.  The horror setting and plot were done really well.  While it’s not as creepy as the film it definitely lives up to its hype.  This is one of the few books where the movie is a good representation of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Body horror, Kidnapping, Child death, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Mental illness, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Murder, Animal death, Violence, Stalking, Body shaming, Death, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Gore, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts

theaceofpages's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I was given this book years ago but just never actually finished it. I started it once and just didn't finish it. I'm a little older the intended audience (in fact I already was when I was gifted it) but this was a fun little quick read. I do think younger me would have enjoyed it more though so it's a pity I didn't come across it sooner.

I watched (again only part of) the movie a few years back and the tone of the book is so different. Coraline is a bit of a brat at the start (although understandably so since this is just hw young kids are). She does, however, clearly mean well and I enjoyed seeing her grow into a better person through her experiences (she definitely made some rather mature discoveries). This is definitely creepy as far as children's stories go and I can definitely recommend it to older children and younger teenagers who love horror (and to those young at heart or just enjoy children's and middle grade books of course Or just those who are interested although you may find the writing a bit more simple than what you are used to if you usually read books intended for older audiences)

Oh and Riddell's illustrations were spectacular as always!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship

Moderate: Confinement, Abandonment, Child death, and Kidnapping

Minor: Animal death

hannahpings's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and Toxic relationship

Minor: Child death

ankiaisreading's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Murder, and Torture