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A review by astralasher
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
Rating this is so incredibly hard for me honestly. Let me start with the fact that the movie is my favorite movie of all time. I’ve seen it probably at least 35+ times, I adore it, it’s my safety/comfort movie (idk what that says about me but I digress)
I think because of that, it’s impossible for me to divorce this book from the movie in my mind. I think if I read this as a kid, I would’ve adored it. For me now, I simply think this story is better told in movie form (personally). The book didn’t really capture the luminous whimsy and unsettling vibes that the movie was able to. Which I know isnt /bad/ it’s simply different, but that’s what I loved the most about the movie! It felt just a little flat. There weren’t many descriptions at all I feel like, so if I hadn’t seen the movie, I’m not sure that I really would’ve been to visualize it that well. And because of that, the images I saw in my mind were from the movie since nothing was really explained that well.
Regardless, I still think this is a masterful work, and 5 stars from other people are totally justified in my eyes. It just wasn’t my personal reading experience. I think Neil captured the confidence / ignorance of being a child and the strenuous relationship between kids feeling like their parents don’t care about them simply because they’re busy and can’t commit 100% of their time to them all of the time. However, I still think the movie captured this better. I can’t really explain why right now though. I think like I said, it just fares better in a visual format. I also really preferred Coralines personality in the movie. In this she definitely has a similar strength of course, but I like that the movie coraline was a little more over dramatic and snarky.
Still a lovely read regardless! If you haven’t seen the movie or aren’t a huge fan of it in general, I think you might get more out of this than someone who rides or dies for the film!
Edit; I listened to this on audiobook narrated by the other, and I’ve since learned that there’s a full cast version! If I listened to that I think this might’ve been a more enjoyable experience over all so i would definitely check that out if you like audiobooks!
I think because of that, it’s impossible for me to divorce this book from the movie in my mind. I think if I read this as a kid, I would’ve adored it. For me now, I simply think this story is better told in movie form (personally). The book didn’t really capture the luminous whimsy and unsettling vibes that the movie was able to. Which I know isnt /bad/ it’s simply different, but that’s what I loved the most about the movie! It felt just a little flat. There weren’t many descriptions at all I feel like, so if I hadn’t seen the movie, I’m not sure that I really would’ve been to visualize it that well. And because of that, the images I saw in my mind were from the movie since nothing was really explained that well.
Regardless, I still think this is a masterful work, and 5 stars from other people are totally justified in my eyes. It just wasn’t my personal reading experience. I think Neil captured the confidence / ignorance of being a child and the strenuous relationship between kids feeling like their parents don’t care about them simply because they’re busy and can’t commit 100% of their time to them all of the time. However, I still think the movie captured this better. I can’t really explain why right now though. I think like I said, it just fares better in a visual format. I also really preferred Coralines personality in the movie. In this she definitely has a similar strength of course, but I like that the movie coraline was a little more over dramatic and snarky.
Still a lovely read regardless! If you haven’t seen the movie or aren’t a huge fan of it in general, I think you might get more out of this than someone who rides or dies for the film!
Edit; I listened to this on audiobook narrated by the other, and I’ve since learned that there’s a full cast version! If I listened to that I think this might’ve been a more enjoyable experience over all so i would definitely check that out if you like audiobooks!