audiobooks

Coraline Jones, a self-proclaimed explorer, discovers a world of wonder and horror just beyond the old wooden door in her family's living room. With the turn of a lock, Coraline is swept into an apartment that looks eerily like her own, complete with a duplicate set of parents. In this new place, the food tastes delicious, her parents are attentive, and her bedroom is filled with magical toys. However, Coraline soon realizes that her new parents have evil intentions and may never let her leave.

The huge building where Coraline lives is filled with memorable characters. Miss Forcible and Miss Spink, the elderly women on the bottom floor, entertain Coraline by recounting their former days as actresses. In the attic apartment, Mr. Bobo spends hours training his mice for a circus act. However, the young heroine herself emerges as the tale's most remarkable character despite being surrounded by eccentric adults. Coraline is forced to rely on her courage and cleverness to save herself, her real parents, and the souls of three children from the sinister realm behind the door.

This complex tale of alternate realities is filled with vivid imagery that may be too frightening for some timid readers. In addition, the rough pen and ink illustrations by Dave McKean help make the scenes even more chilling. However, Coraline is an extremely exciting story that will delight children who enjoy a good scare and teach them to appreciate the pleasures of everyday life.

So far, I haven't read anything by Neil Gaiman that I didn't enjoy, and Coraline is no different. This is one of the most charming books I've read recently, and like everything else written by Gaiman, it is witty and funny, yet creepy and disturbing at the same time. And while Coraline was written for children, I haven't yet heard any adult complain about it. I haven't asked any kids what they thought about it, but I'm sure kids would have just as much fun as your average adult, if not even more (though maybe not as a bedtime story...).

Coraline is the story of a young girl. A bored, polite, smart little girl, who goes exploring on a rainy day, and obviously runs into trouble. A lot of trouble. But there's more to "Coraline" than that. Gaiman has a wonderful way with words, which never ceases to amaze me (and of course, causes me to ask myself how come I can't write like that), and his dark sense of humor and witty simplicity makes reading "Coraline" a treat for anyone (for example: "She might want something to love... Something that isn't her. She might want something to eat as well. Its hard to tell with creatures like her.").

You simply can't help but to fall in love with Coraline, and the entire book. And obviously, Dave McKean's artwork makes this book even more fun to read.

I give this book 2 stars for the writing talent the author has shown in the past and continues to display in this book. He obviously has a 5-star talent. But this book is not so much scarey as truly creepy -- and not in a nice way. This book is just ugly. And the pictures were even uglier. Think of the emotional reaction to something really sad and sick -- like maybe chronic skin infection exhudate, and that is my reaction to this story. E-e-e-w-h! If that is what you like, then the rating should be 5-star. But if you want a nice day with nice images in your brain, then avoid this book.