Coraline by Neil Gaiman Review

Coraline by Neil Gaiman- Read May 3

Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

This is my fifth Neil Gaiman book and it is a great novel that I cannot help but love. I have enjoyed every one of his books and this one is no exception to that. It is a great creepy children's novel that I would give the highest recommendation for. I adored this book.

Coraline is a young girl who lives in a house that her and her parents share with other tenants; to elderly actresses and an elderly man. One of the flats on the other side of the house is empty and there is a door to it in Coraline's house that has been boarded up. One day while her mother is out getting groceries, Coraline goes into the other flat and it is not boarded up anymore. There she meets her "other" parents who want her to stay with them. At first this place seems some what idealistic but slowly Coraline realizes the "other" parents are not what they seem. Similarly to The Wizard of Oz movie everyone in Coraline's life has a doppelganger in this other world.  A great little book that can easily be read in a day or around that amount of time. I did not want to put this down once I started it. Another great book by Neil Gaiman.

Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi

📏  Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi- Read May 1-3rd  🦊

Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

This book met my every expectation for it and I am so glad I picked to read it this week. I fell in love with the characters in this piece and also the worlds that it took place in. I cannot tell you enough about how much these worlds took me in. So good!

The main character of the novel is named Alice Alexis Queensmeadow (I love her name) and she is a very intriguing girl. She was born with almost pure white skin and hair. Her world, Ferenwood, is a world filled of color and she is the only person there that does not have any color besides her eyes. In her world color shows magic and many of the people there do not believe that she has any magic because of this. They also believe that she is strange. Many people would let this get to them but not Alice. She is full of confidence and is herself all the time and is not afraid to say so. 

Alice's father went missing three years before this story and she feels that no one else cares for her after this. Her mother is distant and many of the people in town are constantly making rude comments about her. She is determined to find her father and will set out on any adventure to do it. Along with a boy named Oliver, Alice sets out to a world named Furthermore that is different from what she was expecting. There they will do anything to find her father and bring him back safely. 

This story is geared towards Middle Grade but I cannot help but think that anyone would have a fun time reading this (I believe anyone can enjoy a good Middle Grade novel. I don't care what age you are). Not only is this a great adventure story but it also is a story about individuality. Alice is never afraid of being herself and will let anyone know this. She, I believe would be a great inspiration for younger readers and even older readers.

This was a great novel and it makes me want to read more of Tahereh Mafi's works. She writes in clever prose with beautiful lyrical writing. Also her asides are quite funny along with the chapter introductions. I must say I am very happy that I started my reading this month with such a wonderful book. I hope she will write more books like this if not a sequel. I know that I would definitely read it.