It's Coraline not Caroline!

Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.
162 pages
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When Coraline explores her new home, she steps through a door and into another house just like her own... except that it's different. It's a marvelous adventure until Coraline discovers that there's also another mother and another father in the house. They want Coraline to stay with them and be their little girl. They want to keep her forever!

Coraline must use all of her wits and every ounce of courage in order to save herself and return home.







Review: I saw this movie when it was released and thought it was really awesome. The whole idea of having a world where there is another mother and another father with buttons as eyes is a creepy, but unique idea. I found the book was slightly different to the movie, although it has been a long time since I saw the movie so I could've forgotten certain aspects. Coraline is so cool and quirky, It would be awesome to spend time with her. She's such an interesting girl that you can't help but get connected to her right away. Every thing her parents suggest her to do in the holidays is BORING, she wants excitement and adventure, little does she know that is exactly what she gets. The mysterious part of the story in which Coraline has to find a way to get out of the other house is interesting enough, it keeps you intrigued but is fairly simple to figure out what is going on. So in saying that I think the story is suitable for readers of all ages although some younger children may be scared of some of the themes in this book.

To sum up I gave it four stars because I was left wanting a little more. I felt like the other mother didn't get a good comeuppance for her terrible deeds. On a side note, Neil Gaman was the one narrating the audiobook and it was great! I love when an author does the narrating of their own book because you think they would know how the characters should sound.


On the cover: Obviously this is the movie cover, which funny enough I prefer to any other cover. Usually I hate the movie covers on books because most of the time they get actors to play the characters and they look nothing like how they're described in the book. I love the button for the 'O' in Coraline and the cat as the 'L'. Also, the moon is a button and the tree is a hand creeping to snatch up Coraline. This cover is creepy and interesting at the same time. Love it!

What I'm listening on Audio to next: Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead

Have you seen the movie? Which did you like better?

The end to a series or is it??

Now by Morris Gleitzman

Rating: 3 out of 5

Set in the current day, this is the final book in the series that began with Once, continued with Then and is... Now. Felix is a grandfather. He has achieved much in his life and is widely admired. He has mostly buried the painful memories of his childhood, but they resurface when his granddaughter Zelda comes to stay with him. Together they face a cataclysmic event armed only with their gusto and love – an event that helps them achieve salvation from the past, but also brings the possibility of destruction.

Review: This isn't the end of this series, there is a fourth book which has just been released called "After" which I'm really looking forward to reading as it continues Felix's story when he defeats the Nazis. So instead of the final book being voiced through Felix, it's all from Felix's grand-daughter Zelda's point of view. I liked this book but not as much as the other two, mainly because I liked Felix as a character and didn't have that same feeling for Zelda. I also think it's because there was so much more I wanted to read about Felix's story and I didn't feel like it was over yet (but now I know there's more, that makes me happy). Zelda is living with her grandfather because her parents are doctors working overseas and during her stay with her grandfather we get glimpses of how Felix (which is what she calls him in the book, not pop or grand-father etc) has changed since the war and how he moved to Australia. The "event" that happens in this is also based on truth, it really did happen in Australia and that's what makes these books feel so real. The ending was really sweet and a little bit sad, but in a good way if there can be...

On the cover: The cover depicts a scene that happens in the book. Other than that I think this cover isn't all that exciting. I would probably walk straight past it if I hadn't already read the first two in the series.

What I'm listening on Audio to next: House Rules by Jodi Picoult

War = Sadness

Then by Morris Gleitzman
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Felix and Zelda have escaped the train to the death camp, but where do they go now? They're two runaway kids in Nazi-occupied Poland. Danger lies at every turn of the road.

With the help of a woman named Genia and their active imaginations, Felix and Zelda find a new home and begin to heal, forming a new family together. But can it last?

Morris Gleitzman's winning characters will tug at readers' hearts as they struggle to survive in the harsh political climate of Poland in 1942. Their lives are difficult, but they always remember what matters: family, love, and hope.





Review: *Sniff Sniff* Why?! Why did Morris Gleitzman write such a sad story!! This is the follow on to his first book on the holocaust called “Once”. It continues the story of the young Jewsish boy Felix and his little 6 year old friend Zelda. I can’t really say that I enjoyed the first book or this book because it’s such an emotional topic, but I can say that I liked it because Felix felt very real and his voice was very strong throughout the book. It felt exactly like I was hearing the story straight from a 10 year old boys mouth. I don’t want to give away why it’s so sad but something really horrible happens at the end of the book and it left me stunned, I thought to myself ‘How can this be a book aimed at junior aged children? It’s very graphic and devastating at times’. I know, I know, it’s set in World War two and there wasn’t any happy times during the war until people found out it was over but.... I wasn’t expecting that!! This book is only 182 pages (which translates to only 3 and a half hours of listening) so it’s a very short, so when it ended I was craving to know what happened next, I needed to find out the ending to Felix’s story. So I am interested to see what happens in the next book and whether it will be the end to Felix's story.

On the cover: As always there's many covers and this is the cover that I had for the Audiobook. What I find interesting is the brightness of the green and blue, If I had picked this up without knowing anything about it I would think it's not a really sad book about World War two. It seems like it's a coming of age story (which it kind of is but through experience of war not just normal everyday things). The silhouette of the children meant something to me after I finished, It seems a bit like disappearing (but that's all I'll say as it will give away too much).

Listening to next: "Full cupboard of life" by Alexander Mccall Smith

Have you read this series before? What did you think?

Bye for now ~ Sami X