The Other Mother: A wickedly honest parenting tale for every kind of family

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Shape-Shifting: The Beldam's appearance was not specified until the graphic novel (comic) and the movie. In the novella (book), it is written that she appeared like Coraline's mother but taller and thinner with the notorious button eyes, the graphic novel (comic) reflected on the novella (book)'s description; unlike in the movie, she is identical to Coraline's mother with the exception of a tidier look and the button eye When her true nature is revealed, she instantly drops her loving maternal figure and becomes a cruel and authoritarian figure who is determined to do anything to consume her victims' flesh and trap their souls, no matter how twisted and sadistic these measures are. This includes torturing her creations, especially those who genuinely care for the Beldam's victims (i.e. Other Wybie and Other Father), so that they could be driven to do things against their will, such as harming innocent children. I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Librarything in return for an unbiased review (thank you!). The inhabitants of the Other World are the Beldam's creations and like her, they have button eyes but they are created out of sawdust, like the button-eyed ragdolls that she sends to her victims unlike herself.

Michael misses his father, suffering from anger management issues, seeing school therapist, standing up to school’s bullies, taking care of his siblings even though he hardly stands their quirky antics and collecting money to pay his debt to his stepfather. The author did a good job with Michael; I could hear his voice clearly in my head, imagine the way he interacted with his siblings, mother and classmates.

Books & Arts

Video Game [ ] In the DS game, the Beldam appears at the same time as in the movie. The only remarkable changes with the movie are that first there's no transition between the forms, secondly, instead of grabbing Coraline and pushing her into the mirror, she gets her to the front of the mirror first before pushing her, and thirdly, instead of having Coraline to shut the door, the Beldam will instead pursuit her in the tunnel. This section requires expanding with knowledge derived from the video game. Powers, Abilities, Knowledge [ ] Powers; Natural [ ] It is emphasized in the original book that eating the food the other mother serves is highly dangerous, and eating it makes Coraline's head feel fuzzy and make her less able to see through The Beldam's illusions. There is no reference to this in the movie; but it is worth noting that Coraline stresses how the food seems 'better' in the other world. This correlates to faerie folklore; as it is believed that eating food from the faerie world is terribly dangerous, and consequences range from being trapped in the faerie realm forever, turning into some sort of animal, or never being satisfied with the food of the human realm ever again. The fact that the first thing the other mother did upon Coraline's arrival was to serve her a meal only proves this point further, as the food may give the other mother certain power over Coraline. This is one of those books that is more fun to read if you don’t know a lot about the plot before hand. All I am going to say is that this story is about two new moms, both suffering from postpartum depression, who become friends after meeting in a support group. But is it really healthy for them to hang out together, feeding off each other’s fears? THE OTHER MOTHER is not something I normally read. It actually was a bit bizarre, dark, and tense for me, but the twists and turns in the storyline and the pull-you-in writing kept me reading.

In a heart-pounding race against time, Jane must find Florrie and uncover the truth. Can she save Florrie and her own family, or will she be too late to stop the unthinkable? The Beldam is a powerful entity, capable of many powers and abilities. Possibly due to witchcraft and control over the other world. After the Other Mother releases Coraline from the mirror, Coraline proposes a game: if she can find the ghost children's souls and her parents, then she, her parents, and the ghost children may go free. If she loses, then Coraline will let the Other Mother sew the buttons into her eyes and become a loving daughter to her. The Other Mother agrees and they both swear on their right hands.When the Beldam speaks to Coraline, she sometimes refers to herself as "your (Coraline's) mother", most notably after she revealed her true colors to Coraline. I really appreciated the uneasy questions this narrative raises in terms of doing right by others and yourself. If you do something terrible (whether it is taking them away from a parent, pressuring them academically, or forcing them to deny who they are) but you have convinced yourself it is the best thing for your child, can you and should you be forgiven? The ending after everything that had gone on was a bit of a letdown... it felt unfinished and abrupt. It did fix one final question but it felt like we were left dangling in a way too.