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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
On the outside it appears as though Corinne has a perfect life, but after three failed IVF attempts she has one more chance at having a baby. When she finds a little part of a doll house at her door she feels as though it's a good sign. But as more pieces show up she realizes these aren't good signs at all. These are pieces to her childhood doll house. Someone has been inside her home. But why?
Corinne's sister, Ashley, has three children. Her baby girl won't sleep through the night and her teenage daughter doesn't seem to like her much these days. An exhausted Ashley is becoming more and more frustrated with her husband as he spends more and more time at the office. When phone calls from an unknown number start up, she thinks that maybe her husband is having an affair. What else could phone calls like that mean, right?
I tried picking this book up a few times, but wow - boring. I was bored until about 25% at which point I was disgusted. I don't enjoy reading about dead animals, real or fictional. And the author mentioned this same animal over and over and over. I get the connection, but there was no need for it to be in the book. It didn't add anything. Neither did the dead pigeon. I hate that and I was so close to dnfing because of this. But anyway, the story eventually picked up. It was suspenseful. I had to find out who was stalking Corinne and Ashley. And then it kind of fell apart for me at the end. So the middle part was fun but overall it's not going to be a memorable book for me.
Thank you to Netgalley and HQ Digital for an ARC.
Corinne's sister, Ashley, has three children. Her baby girl won't sleep through the night and her teenage daughter doesn't seem to like her much these days. An exhausted Ashley is becoming more and more frustrated with her husband as he spends more and more time at the office. When phone calls from an unknown number start up, she thinks that maybe her husband is having an affair. What else could phone calls like that mean, right?
I tried picking this book up a few times, but wow - boring. I was bored until about 25% at which point I was disgusted. I don't enjoy reading about dead animals, real or fictional. And the author mentioned this same animal over and over and over. I get the connection, but there was no need for it to be in the book. It didn't add anything. Neither did the dead pigeon. I hate that and I was so close to dnfing because of this. But anyway, the story eventually picked up. It was suspenseful. I had to find out who was stalking Corinne and Ashley. And then it kind of fell apart for me at the end. So the middle part was fun but overall it's not going to be a memorable book for me.
Thank you to Netgalley and HQ Digital for an ARC.
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infertility, Mental illness, Stalking, Death of parent
Moderate: Alcohol
4.5/5 I was spooked multiple times. The ending felt a little rushed, but I was invested the whole way through.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed this well written psychological thriller. It has a tense plot with lots of intrigue. Excellent character development. There was a sense of menace throughout the book which made the story compelling but chilling and very creepy.
So many twists and turns, just when you think you have worked out the ending, there is another twist. I didn't guess who was the culprit!
Great plot with a totally unexpected ending. I loved it.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
So many twists and turns, just when you think you have worked out the ending, there is another twist. I didn't guess who was the culprit!
Great plot with a totally unexpected ending. I loved it.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Corinne is fragile. Her father’s death hit her hard, and repeated attempts to get pregnant have trapped her in a cycle of tentative hope followed by crushing disappointment. Sometimes the world is all too much to cope with.
When strange things start happening, no one really takes her seriously. She’s just highly-strung, over-anxious. Little worrying signs that Corinne sees as part of a larger, menacing pattern seem like coincidence to everyone else.
Is Corinne being stalked by someone unknown and malevolent, or is her mind creating monsters out of nothing?
I’m not a huge fan of synopses that end in a question, but it’s the only thing that works here – The Doll House‘s central conflict is more about perception than anything else, and the driver of the first half of the novel is Corinne’s (and to a lesser extent, her sister Ashley’s) struggle with their fears and anxieties.
The Doll House doesn’t have a single focus. The first part of the novel is genre-less, focused on exploring emotions and perceptions rather than plot. Later, it shifts to become a psychological thriller, as the threats move from internal to external. At the end, The Doll House is an action thriller, with screeching sirens and races against time.
This lack of focus weakens the novel, giving it a mis-matched set-up and pay-off. If you’re bored by the slow, cautious start, then you won’t persevere until the more action-heavy ending; if you’re absorbed by the psychological shades-of-grey parts, then the ending falls flat. To my mind, the better sections are earlier on, with the portrayal of possible madness.
As an exploration of anxiety and paranoia, The Doll House is very good. Both Corinne and Ashley are filled with self-doubt and confusion, focusing and fixating on things that everyone is able to let go off. The early stages of the novel are sweet and sad, with convincing prose that makes the main characters easy to identify with. Anxiety is a difficult thing to portray in fiction – major emotional weight on externally minor things comes across as crass or overblown unless it’s very carefully handled. The Doll House pulls the trick off well.
The plot is overly complex, with layers and layers of subterfuge that don’t add as much as they need to justify themselves. It keeps you guessing right up to the big reveal, but a simpler plot would have served the themes just as well. Amongst the madness and the stalking, there’s a lot about architecture, journalism and other things that are relevant, but slow down the story and obscure the key emotions/ideas.
The Doll House is not a happy book, and it’s not exactly fun to read, but it deals with important ideas sensitively. The lack of focus does weaken the book, but the central idea, exploring fear and shifting perceptions, is one that I think should more of a topic in fiction, and it’s one that The Doll House deals with well.
When strange things start happening, no one really takes her seriously. She’s just highly-strung, over-anxious. Little worrying signs that Corinne sees as part of a larger, menacing pattern seem like coincidence to everyone else.
Is Corinne being stalked by someone unknown and malevolent, or is her mind creating monsters out of nothing?
I’m not a huge fan of synopses that end in a question, but it’s the only thing that works here – The Doll House‘s central conflict is more about perception than anything else, and the driver of the first half of the novel is Corinne’s (and to a lesser extent, her sister Ashley’s) struggle with their fears and anxieties.
The Doll House doesn’t have a single focus. The first part of the novel is genre-less, focused on exploring emotions and perceptions rather than plot. Later, it shifts to become a psychological thriller, as the threats move from internal to external. At the end, The Doll House is an action thriller, with screeching sirens and races against time.
This lack of focus weakens the novel, giving it a mis-matched set-up and pay-off. If you’re bored by the slow, cautious start, then you won’t persevere until the more action-heavy ending; if you’re absorbed by the psychological shades-of-grey parts, then the ending falls flat. To my mind, the better sections are earlier on, with the portrayal of possible madness.
As an exploration of anxiety and paranoia, The Doll House is very good. Both Corinne and Ashley are filled with self-doubt and confusion, focusing and fixating on things that everyone is able to let go off. The early stages of the novel are sweet and sad, with convincing prose that makes the main characters easy to identify with. Anxiety is a difficult thing to portray in fiction – major emotional weight on externally minor things comes across as crass or overblown unless it’s very carefully handled. The Doll House pulls the trick off well.
The plot is overly complex, with layers and layers of subterfuge that don’t add as much as they need to justify themselves. It keeps you guessing right up to the big reveal, but a simpler plot would have served the themes just as well. Amongst the madness and the stalking, there’s a lot about architecture, journalism and other things that are relevant, but slow down the story and obscure the key emotions/ideas.
The Doll House is not a happy book, and it’s not exactly fun to read, but it deals with important ideas sensitively. The lack of focus does weaken the book, but the central idea, exploring fear and shifting perceptions, is one that I think should more of a topic in fiction, and it’s one that The Doll House deals with well.
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
fast-paced