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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
2.5 stars. Corrine was overly jumpy and dramatic. Ashley was more of a well rounded character but also, dramatic in her own way. I wanted to roundhouse them both at different times. Stop being so sensitive, Corrine. Discipline your daughter, Ashley. Is she a college student or a 15 year old for goodness sake??? Overall I like the way the story was structured but like most thrillers these days, it felt like it was trying too hard and it had to have dumb characters doing dumb things for the plot to advance.
Oh my gosh I have just finished The Doll House & my jaw is on the actual floor. ⠀
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I was hooked from page 1 & I couldn't put it down it took me a day to read. The storyline, the characters, everything was just amazing. But, the ending though please tell me that we are getting another book I NEED to know what happens. ⠀
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This was my first Phoebe Morgan book & if her others are anything like this one I think I may have found my new favourite author. If you are looking for a new thriller to read I highly recommend this one. ⠀
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I was hooked from page 1 & I couldn't put it down it took me a day to read. The storyline, the characters, everything was just amazing. But, the ending though please tell me that we are getting another book I NEED to know what happens. ⠀
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This was my first Phoebe Morgan book & if her others are anything like this one I think I may have found my new favourite author. If you are looking for a new thriller to read I highly recommend this one. ⠀
C’est dommage de deviner la fin dès les premiers chapitres... 2,5/5 Je ne retiens pas grand chose de ce roman et j’ai trouvé la toute dernière phrase assez ridicule on ne va pas se le cacher.
La lecture en elle-même n’était pas désagréable, les chapitres s’enchaînent, les personnages sont ok, j’avais quand même envie de connaître la fin car je me disais “ça ne peut quand même pas être aussi simple...” ba si !
La lecture en elle-même n’était pas désagréable, les chapitres s’enchaînent, les personnages sont ok, j’avais quand même envie de connaître la fin car je me disais “ça ne peut quand même pas être aussi simple...” ba si !
[Disclaimer: e-ARC received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]
3.25 stars
I enjoyed the book overall but I didn't enjoy the ending and found the story pretty predictable.
I found this novel to be more family drama than thriller. The novel, overall, lacked the suspense I was expecting.
If you enjoy more literary based thrillers than you should check this book out.
3.25 stars
I enjoyed the book overall but I didn't enjoy the ending and found the story pretty predictable.
I found this novel to be more family drama than thriller. The novel, overall, lacked the suspense I was expecting.
If you enjoy more literary based thrillers than you should check this book out.
The beginning if this book didn’t leave much to be desired, but as the story progressed it got better. The chapters go back and forth between the two sisters, and sometimes Dominic, Corinne’s boyfriend. This method of storytelling helped the book keep my attention as I wanted to get back to different character’s to figure out what was going on. The last half of the book finally started giving me enough details to work with, but nothing was revealed till close to the end…. Was I able to guess the big ending? Yes, and no. I guessed part of it, but then there was a big reveal I had not been expecting. All in all, a good read, definitely for a debut novel!
The Doll House is a tale of two sisters; Corinne and Ashley. The story focusses mainly on Corinne and her boyfriend Dominic, with her sister, Ashley and husband, James playing a smaller yet necessary part in proceedings. I want to get this out there as early on as possible and say that I found Corinne hard to like. She felt a little…weak and whiny to me. She couldn’t be in an unexpected situation without the support and reassurance of her boyfriend. Others won’t, of course, feel the same as I do. In fact, I’m pretty sure she will be loved by many readers. At times I wanted to give her a good shake and remind her that we live in the 21st century and woman do not need a man riding to their rescue on a white steed. As I progressed through the book though, I got the impression that the author had written Corinne’s character to be exactly as I had experienced her. She certainly lacked a backbone…until it was needed. Until everything she believed in and loved was on the line. Then, and only then, did Corinne shine for me. Saying that, if I found myself in some of the situations Corinne does, then who knows how I would cope!
I found it much easier to relate, and like Corinne’s older sister, Ashley. Ashley is the mother of three children; one baby, one eight-year-old and one sulky teen. In order to ‘adult’ she works part-time in the local cafe, which is pretty much the only grown-up conversation she has, as her husband works from dawn till night in publishing. Or that’s what he tells her anyway (NB. my husband does not work such long hours nor do I suspect him of extra-marital doings so I may relate, but not totally, lol!). I liked Ashley. She didn’t moan, she wasn’t a daddy’s girl like her younger sibling. She just got on with life and that made her my favourite character in this great book.
Corinne and Dominic’s life is controlled by the need for a baby. After several failed IVF attempts the couple are reaching the end of their very worn tether. Whilst this subplot was interesting I did feel it took over the story a little at times. I wanted a little more threat and impending doom, a little less longing and heartache. But that’s just me and my bloodlust! I did enjoy the way in which Corinne’s fear built as she started to receive the tiny doll house furniture pieces. I loved the way she was the only character in the entire book to see something wrong and sinister with them whilst her loved ones fobbed her off, thinking she was being over-sensitive and hormonal.
The Doll House contains some chapters which are split into the present and the past. I loved the ‘past’ sections as they had a sinister edge to them. You weren’t sure who was narrating these sections but you were fully aware that they were doing something they shouldn’t have been. I loved the way the narrator of these sections aged throughout the book. It’s obvious to the reader that they are very young to start with but as you approach the end, this character is no longer a child and is hellbent on one course of action. Brilliant, and wonderfully intense!
Would I recommend this book? I would. I promise I’m not being derogatory when I say the end of this book was my favourite part. It was action packed, a little bit violent (but not too violent for the squeamish readers) and incredibly satisfying. I can’t go into details but oh my gosh, what a gratifying conclusion. Phoebe Morgan is certainly an author to watch out for based on this, her debut. I’m looking forward to reading more.
Four stars out of five.
I chose to read and review an ARC of The Doll House. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.
I found it much easier to relate, and like Corinne’s older sister, Ashley. Ashley is the mother of three children; one baby, one eight-year-old and one sulky teen. In order to ‘adult’ she works part-time in the local cafe, which is pretty much the only grown-up conversation she has, as her husband works from dawn till night in publishing. Or that’s what he tells her anyway (NB. my husband does not work such long hours nor do I suspect him of extra-marital doings so I may relate, but not totally, lol!). I liked Ashley. She didn’t moan, she wasn’t a daddy’s girl like her younger sibling. She just got on with life and that made her my favourite character in this great book.
Corinne and Dominic’s life is controlled by the need for a baby. After several failed IVF attempts the couple are reaching the end of their very worn tether. Whilst this subplot was interesting I did feel it took over the story a little at times. I wanted a little more threat and impending doom, a little less longing and heartache. But that’s just me and my bloodlust! I did enjoy the way in which Corinne’s fear built as she started to receive the tiny doll house furniture pieces. I loved the way she was the only character in the entire book to see something wrong and sinister with them whilst her loved ones fobbed her off, thinking she was being over-sensitive and hormonal.
The Doll House contains some chapters which are split into the present and the past. I loved the ‘past’ sections as they had a sinister edge to them. You weren’t sure who was narrating these sections but you were fully aware that they were doing something they shouldn’t have been. I loved the way the narrator of these sections aged throughout the book. It’s obvious to the reader that they are very young to start with but as you approach the end, this character is no longer a child and is hellbent on one course of action. Brilliant, and wonderfully intense!
Would I recommend this book? I would. I promise I’m not being derogatory when I say the end of this book was my favourite part. It was action packed, a little bit violent (but not too violent for the squeamish readers) and incredibly satisfying. I can’t go into details but oh my gosh, what a gratifying conclusion. Phoebe Morgan is certainly an author to watch out for based on this, her debut. I’m looking forward to reading more.
Four stars out of five.
I chose to read and review an ARC of The Doll House. The above review is my own unbiased opinion.
Thank you to NetGalley for the copy!
Ashley and Corinne live ordinary lives, by most accounts. The daughters of a well-known British architect, their lives have settled into a kind of routine that's familiar to readers- Ashley struggles with a fussy baby, a teenage daughter, and a husband she suspects may be cheating on her. Corinne, younger and more sensitive, simply wishes to get pregnant, undergoing round of IVF after round of IVF. Tensions run high in both their lives, but nothing is too out of the ordinary... until it is.
Ashley begins receiving strange phone calls, no one on the other end. Corinne, meanwhile begins to find bits of what she believes are her childhood dollhouse left on her front doorstep, and most frighteningly enough, within her own apartment that she shares with her partner, Dominic. While Ashley struggles to stow her worries away, Corinne falls prey to them, facing skepticism wherever she turns, attempting to blame it on the hormones she's taking but not sure.
Doubts creep up on both women- could there be something more at work? As they near the one year anniversary of their father's death, strange events seem to escalate, ending in a conclusion that left me unable to put the book down.
The book does an excellent job of establishing that both women may not be entirely in their right minds; Ashley gets almost no sleep between her baby and worries for her husband, while Corinne is under a regimented dose of hormones and plenty of stress from trying to get pregnant. Yet the author also manages to plant doubts in her mind in the figures that revolve around the two women's lives, leaving me questioning every character they interact with, from their co-workers to the woman in the flat next door. The paranoia is easy to fall into, and delicious to indulge in- maybe Ashley and Corinne are right, after all. There's also an air of supernatural gathered about the work, from rabbit's corpses to objects appearing in locked houses that should never be there.
Hurtling towards a breathless conclusion, the book is a perfect fall read for crisp nights, when you're in the mood for something spooky but not necessarily ghostly, for when you want to fall into that mindset where you must solve the mystery, before its too late.
I did have some issues with Corinne. She's overly dependent on Dominic, her partner, seemingly unable or unwilling to take her own career seriously and hysterical to the point where we sympathize with those who doubt her, sometimes making the chapters in her point of view difficult to read.
That said, there's more than enough to keep one reading, including the small snippets from a mystery character that I waited to be revealed with baited breath.
Ashley and Corinne live ordinary lives, by most accounts. The daughters of a well-known British architect, their lives have settled into a kind of routine that's familiar to readers- Ashley struggles with a fussy baby, a teenage daughter, and a husband she suspects may be cheating on her. Corinne, younger and more sensitive, simply wishes to get pregnant, undergoing round of IVF after round of IVF. Tensions run high in both their lives, but nothing is too out of the ordinary... until it is.
Ashley begins receiving strange phone calls, no one on the other end. Corinne, meanwhile begins to find bits of what she believes are her childhood dollhouse left on her front doorstep, and most frighteningly enough, within her own apartment that she shares with her partner, Dominic. While Ashley struggles to stow her worries away, Corinne falls prey to them, facing skepticism wherever she turns, attempting to blame it on the hormones she's taking but not sure.
Doubts creep up on both women- could there be something more at work? As they near the one year anniversary of their father's death, strange events seem to escalate, ending in a conclusion that left me unable to put the book down.
The book does an excellent job of establishing that both women may not be entirely in their right minds; Ashley gets almost no sleep between her baby and worries for her husband, while Corinne is under a regimented dose of hormones and plenty of stress from trying to get pregnant. Yet the author also manages to plant doubts in her mind in the figures that revolve around the two women's lives, leaving me questioning every character they interact with, from their co-workers to the woman in the flat next door. The paranoia is easy to fall into, and delicious to indulge in- maybe Ashley and Corinne are right, after all. There's also an air of supernatural gathered about the work, from rabbit's corpses to objects appearing in locked houses that should never be there.
Hurtling towards a breathless conclusion, the book is a perfect fall read for crisp nights, when you're in the mood for something spooky but not necessarily ghostly, for when you want to fall into that mindset where you must solve the mystery, before its too late.
I did have some issues with Corinne. She's overly dependent on Dominic, her partner, seemingly unable or unwilling to take her own career seriously and hysterical to the point where we sympathize with those who doubt her, sometimes making the chapters in her point of view difficult to read.
That said, there's more than enough to keep one reading, including the small snippets from a mystery character that I waited to be revealed with baited breath.
Corinne y Dominic se encuentran lidiando con problemas de fertilidad, además del duelo por la muerte del padre de Corinne. Sin embargo, dicha muerte parece estar relacionada con situaciones siniestras que se han estado presentando en la vida de Corinne y su familia últimamente. Por ejemplo, el hecho de que ha estado recibiendo pequeñas piezas de una casa de muñecas que su padre le regaló cuando era niña. Pero, ¿quién está detrás de éstos envíos?, ¿y por qué?
***
Un libro que se apega estrictamente a la fórmula del thriller, dejando sin sorpresas a quienes conocemos el género. Es predecible al 100%.
La villana es más agradable que los protagonistas, pero tampoco es muy inteligente. Y al libro le sobran alrededor de 30 capítulos de aburrida introducción.
Una novela equis.
***
Un libro que se apega estrictamente a la fórmula del thriller, dejando sin sorpresas a quienes conocemos el género. Es predecible al 100%.
La villana es más agradable que los protagonistas, pero tampoco es muy inteligente. Y al libro le sobran alrededor de 30 capítulos de aburrida introducción.
Una novela equis.
According to NetGalley, I downloaded the eARC of this book at the end of August. A lot of stuff was happening in my real life and I ended forgetting about it. I was in between library trips and needed a book for this week’s review so I finally gave this a read.
I did not like Corinne. She was way too much. Too dramatic, neurotic, and, weepy. Most of all, too useless. She was not a provocative character. She got freaked out a lot and cried and then called her boyfriend. Even before the weird creepy shit started to happen, she was quick to fly off her rocker with no provocation. I much preferred to read about Ashley’s life. It was far more layered, complex and, frankly, realistic. The trouble with her kids, her husband, her money, along with the weird creepy shit? Nice. I got really annoyed reading through Corinne’s POV after a while.
I couldn’t believe Erin, the person behind all the creepy stuff, had an evil villain monologue. You know in kid’s cartoons where the bad guy almost has the hero but spends, like, 10 minutes giving away his plan? She did that and it was a little cliche for me. Her motivation was logical in a kind of a completely psychotic way. But how did Corinne and Dominic not notice Erin moving into the same building as them?
The ending was so underwhelming. It was more of Corinne being useless. I would have loved an ending where she jumped over the desk and beat June to death, pregnant belly and all. She had the balls to push Erin in front of a train, why not this? It would’ve been totally in character too! Corinne’s so neurotic that that fear could have easily turned into homicidal rage. But whatever, that’s how the book ended.
I wouldn’t recommend this book. A bulk of it was too annoying to read and the ending was boring and unfulfilling.
I did not like Corinne. She was way too much. Too dramatic, neurotic, and, weepy. Most of all, too useless. She was not a provocative character. She got freaked out a lot and cried and then called her boyfriend. Even before the weird creepy shit started to happen, she was quick to fly off her rocker with no provocation. I much preferred to read about Ashley’s life. It was far more layered, complex and, frankly, realistic. The trouble with her kids, her husband, her money, along with the weird creepy shit? Nice. I got really annoyed reading through Corinne’s POV after a while.
I couldn’t believe Erin, the person behind all the creepy stuff, had an evil villain monologue. You know in kid’s cartoons where the bad guy almost has the hero but spends, like, 10 minutes giving away his plan? She did that and it was a little cliche for me. Her motivation was logical in a kind of a completely psychotic way. But how did Corinne and Dominic not notice Erin moving into the same building as them?
The ending was so underwhelming. It was more of Corinne being useless. I would have loved an ending where she jumped over the desk and beat June to death, pregnant belly and all. She had the balls to push Erin in front of a train, why not this? It would’ve been totally in character too! Corinne’s so neurotic that that fear could have easily turned into homicidal rage. But whatever, that’s how the book ended.
I wouldn’t recommend this book. A bulk of it was too annoying to read and the ending was boring and unfulfilling.