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lyndajdickson's review
3.0
Doll Parts is a collection of three stories of obsession and love that is not bound by convention.
In "Apartment Love", Marilyn, now marred to Stefano, recalls the time she spent in her first apartment with her female lover, Ava. What happens when Ava shows up again after all this time?
In "Scared of Girls", Marzio and Viola are soul mates, or so she thinks. Manu finds himself strangely attracted to both Marzio and Fuxia, an exotic dancer at his club. What secret is Marzio hiding?
"Post-Orgasmic Chill" tells the story of Domi, Daniel, his girlfriend Alizée, and rock star Lux. How do all of their lives intertwine?
"Apartment Story" is both chilling and suspenseful and is my favorite in this collection. The characters in all of the stories are not particularly likable and their motivations are questionable. The characters in "Post-Orgasmic Chill", in particular, do not behave rationally, and their reactions do not appear to be in proportion to the situations. However, I did enjoy this story being told from different perspectives. While the ending of the first story took me by surprise, the other two are a bit predictable.
The author uses her words sparingly, but manages to convey a depth of meaning and feeling. She is particularly adept at using scents in her writing. Unfortunately, there are some issues with word usage, indicating that English is not the author's first language. Some of the similes (of which there are many) are awkward and clumsy. This could be a beautiful book if edited well.
Warnings: LGBT themes, horror, coarse language, graphic sex scenes, violence, drug use.
I received this book in return for an honest review.
Full blog post: https://booksdirectonline.blogspot.com/2015/12/doll-parts-by-azzurra-nox.html
In "Apartment Love", Marilyn, now marred to Stefano, recalls the time she spent in her first apartment with her female lover, Ava. What happens when Ava shows up again after all this time?
In "Scared of Girls", Marzio and Viola are soul mates, or so she thinks. Manu finds himself strangely attracted to both Marzio and Fuxia, an exotic dancer at his club. What secret is Marzio hiding?
"Post-Orgasmic Chill" tells the story of Domi, Daniel, his girlfriend Alizée, and rock star Lux. How do all of their lives intertwine?
"Apartment Story" is both chilling and suspenseful and is my favorite in this collection. The characters in all of the stories are not particularly likable and their motivations are questionable. The characters in "Post-Orgasmic Chill", in particular, do not behave rationally, and their reactions do not appear to be in proportion to the situations. However, I did enjoy this story being told from different perspectives. While the ending of the first story took me by surprise, the other two are a bit predictable.
The author uses her words sparingly, but manages to convey a depth of meaning and feeling. She is particularly adept at using scents in her writing. Unfortunately, there are some issues with word usage, indicating that English is not the author's first language. Some of the similes (of which there are many) are awkward and clumsy. This could be a beautiful book if edited well.
Warnings: LGBT themes, horror, coarse language, graphic sex scenes, violence, drug use.
I received this book in return for an honest review.
Full blog post: https://booksdirectonline.blogspot.com/2015/12/doll-parts-by-azzurra-nox.html
melsbookshelf's review
4.0
3.5 Stars
Firstly, the cover of Doll Parts is fantastic! When I first saw it I was compelled to check it out! I feel the cover gave a fairly accurate indication of the mood of the three stories. Especially the second story.
There are three short stories in this book. Their names are all based on songs. I wasn't sure if the author got inspiration from the songs themselves, or merely the name of the songs, but I thought it would be fitting to listen to them in combination with the stories. Music is obviously very important to the author and I'm pleased to say that I thoroughly enjoyed them. Especially the Skunk Anansie album - I haven't listened to them in years!
Apartment Story: I enjoyed this little story. A bored married woman finds herself speaking to an old lover, who wants to rent out an apartment that she owns. Temptation follows, however then her ex lover disappears... I loved the feeling of the story, the angst of the main character in her dull life and the opportunity to rekindle something that was lost. I admit I was disappointed by the ending. I really wanted more answers, however I think I get what the author was trying to do with it.
Scared of Girls: This was my favourite story in the book. I really enjoyed the twist, even though I saw it coming. I wont give a story run down of this one because it will give it away. It touches on subjects of homosexuality and transgender issues. It had a bit of violence but ultimately was really beautiful in the end. Makes you think about love in a whole different way. I loved that.
Post Orgasmic Chill - This was my least favourite of the stories... I thought it was clever intertwining all the different characters together. Maybe I just wasn't expecting it to be quite so graphic, and I'm afraid the relevance of the graphic scenes, was a bit lost on me. I think I just failed to see the point of it. I'm imagining its about what constitutes fidelity, but I'm still a bit confused to be honest. And the pregnancy and abortion storyline lost me also. Perhaps it was just about how completely stuffed up all their lives were at the time... And what turned me off the whole story was Lux. The whole thing left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth after the two previous stories.
Overall Doll Parts was written really well. I enjoyed the music references and the stories flowed well. The first two stories were really enjoyable and I especially would have liked to read more about the first story. I really wanted to know what happened. It also made me want to get out my old Marilyn Manson CD's which are lost somewhere. Thankfully there is spotify!
The characters were all original and even though a few of them were not likeable, they were still all interesting to read about! I will be interested to check out the authors other work!
This book is definitely not for readers under 18.
Overall I enjoyed it. I would recommend it for fans of darker stories, who are not afraid to read about controversial issues, and are ok with graphic scenes including a disturbing rape scene.
Many thanks to the author and YA Bound Book Tours for a copy in exchange for my review.
For more reviews check out my blog
www.booksbabiesbeing.com
Twitter
www.twitter.com/BBB_Mel
Facebook
www.facebook.com/booksbabiesbeing
Firstly, the cover of Doll Parts is fantastic! When I first saw it I was compelled to check it out! I feel the cover gave a fairly accurate indication of the mood of the three stories. Especially the second story.
There are three short stories in this book. Their names are all based on songs. I wasn't sure if the author got inspiration from the songs themselves, or merely the name of the songs, but I thought it would be fitting to listen to them in combination with the stories. Music is obviously very important to the author and I'm pleased to say that I thoroughly enjoyed them. Especially the Skunk Anansie album - I haven't listened to them in years!
Apartment Story: I enjoyed this little story. A bored married woman finds herself speaking to an old lover, who wants to rent out an apartment that she owns. Temptation follows, however then her ex lover disappears... I loved the feeling of the story, the angst of the main character in her dull life and the opportunity to rekindle something that was lost. I admit I was disappointed by the ending. I really wanted more answers, however I think I get what the author was trying to do with it.
Scared of Girls: This was my favourite story in the book. I really enjoyed the twist, even though I saw it coming. I wont give a story run down of this one because it will give it away. It touches on subjects of homosexuality and transgender issues. It had a bit of violence but ultimately was really beautiful in the end. Makes you think about love in a whole different way. I loved that.
Post Orgasmic Chill - This was my least favourite of the stories... I thought it was clever intertwining all the different characters together. Maybe I just wasn't expecting it to be quite so graphic, and I'm afraid the relevance of the graphic scenes, was a bit lost on me. I think I just failed to see the point of it. I'm imagining its about what constitutes fidelity, but I'm still a bit confused to be honest. And the pregnancy and abortion storyline lost me also. Perhaps it was just about how completely stuffed up all their lives were at the time... And what turned me off the whole story was Lux. The whole thing left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth after the two previous stories.
Overall Doll Parts was written really well. I enjoyed the music references and the stories flowed well. The first two stories were really enjoyable and I especially would have liked to read more about the first story. I really wanted to know what happened. It also made me want to get out my old Marilyn Manson CD's which are lost somewhere. Thankfully there is spotify!
The characters were all original and even though a few of them were not likeable, they were still all interesting to read about! I will be interested to check out the authors other work!
This book is definitely not for readers under 18.
Overall I enjoyed it. I would recommend it for fans of darker stories, who are not afraid to read about controversial issues, and are ok with graphic scenes including a disturbing rape scene.
Many thanks to the author and YA Bound Book Tours for a copy in exchange for my review.
For more reviews check out my blog
www.booksbabiesbeing.com
www.twitter.com/BBB_Mel
www.facebook.com/booksbabiesbeing
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