Book Review: THE DOLL'S HOUSE

Title: The Doll's House

Author: Lisa Unger

Publisher: Amazon Original Stories

Pages: 98

My GoodReads Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Jules, aged 37, and her 17yo daughter, Scout, are moving into Winslow House, the mansion owned by her boyfriend, Kirin, a handsome, wealthy and famous doll and puppet maker. Scout not only resents the move and the forced separation from her best friend, she is also upset that her mother has moved on from her dad, Doug, a best-selling horror novelist, who died just a year ago. Naturally Scout dislikes Kirin.

When they reach the house, the women discover that the house, though old-fashioned in appearance, has been rigged with smart technology. Then Scout finds a doll that Kirin says belonged to his late sister. But even as Scout makes an attempt to forge a connection with Kirin, she fears that something dangerous is happening at the house.

Then there’s a mysterious girl that both women have sighted on the grounds of Winslow House. Who is she?

The story is written in the first-person present tense PoV of both Jules and Scout.

WHAT I LIKED:

Parts of the story were extremely high on menace and felt super creepy. The story was spooky enough. The AI-type of smart voice and the descriptions of the dolls added further layers of dread to the story.

The writing was good. Here’s a quote I liked:

A good mother is only as happy as her unhappiest child.

The book ends on an interesting cliffhanger.

 

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:

One of the characters writes a book called The Doll’s House, literally the book title. That’s a done-and-overdone trope.

 

ALL SAID AND DONE: This was a good paranormal short story.

 

(I read this book on NetGalley. Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley.)