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rachelkat's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
bellebcooper's review against another edition
2.0
The idea of enchanted dolls seemed kind of interesting at the beginning, but as the book went on I felt frustrated with characters making stupid decisions and the twists and turns were too predictable to be satisfying. Easy to read but I wouldn't recommend this one.
hanneke_botervliegje's review against another edition
4.0
Victorian atmosphere in a modern setting; a little odd, but kinda cool. I interpreted the theme of this novel as 'all emotions are valuable', which is great. Most characters were a little too flat for my taste and some of Persephone's developments unrealistic, but the story was very engaging nonetheless and Olivia Vinall did a great job narrating it. Would definitely recommend it. I think this story would be perfect for a play!
sbones's review against another edition
4.0
I really liked this book, it kept me turning the pages, the characters were well fleshed out and i can see what the author was trying to say about being your own person and women can do the same as men, but this only came to the forefront for me towards the end and maybe it would have been better if it was more developed from mid way so that some of the main characters could have more of a say, but thats a small point on my part. The only other thing was I wouldn’t class this too much in the fantasy genre in the fact that once you know how the sorcerers put the enchantments on the dolls then it really doesn’t seem as enchanting (sorry about the pun) as it was with the mystery of it at the beginning. So this part felt a bit weak to me, i don’t want to give anything away on this so can’t say much more. That being said i did really enjoy the style of writing and i would read another book by this author as she kept me engaged from beginning to end.
chryscurl's review against another edition
4.0
This was something a little bit different, there's a wonderful sense of magic and tradition, but the story as a whole it had a very contemporary feel.
An interesting array of characters, motivations and ideas. A very enjoyable and easy read.
I think this would work brilliantly on the big screen, I'd love to actually see the dolls as I think they would be beautiful.
An interesting array of characters, motivations and ideas. A very enjoyable and easy read.
I think this would work brilliantly on the big screen, I'd love to actually see the dolls as I think they would be beautiful.
fourfootedbeasts's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
swhitfield810's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
amotisse's review against another edition
4.0
Can’t quite put my finger on this one...it felt like another time and place, and yet, it was also the here and now.
The characters and their emotional being were as enchanted as the dolls they created...almost as if they were all dolls in a doll house themselves, part of the world and separate at the same time.
Clever and thought provoking.
The characters and their emotional being were as enchanted as the dolls they created...almost as if they were all dolls in a doll house themselves, part of the world and separate at the same time.
Clever and thought provoking.
chrissie_whitley's review
3.0
As much as I adored Mascarenhas's previous book, [b:The Psychology of Time Travel|41035725|The Psychology of Time Travel|Kate Mascarenhas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1533307735l/41035725._SY75_.jpg|59987350], I tried to go into this with tempered expectations. Realizing how difficult it would be to compose a story that was up to the challenge of her debut novel, I let this remain on my unread shelf for over a year. All-in-all, this rounded out and finished up being a pretty standard magical realism book.
The story itself is about the descendants of three of the four families who founded a doll-making shop near Oxford, on a small, fictional island named, Paxton's Eyot. The dolls are carefully constructed and topped with magical enhancements that evoke a particular feeling. The ability to apply these enhancements is a strongly held secret and only particular male descendants of the original four are permitted to become doll makers and learn the magic skill. Despite the fact that all four original makers were female, the following generations all decide that the magic is too much for the women — who just aren't capable enough.
A stranger walks onto the island one day, disrupting everything by claiming to be a descendant of the one original doll maker who died with no children. Larkin claims his right to learn magic doll making because his antecedent had actually absconded to France with the baby everyone had thought died. Meanwhile, Persephone, another descendant from another founder, has gotten it into her head that she wants to be a doll maker despite her gender. Larkin and Persephone make up the bulk of the main storyline and, regardless of the point of view shifting to a few others, really pull along the story on their own.
The feminist angle is a bit too on the nose for the reader — and thus really obviously for the upcoming plot — and yet the women on the island never seem to be at odds with their set circumstances. Other than Persephone, who is never that passionate about it and instead is just takes her desired future as 'one day' inevitable, none of the other women — daughters, wives, and mothers — ever seem that interested in learning the enchantments that set them so far apart from other doll makers in the world.
The characters are pretty well developed, but the story suffers by way of the friction created in the setting and style. Set in present day, the magical fairytale style in which Mascarnenhas has written continually butted heads with the random and spontaneous belches of modern speech — especially anything that might be considered profane. While I liked the majority of the story, the closer I got to the ending, the less focused it became. In fact, the ending was so lackluster, I wasn't even sure it made sense with the characters, particularly the women of the eyot. An admirable sophomore novel, but one that didn't quite bring on the wonder and complexity I remembered from her first novel.
The story itself is about the descendants of three of the four families who founded a doll-making shop near Oxford, on a small, fictional island named, Paxton's Eyot. The dolls are carefully constructed and topped with magical enhancements that evoke a particular feeling. The ability to apply these enhancements is a strongly held secret and only particular male descendants of the original four are permitted to become doll makers and learn the magic skill. Despite the fact that all four original makers were female, the following generations all decide that the magic is too much for the women — who just aren't capable enough.
A stranger walks onto the island one day, disrupting everything by claiming to be a descendant of the one original doll maker who died with no children. Larkin claims his right to learn magic doll making because his antecedent had actually absconded to France with the baby everyone had thought died. Meanwhile, Persephone, another descendant from another founder, has gotten it into her head that she wants to be a doll maker despite her gender. Larkin and Persephone make up the bulk of the main storyline and, regardless of the point of view shifting to a few others, really pull along the story on their own.
The feminist angle is a bit too on the nose for the reader — and thus really obviously for the upcoming plot — and yet the women on the island never seem to be at odds with their set circumstances. Other than Persephone, who is never that passionate about it and instead is just takes her desired future as 'one day' inevitable, none of the other women — daughters, wives, and mothers — ever seem that interested in learning the enchantments that set them so far apart from other doll makers in the world.
The characters are pretty well developed, but the story suffers by way of the friction created in the setting and style. Set in present day, the magical fairytale style in which Mascarnenhas has written continually butted heads with the random and spontaneous belches of modern speech — especially anything that might be considered profane. While I liked the majority of the story, the closer I got to the ending, the less focused it became. In fact, the ending was so lackluster, I wasn't even sure it made sense with the characters, particularly the women of the eyot. An admirable sophomore novel, but one that didn't quite bring on the wonder and complexity I remembered from her first novel.