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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
I loved this book far more than I anticipated. This is one of those books that had the perfect synopsis to get me interested, but that I held off on reading because I thought it might POTENTIALLY fall short of my expectations. So what better way to read it than through the library? And now I'm wishing I had an actual physical copy of the book. Hopefully I can get my hands on one soon.
The story follows 12 year olds Zach, Poppy, and Alice as they go on a "quest" to bury an antique bone China doll in a Cemetery several towns over that they believe contains the ashes of a little girl who'd been murdered. According to Poppy, her restless spirit won't be put to rest until they bury her, and until it is, she'll haunt their dreams with her story.
So first thing's first: I guess it doesn't come as a surprise, because I've always loved this author's middle grade/children's books, but I LOVE her writing. Something about it is charismatic and descriptive and lyrical, but without being overbearing or too flowery. She captures settings and feelings perfectly, without sounding like she's going in circles trying to explain something ten different times. I also loved all the clever literary references thrown in there. I have a feeling some of them, kids wouldn't pick up on. But adults would. While other references would've stood out to the kids immediately.
Next, if you're looking for a haunting middle grade story that's exceptionally dark and deals with difficult and sometimes sensitive themes, this is the book for you. For that reason alone, I believe this book has a lot of crossover success with adults, in addition to its targeted audience of children. Not many authors are capable of doing this so well, so it deserves a mention here.
Something that really stood out to me though was how the author captured what it's like to be in those awkward in-between years as a kid that usually starts when you're eleven or twelve. It's that weird in-between time when you're in middle school and don't feel like a teenager (but desperately want to be one) but neither are you a little kid. When you're going through changes and so are the people around you, and being friends with the opposite sex suddenly gets awkward and weird. When you don't know if you're supposed to act like a kid or a teen, or even an adult, and have one foot in both words that makes navigation so difficult. You want to play but you also kind of want to be treated older than you are, because life is changing around you whether you like it or not. You want to like boys (or girls) and you want to be a grown up, but you're not ready to give up your comforts of early childhood. THAT time. This book really captured that internalized struggle that a lot of kids go through, and it did it so well.
But I think what I liked most about this book (besides the creepy doll part, because I am easily enamored by creepy doll stories) was it's emphasis on stories. And not only regarding stories already written that we love, but the stories we create ourselves. I love how this was tied in with the importance of play, and that no matter how old we are, we don't have to give up stories to be mature or to grow up. The make-believe story that the trio came up with riveted me just as much as the story itself, and I love how both merged together throughout. Not only that, but the author did a fantastic job of executing this.
When Zach's toys were thrown out, that was kinda rough. Growing up is hard, and it sucks that some people think growing up means giving up play. If you asked me what the central theme of this novel was, I'd say it's meant to teach us that we create our own stories, and that we don't have to give those up, stop imagining, and quit playing just because people expect us to "grow up." Growing up is scary enough, and adults don't have everything figured out anyway. So it's worth holding onto those fairytales, toys, and childhood comforts for as long as we can. This book demonstrated that beautifully, and I'm so glad I read it.
Highly recommend this one if you need a darker middle grade book for your TBR, with excellent writing and stories within stories.
The story follows 12 year olds Zach, Poppy, and Alice as they go on a "quest" to bury an antique bone China doll in a Cemetery several towns over that they believe contains the ashes of a little girl who'd been murdered. According to Poppy, her restless spirit won't be put to rest until they bury her, and until it is, she'll haunt their dreams with her story.
So first thing's first: I guess it doesn't come as a surprise, because I've always loved this author's middle grade/children's books, but I LOVE her writing. Something about it is charismatic and descriptive and lyrical, but without being overbearing or too flowery. She captures settings and feelings perfectly, without sounding like she's going in circles trying to explain something ten different times. I also loved all the clever literary references thrown in there. I have a feeling some of them, kids wouldn't pick up on. But adults would. While other references would've stood out to the kids immediately.
Next, if you're looking for a haunting middle grade story that's exceptionally dark and deals with difficult and sometimes sensitive themes, this is the book for you. For that reason alone, I believe this book has a lot of crossover success with adults, in addition to its targeted audience of children. Not many authors are capable of doing this so well, so it deserves a mention here.
Something that really stood out to me though was how the author captured what it's like to be in those awkward in-between years as a kid that usually starts when you're eleven or twelve. It's that weird in-between time when you're in middle school and don't feel like a teenager (but desperately want to be one) but neither are you a little kid. When you're going through changes and so are the people around you, and being friends with the opposite sex suddenly gets awkward and weird. When you don't know if you're supposed to act like a kid or a teen, or even an adult, and have one foot in both words that makes navigation so difficult. You want to play but you also kind of want to be treated older than you are, because life is changing around you whether you like it or not. You want to like boys (or girls) and you want to be a grown up, but you're not ready to give up your comforts of early childhood. THAT time. This book really captured that internalized struggle that a lot of kids go through, and it did it so well.
But I think what I liked most about this book (besides the creepy doll part, because I am easily enamored by creepy doll stories) was it's emphasis on stories. And not only regarding stories already written that we love, but the stories we create ourselves. I love how this was tied in with the importance of play, and that no matter how old we are, we don't have to give up stories to be mature or to grow up. The make-believe story that the trio came up with riveted me just as much as the story itself, and I love how both merged together throughout. Not only that, but the author did a fantastic job of executing this.
When Zach's toys were thrown out, that was kinda rough. Growing up is hard, and it sucks that some people think growing up means giving up play. If you asked me what the central theme of this novel was, I'd say it's meant to teach us that we create our own stories, and that we don't have to give those up, stop imagining, and quit playing just because people expect us to "grow up." Growing up is scary enough, and adults don't have everything figured out anyway. So it's worth holding onto those fairytales, toys, and childhood comforts for as long as we can. This book demonstrated that beautifully, and I'm so glad I read it.
Highly recommend this one if you need a darker middle grade book for your TBR, with excellent writing and stories within stories.
This was just ok, not as creepy as the title and premise led me to believe. It is billed as YA but really is more for the tween age group (low end of YA high end of middle grade). It is a lot about the end of childhood dealing with the transition between playing with toys and moving to teen friendships. I am definitely not the target audience but I am a fan of Holly Black and I expected more atmosphere. If middle graders can handle The Graveyard Book and Coraline they could have withstood a little more intensity with this story.
adventurous
dark
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
3 1/2 stars. I tore through this in less than 24 hours and it was compelling enough that it was hard to stop to sleep. Black does a really nice job of combining a suspenseful, creepy plot with a touching story of adolescence and the changes that come about because of it. I didn't find it quite as scary as some people have, but it's still creepy fun.
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
I read this book for a writing class in my MFA program. It was okay but I was disappointed in the characterization of Alice. It felt like Holly Black treated her as simply a tool with no development to be a romantic love interest for the main character. Also, the romance felt unnecessary and forced. Besides a brief mention of a strict grandmother and that she was Filipino, Alice had no real characterization or development. The two others out of the main trio had supernatural experiences therefore it felt strange when Alice didn’t.
I know a lot of people have an issue with how strictly this book follows the three act structure but I didn’t have a problem with this. If your child is looking for a good starter horror book to read, Dolls Bones may be the book for them.
I know a lot of people have an issue with how strictly this book follows the three act structure but I didn’t have a problem with this. If your child is looking for a good starter horror book to read, Dolls Bones may be the book for them.
Great story, was sad that it seemed to end so quickly. Great story for kids.
Fits the hard-to-find genre of children's horror. Perfect for the middle reader who loves to be creeped out.