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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
Doll Bones is a middle grade novel that tackles a rather weighty topic, the end of childhood. There's a lot about the book that I really liked. Zack, Poppy, and Alice really feel like young adolescents, not teenagers or adults in kid sized bodies. Their interactions, from the notes they pass in class to the games they play after school, seem very realistic, as does the confusion and frustration that come with entering that tricky age when you're not really a kid anymore, but not quite a teenager. I also liked how Doll Bones feels like a very contemporary story. Zach can't help but dread becoming an adult. After all from his perspective, all adults are bitter due to the disappointments that life inevitably produces. This seems very much like a perspective of a kids growing up in the current economic recession might embrace.
Admittedly, I fond the main storyline involving "The Queen," a possessed porcelain doll who desires to rest in peace, to be just okay. It has its creepy moments but for the most part, the story feels like more an excuse to get the characters to confront the underlying issues between them. This results in a lot of scenes focused around arguing, which gets old after a while.
So while I didn't fall as wholeheartedly in love with Doll Bones as I thought I would, it's still a pretty solid read the does a great job exploring the experience of contemporary adolescents.
Admittedly, I fond the main storyline involving "The Queen," a possessed porcelain doll who desires to rest in peace, to be just okay. It has its creepy moments but for the most part, the story feels like more an excuse to get the characters to confront the underlying issues between them. This results in a lot of scenes focused around arguing, which gets old after a while.
So while I didn't fall as wholeheartedly in love with Doll Bones as I thought I would, it's still a pretty solid read the does a great job exploring the experience of contemporary adolescents.
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
'Doll Bones' starts as a last-Goonie-weekend kind of story, where Zach and Alice hear out their friend Poppy, and follow her on a quest to dispose of cursed doll at the request of a dead girl. Zach has been facing a lot of pressure from his Dad about playing imagination games with two girls, and using dolls to do it, as well as his own fear of his friends on the basketball team discovering what he does after practice. Zach's motivation is the only one to get significant attention and nothing else elevates the plot that hinges on Zach and Alice going along with Poppy's dream about being cursed by a doll. In the penultimate act 'Doll Bones' does a complete turnaround.
There is a creepy element to the book, dolls are not for children to play with anymore, apparently, and the days when girls could bribe other girls to be friends with them for the chance of doll talk are even further in the past. Other than the blatant creepy description of the doll, the gripping shame of being seen with a doll, and the revelation that "adventuring turned out to be boring", I was surprised this book had been given so much positive critical attention. Then, near the end of the story, we discover the book is less about a dead girl and more about witnessing childhood die.
Well, damn. Holly Black you got me, and undoubtedly you got a whole lot of already cripplingly self-aware post-millennials, too. The postscript includes some nice historical information about Lotus Ware, the American porcelain phenomenon, and the Ohio ceramics industry in general, something I knew nothing about.
There is a creepy element to the book, dolls are not for children to play with anymore, apparently, and the days when girls could bribe other girls to be friends with them for the chance of doll talk are even further in the past. Other than the blatant creepy description of the doll, the gripping shame of being seen with a doll, and the revelation that "adventuring turned out to be boring", I was surprised this book had been given so much positive critical attention. Then, near the end of the story, we discover the book is less about a dead girl and more about witnessing childhood die.
Well, damn. Holly Black you got me, and undoubtedly you got a whole lot of already cripplingly self-aware post-millennials, too. The postscript includes some nice historical information about Lotus Ware, the American porcelain phenomenon, and the Ohio ceramics industry in general, something I knew nothing about.
3.25 stars
holly black is one of my favorite author ever.... this is the fifth book I read for her
I do like her writing style but I did not see the same writing I saw in the curse worker series and the coldest girl in the town, this may be explained by that Doll Bones is middle grade book.
Although that I do not usually read middle grade book, I did enjoy it ... and I liked the idea of this book ... and I felt that I am in middle of adventure ... adventure I want to live in it
recommend for people who love middle grade books
holly black is one of my favorite author ever.... this is the fifth book I read for her
I do like her writing style but I did not see the same writing I saw in the curse worker series and the coldest girl in the town, this may be explained by that Doll Bones is middle grade book.
Although that I do not usually read middle grade book, I did enjoy it ... and I liked the idea of this book ... and I felt that I am in middle of adventure ... adventure I want to live in it
recommend for people who love middle grade books
It was a little slow to get started, but about 20% of the way through the story started to pick up and the atmosphere was amazing.
This book was good creepy. I like how the three characters: Zach, Alice, and Poppy embark on this adventure to find about the mysterious Queen doll. The creepy vibes the story give it just the right amount of spine shivers without being too much. The story is told so well I kind of forgot the ages... it did feel like they were older at times. I definitely want to read more from this author in the future.
This is my second read-through, and it's such a wonderfully creepy story and adventure for young readers. I did pull it down 1 star from my previous rating, since my rating system and tastes are a bit different now. Still a great story!
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I was a bit disappointed in this book. A friend recommended it to me, saying that it was pretty spooky and creepy. In fact, it isn't. Of course, there are some parts where the imagery is spot on, but overall, the book wasn't scary at all.
I wanted to like Doll Bones more than I did. I did love her work in the Spiderwick Chronicles, and I feel like her ability to create and build great characters is what will drive me to her other books, and what makes this book good.
However, as another said much more eloquently than I, this book cannot seem to decide what it wants to be. On one hand it often feels very much like a horror, but on the other hand, it feels very much like a coming of age. You can blend the two together, but some of the parts where both of these storylines met sometimes felt awkward and out of place. I feel like this adventure forces the main character to grow very much, while others not as much, or not at all.
As far as horror goes, I can't write much to that, as I am not an avid reader of horror. I will say that some of the horror elements are pretty gruesome-I mean the little girl's bones ground up and are put in the china of the doll after she was horrifically murdered. I was surprised that that was in a middle-grade book, but then again, I'm not an avid reader of horror.
I would definitely not recommend this for anyone below fifth/sixth grade especially if they scare easy, or are particularly sensitive.
However, as another said much more eloquently than I, this book cannot seem to decide what it wants to be. On one hand it often feels very much like a horror, but on the other hand, it feels very much like a coming of age. You can blend the two together, but some of the parts where both of these storylines met sometimes felt awkward and out of place. I feel like this adventure forces the main character to grow very much, while others not as much, or not at all.
As far as horror goes, I can't write much to that, as I am not an avid reader of horror. I will say that some of the horror elements are pretty gruesome-I mean the little girl's bones ground up and are put in the china of the doll after she was horrifically murdered. I was surprised that that was in a middle-grade book, but then again, I'm not an avid reader of horror.
I would definitely not recommend this for anyone below fifth/sixth grade especially if they scare easy, or are particularly sensitive.