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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
I can’t fairly rate the literary value of this book because the content was just too disturbing for me: child abduction, child abuse, child death/ murder, and dissociative identity disorder. It’s just not my cup of tea at all and I left still feeling sick, heartbroken, and horrified.
The Dollhouse by Sara Ennis is long as hell but the story is worth it. I felt so bad for the “dolls” because Jennifer, Edward, and Alford were crazy AF! Those kids fought as hard as they could … the things they endured was crazyyyy and they didn’t deserve it! I wanted to whoop all of their asses (captors) on more than one occasion. I hateeeeeee what happened to one of the main characters but with 130 damn chapters anything was bound to happen! Either way—I started my September off strong with this book!
I have been going back and forth between a 3-star review and a 5-star review for this book. It's quite a range: I found a lot of it "enjoyable" (as enjoyable as a book with child kidnapping and abuse is), but I found aspects of it to be too far from what I could believe as acceptable.
14-year old twins, Angel and Bud, have been kidnapped and brought to a basement known as the dollhouse. Alfred, their captor, wants to take pictures of them based on picture of his own childhood. By recreating his memories, he hopes that these new memories with his 'dolls' will help him to overcome the pain he experienced in his past.
This book did a good job of tying together a whole story, and I was surprised to read at the end of the book that there will be a sequel. I am ready to leave the world of the dollhouse and its characters behind- obviously, I haven't read the sequel, but I feel that a book 2 would diminish the events in this story.
I have SO many questions about things that JUST DON'T MAKE SENSE. At one point of writing this review, I had about 4 paragraphs of complaints, but then realized that even with these complaints, I enjoyed the craziness of this story. I recommend this book for horror and suspense fans- some of the stuff in this book was truly horrible, but based on the plot description, it should be expected.
Thank you Netgalley and Sara Ennis (are you self-publishing?! How neat!) for an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for a review. Although I'm not interested in the sequel, I look forward to reading another book by Sara Ennis in the future.
14-year old twins, Angel and Bud, have been kidnapped and brought to a basement known as the dollhouse. Alfred, their captor, wants to take pictures of them based on picture of his own childhood. By recreating his memories, he hopes that these new memories with his 'dolls' will help him to overcome the pain he experienced in his past.
This book did a good job of tying together a whole story, and I was surprised to read at the end of the book that there will be a sequel. I am ready to leave the world of the dollhouse and its characters behind- obviously, I haven't read the sequel, but I feel that a book 2 would diminish the events in this story.
I have SO many questions about things that JUST DON'T MAKE SENSE. At one point of writing this review, I had about 4 paragraphs of complaints, but then realized that even with these complaints, I enjoyed the craziness of this story. I recommend this book for horror and suspense fans- some of the stuff in this book was truly horrible, but based on the plot description, it should be expected.
Thank you Netgalley and Sara Ennis (are you self-publishing?! How neat!) for an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for a review. Although I'm not interested in the sequel, I look forward to reading another book by Sara Ennis in the future.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was a really good read. Captured my attention from the very beginning. I was totally invested in the main characters of Angel, Bud and Olivia. This book was horrifying and kept making me think I was watching an episode of Criminal Minds. The twists started coming about 75% in. I loved how the author tied everything together nicely. However, my one con was I wish I would have had more of an explanation of what happened to Alfred when he was younger. You get bits and pieces as the story progresses, but I wish the author could have explained in more detail. Highly recommend this book and will be reading the second one shortly to finish up Angel's story.
This book was provided for review by Netgalley. Thank you!
Trigger Warnings: Physical torture, psychological torture, emotional torture, kidnapping, rape (mentioned, happens off-screen), murder, death of an animal (mentioned, happens off-screen), suicide
Everyone has moments from their childhood they would like to do over. Moments where if we had only done one thing differently then maybe everything could have changed. Moments we often think about later in life, replaying them over and over again in our minds.
How far would you go to truly replay those memories?
The Dollhouse by Sara Ennis is a book that explores this idea – albeit in a very creepy and disturbing way.
There are times when writing a review can be very difficult. When I find myself struggling to come up with the words to convey how a particular book made me feel. Whether it be because I did or did not enjoy the book, or like in this case how troubling the subject matter is.
The Dollhouse is a disturbing book. It is creepy and strange and dark. It is not a happy book and even though the ending could be considered a “good” one, it really isn’t. There are scenes of physical torture as well as psychological torture. The kids in the book are put through a LOT.
Normally, when I review a book I say whether I would recommend it to my readers or not. Whether I think it would be enjoyable to a specific group or for everyone in general. The Dollhouse is one of those that I hesitantly recommend. Is it a good book? Yes, I thought so. But it is also a deeply triggering book. Some readers could have a very difficult time with it.
So while I do recommend The Dollhouse, I also urge anyone looking to read it to pay attention to the trigger warnings.
Started off strong, but got a little long around the midway point.
Characters not getting the police involved is sooo infuriating to me. Kidnapped Angel is literally let loose into the real world to do shopping errands (admittedly with a very small time window and huge torture stakes back at home) but how can you pass up the opportunity to ask for help when you’re unsupervised by your captor in public!? Talk to literally any adult. Write the word “help” on a receipt. Something!!!
I also understand why other reviews say this is “torture porn” but I didn’t find it too graphic. It’s dark, for sure. But that’s what I liked about it.
Characters not getting the police involved is sooo infuriating to me. Kidnapped Angel is literally let loose into the real world to do shopping errands (admittedly with a very small time window and huge torture stakes back at home) but how can you pass up the opportunity to ask for help when you’re unsupervised by your captor in public!? Talk to literally any adult. Write the word “help” on a receipt. Something!!!
I also understand why other reviews say this is “torture porn” but I didn’t find it too graphic. It’s dark, for sure. But that’s what I liked about it.
*review copy provided by booksirens in order for an honest review*
I don't know how I feel about this book. I found it very slow and boring in the beginning, I can't lie, if this wasn't a review copy I would most likely have dnf'd it. I'm glad I stuck with it, the last 20-30% was very fast moving.
I found the use of multiple personalities a bit overused and not thoroughly explained enough and I feel it may have also contributed to the stigma surrounding DID/OSDD as being dangerous when that isn't the case. Removing that factor I found the dynamic of the Dollhouse interesting.
The twist at the end wasn't something I expected between all the captives, and their kidnapper, that was an intense and violent few scenes that while were shocking, didn't come from nowhere, the build up was there and the tipping point was believable.
Overall it was good enough as a read, but slightly too slow for me and featured some things that were problematic that in no way impacted the story and in some ways (in my opinion) subtracted from the impact and story.
*spoilers below*
I didn't like the whole pregnancy part, I think that was just an unnecessary factor to add and it didn't really add anything to the story.
I don't know how I feel about this book. I found it very slow and boring in the beginning, I can't lie, if this wasn't a review copy I would most likely have dnf'd it. I'm glad I stuck with it, the last 20-30% was very fast moving.
I found the use of multiple personalities a bit overused and not thoroughly explained enough and I feel it may have also contributed to the stigma surrounding DID/OSDD as being dangerous when that isn't the case. Removing that factor I found the dynamic of the Dollhouse interesting.
The twist at the end wasn't something I expected between all the captives, and their kidnapper, that was an intense and violent few scenes that while were shocking, didn't come from nowhere, the build up was there and the tipping point was believable.
Overall it was good enough as a read, but slightly too slow for me and featured some things that were problematic that in no way impacted the story and in some ways (in my opinion) subtracted from the impact and story.
*spoilers below*
I didn't like the whole pregnancy part, I think that was just an unnecessary factor to add and it didn't really add anything to the story.
The Dollhouse by Sara Ennis
I give this book 4.5 stars
Alfred needs dolls that will help him rewrite his past and change his future.
3 are now captives in a place called the Dollhouse.They are forced to re-stage old photographs, but satisfying Alfred is not easy……..
And there aren’t many photos left!
This brilliant psychological thriller is creepy,twisted and more than a little bit disturbing.The well written plot and memorable characters held my attention from the beginning and had me on the edge of my seat,feeling a gauntlet of emotions..l was totally invested in Angel and equally disgusted with Alfred.l particularly loved the way the Police investigation was kept as a smaller portion so all the attention and focus was on the horror of what was going on.
Book 2 is coming out shortly and l cannot wait!!!
With thanks to Netgalley and Sara Ennis for my chance to read and review this book
I give this book 4.5 stars
Alfred needs dolls that will help him rewrite his past and change his future.
3 are now captives in a place called the Dollhouse.They are forced to re-stage old photographs, but satisfying Alfred is not easy……..
And there aren’t many photos left!
This brilliant psychological thriller is creepy,twisted and more than a little bit disturbing.The well written plot and memorable characters held my attention from the beginning and had me on the edge of my seat,feeling a gauntlet of emotions..l was totally invested in Angel and equally disgusted with Alfred.l particularly loved the way the Police investigation was kept as a smaller portion so all the attention and focus was on the horror of what was going on.
Book 2 is coming out shortly and l cannot wait!!!
With thanks to Netgalley and Sara Ennis for my chance to read and review this book