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A review by skylarkblue1
The doll twin by Janine Beacham
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Representations: https://trello.com/c/JPNLWUCY/100-the-doll-twin-by-janine-beacham
Thank you Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!
This was one hell of an emotional rollercoaster! Good, fast pacing, great characters and just one hell of a story.
The pacing was good and quick all throughout, but it fell apart a little at the very end and I felt it was a tad rushed unfortunately. But it still felt decently well put together and the ending was satisfying enough honestly! The pacing also kept up all throughout, it didn't feel like it changed or slowed down anywhere which made for quite a quick read.
One thing that did slightly slow down the reading though is just how advanced the language used is? It's not overly frequent, but there's a few parts where it feels like the book ate a thesaurus and threw it up. Wasn't expecting to use a dictionary as much as I did for a middle grade book, and even for words I didn't need to I felt like there was still more that might be a bit too advanced for this age range.
The characters were awesome! I absolutely loved the dynamic between Ani and Una, the 2 of them played off of each other really well and both despite being "twins" where really quite unique to each other. Mary was also really cool, but I wish we got to see more of her. She seemed to mainly be there to progress the plot a little at the end and just provide a space for Uni to get told what to do and be a vessel for infodumps.
The foster parents where very interesting characters, but I would have loved to see the dynamic shown at the end a little more throughout the story from the start.Reminded me a ton of coraline though which was quite fun, but not quite as well executed imo, but that is a very high bar to pass so that's not really a big negative for me.
Overall, a very good story with spooky tense moments and a decently dark storyline. Would loved to have the world building a bit more fleshed out and a bit more time with the characters and especially that ending, but it's a good quick read. The steampunk touch was wonderfully done as well <3
Thank you Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!
This was one hell of an emotional rollercoaster! Good, fast pacing, great characters and just one hell of a story.
The pacing was good and quick all throughout, but it fell apart a little at the very end and I felt it was a tad rushed unfortunately. But it still felt decently well put together and the ending was satisfying enough honestly! The pacing also kept up all throughout, it didn't feel like it changed or slowed down anywhere which made for quite a quick read.
One thing that did slightly slow down the reading though is just how advanced the language used is? It's not overly frequent, but there's a few parts where it feels like the book ate a thesaurus and threw it up. Wasn't expecting to use a dictionary as much as I did for a middle grade book, and even for words I didn't need to I felt like there was still more that might be a bit too advanced for this age range.
The characters were awesome! I absolutely loved the dynamic between Ani and Una, the 2 of them played off of each other really well and both despite being "twins" where really quite unique to each other. Mary was also really cool, but I wish we got to see more of her. She seemed to mainly be there to progress the plot a little at the end and just provide a space for Uni to get told what to do and be a vessel for infodumps.
The foster parents where very interesting characters, but I would have loved to see the dynamic shown at the end a little more throughout the story from the start.
Overall, a very good story with spooky tense moments and a decently dark storyline. Would loved to have the world building a bit more fleshed out and a bit more time with the characters and especially that ending, but it's a good quick read. The steampunk touch was wonderfully done as well <3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Minor: Death of parent, War, and Bullying