A review by meggyroussel
The Doll Funeral by Kate Hamer

3.0

Let's start the week with a good reading surprise! Thank you to Faber & Faber for inviting me to join this blog tour!

The first surprise that comes with The Doll Funeral is the contrast between the cover and the title. This bright yellow was difficult to associate with the word “funeral.” Yet it works perfectly as your mind is racing to imagining what’s behind this color and the shape in the middle of this first glimpse of the story.

The second surprise comes from the genre the book is categorized into. I was expecting a mystery, and by many ways, The Doll Funeral actually is, but there is this magical side to it that makes me wonder if this is the right place for the book. When I reached the end, I realized it was in fact impossible to put a genre on Kate Hamer’s story.

I am not fond of stories told through kids’ eyes. I often find them boring, missing points, too simple. But Ruby is no ordinary child. When she is told she is not her parents’ biological kid, happiness flows through her veins and she resolves in finding her true family. Another important thing to know is Ruby sees things. Dead things.

Something deep was stirring in me, I sensed at that moment the demarcations between the dead and the living in a way that hadn’t been so strong or clear before.

By this time, which means very early in the book, I was wondering if this was a story for me. You know me, I’m all for realism! Seeing departed people is not an element that appeals to me. But I kept going for another chapter. Then another. Before I knew it, I was halfway through and completely in awe of the writing style. I believe this is what made me keep going until the end. Kate Hamer plays with words. She puts adults ones into Ruby’s mouth, and kids’ ones into adults’ mouths. She paints the world a million colors, a million shades of grey, and I couldn’t help being mesmerized by the vivid descriptions and the deep emotions they stirred in me.

Family is such an important part of life. Our histories can be sad, filled with bittersweet memories, or no memories at all, happy fleeting moments. Ruby’s family is all over the place and nowhere at the same time. The only constant by her side is Shadow. The Doll Funeral is a race against family secrets and injuries, a cry for happiness, a door to another world. I felt I had one foot in our reality and the other one in Ruby’s. It was not uncomfortable, it was pushing my boundaries and making me ponder about the powers of a little girl with resources and big inquisitive eyes. Emotions are all around Ruby, coming from her or to her, and envelops the reader in a foggy blanket.

I still believed that books could hold clues, secret messages in their text waiting to be unscrambled.

This special quote is the one I’m taking with me now that I can safely put away The Doll Funeral on my shelf. Kate Hamer whispers secrets through her text indeed. Like a good witch, she puts a spell on you and opens a box of possibilities, of why-nots, of whys, and of love.

Overall, the power of The Doll Funeral dwells in the powerful and gripping narration of the unbelievably believable story of a little girl looking for herself.