The Doll's House - Review

Author: The Doll's House

Genre: Horror / Novella

Format: eBook

Pages: 98

Lisa Unger is one of the writers that I always had their books to my TBR, or library list, but for one reason or another, I never picked those books. There's no reason, I want to read them, it's why I add them to my TBR. For some reason I just never pick them. I don't know if it's an object pertinence thing where it's out of sight, out of mind, or something else. But the other day I was looking for quick, spooky reads to add to my TBR when I came across The Doll's House by Lisa Unger, I had just added another of her books, and I thought it perfect timing. 

I'm so glad that I added this book. I started Sunday after work, thought about it all day Monday at work, and devoured it before work on Tuesday. This was a wild ride for a book that is only 98 pages. So much is jammed back into this book, but it all flows together into a perfect story that keeps you on the edge of your seat. It's part a ghost story, part a story about how trauma shapes you and the decisions you make. 

It was beautiful, and I will definitely be picking up more of Lisa Unger's books.

What I really liked about The Doll's House was that it works as a short story. There is a clear beginning, middle, and end. All the questions have answers and you feel satisfied with how things are wrapped up. This is a full story, but it does feel like parts of this story were rushed. No major parts, the jump scares were on point, and everything that happened with Jules had my heart racing as I devoured her last couple of chapters with Kirin. But I would have loved to spend more on the mystery of it all, on Kirin's obsession, and on the ghost aspect of the story.

While this works as a novella, it also would have worked as a full-fledged novel. I would loved a deeper dive into Kirin's backstory with his story, and watching Scout and her new friends uncover it all. But, it would have been filler. On its own, how it stands, this book works and is great. It's spooky, said, and as a happy-for-now ending. It was a great way for me to test the waters with a new author because it was low risk, high reward. 

If you need a quick read this Spooky Season that is more thriller with a dash of spooky, get this one on your TBR!

HAPPY READING!!