Dollhouse

I had been in a book funk for awhile, so when someone recommended Dollhouse by Anya Allyn, I thought I'd give it a try. It seemed right up my alley, and luckily, I wasn't disappointed!

I loved the plot of Dollhouse! Cassie, Evan, Aisha, and Lacey are all friends from school. One day they venture out in the forest. Aisha leaves the group and ventures further into the forest. The three others look for Aisha, but it's like she's vanished. With the cops not being able to find Aisha and Evan being accused of her disappearance, Lacy, Evan, and Cassie go back to the forest to look for her. They find a huge mansion and decide to go in it to search for Aisha. However, what they find is a secret passage that leads into a real life dollhouse where show more the girls are all forced to look like dolls to appease Jessamine, the leader of the dolls and toys. Getting in was easy, but getting out will be the hard part.

The world building was done beautifully. I felt like I was right there beside each character as the plot unfolded as well as the emotions each character would feel. While the book started out slow, it wasn't long before the action quickly picked up, and I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. There were a couple of times where the pacing became a bit too quick during the action unfolding where I felt a bit lost with what was going on, but the pacing quickly corrected itself. There are a few plot twists that I never saw coming, and there are a few that are semi-predictable. However, I enjoyed everything as well as trying to figure out what was going on. I feel that Dollhouse could be read as a standalone, but as it's a series, it's best to read all the books in the Dark Carousel series if you need one hundred percent closure and more back story.

I loved each and every character featured in Dollhouse. Each character had enough backstory to be fleshed out very well. I believe every character also acted their appropriate age. Cassie was such a strong lead character, and I admired her tenacity to do whatever it took to find a way out. Her loyalty to her friends was noble, and her resolve to not give up was an inspiration. Evan was another character that had the same traits as Cassie. He wanted to protect the girls and didn't care what would happen to himself. I wouldn't say he was reckless though. Missouri and Philly were my favorite characters even though they weren't the main ones. Missouri wanted to protect everyone, and I loved how much of a mother figure she was to little Philly. Jessamine was an awesome antagonist. I loved reading about her so much, and I also loved trying to figure out her backstory. (The bulk of Jessamine's backstory is featured in the second book of the series, Paper Dolls.) There were times when I actually felt sorry for Jessamine, but she was quite selfish. I would have loved to learn more about how Donovan (the man who lived in the mansion the living dollhouse was in) fits into the whole narrative, but perhaps that will be explained throughout the rest of the series. Another thing I really loved about Dollhouse was that the stuffed animals and the wooden clown came to life and were beyond life sized. I felt that was a pretty awesome (and spooky) touch.

Trigger warnings for Dollhouse include fear, kidnapping, some violence, ghosts, druggings, death, and murder.

Overall, Dollhouse was a fantastic fast-paced read that I didn't want to put down. Once the pacing picks up, it's easy to devour in just one setting with its fantastic cast of characters and great narrative. I would definitely recommend Dollhouse by Anya Allyn to those aged 14 and older who love to get lost in a spooky well written story. show less

I loved this! It is not often I come across a really well-written, suspenseful, thrilling horror novel written for the young adult demographic. There is no sex, no drugs, no extreme language... just thrilling, creepy horror that satisfies even my creepy taste as an adult! I also enjoyed the fact that this book can be just as easily enjoyed by guys. My 16yo son has read this book, too, and is as big a horror fan as I am and he loved it.

I have a true fondness for thrilling, suspenseful horror and this book fed that need. I will admit that I approached this book cautiously, especially after reading the author's disclaimer about the lack of sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll. I generally find books that eliminate those things at any level are show more hard to get into, not generally realistic. The prose of this book was truly impressive, creating characters that were realistic and not "goody two shoes" types that I can't stand. Every one of my senses was involved in reading this book, the author creating a plot and a world that was so vivid that I felt as if I were there.

It is dark, creepy, scary, and totally thrilling. I don't want to talk much about the plot because I feel like that would both creep near the spoiler edge and ruin the experience of reading this for yourself. There were so many twists and turns and it completely kept me guessing.

Things to love about Dollhouse...

--The depth of the world. It had a fairly limited group of settings but it was full and rich and easily imaginable.
--The characters. Whether I liked them or was terrified by them, I was intrigued.
--The fear factor. Excellent horror level, especially since this is a YA novel!

My recommendation: If you like suspenseful horror and gothic mystique, you will enjoy this book! show less

“A penny for a spool of thread
A penny for a needle
A penny for the blood so red
That trickles down like treacle
-P”
― Anya Allyn, Dollhouse

I try to express only my most honest opinion in a spoiler free way. If you feel anything in my review is a spoiler and is not already hidden in spoiler brackets please let me know. Thank you.
This is a story that follows Callie after her and her friends end up trapped in what is basically a lifesized dollhouse, with a few others that had gone missing over the years. Here they are forced to dress as dolls and be good toys. Bad toys end up on the shelf or in the toy box. A place where one girl seems to have all the power and dolls come to life. A place that seems to have no escape no matter how hard show more they look.
Wow. This book sure lived up to my expectations. A dark, gothic, horror, though not scary exactly, mostly just seriously creepy and twisted. I couldn't put it down, and went back and bought the rest of series on kindle. The whole time I read it I had a kind of slow song, that I can't name, going through my head. It fit the mood of the book, which is probably why it was there. How has this not been in my life before. Due to how the book ended, I'm not sure where the series is going to go from here but I can't wait to find out.
How I choose my rating:
1* Hated it. Had to force myself to finish it.
2** Didn't really like it. Didn't hate it but not sure why I finished it other then for some closure.
3*** I liked it. I had some issues with it, but as a whole it was good. I probably won't reread again ever, but there is a chance I might finish the series. (If part of one) But if not it's not a huge loss.
4**** I really liked this book. Maybe not a work of genius, but highly entertaining. I might reread this again, and I will finish the series. (If part of one) I would recommend to those I know hold interest in this books content.
5***** I loved this book. I found little to no issues with it at all. I will definitely be rereading this and probably more than once. I will finish the series and reread it multiple times. (If part of one) I will recommend this book to EVERYONE!!!! show less

Cassie and her mother move from Miami to Australia to be with Cassie's mother's new man. Too bad he turns out to be a real creep and ditches them. Cassie is not particularly happy to be in Australia, but when she begins school she meets, much to her shock, a popular girl that is actually nice. Aisha takes Cassie under her wing and introduces her around... and then Cassie sees Ethan and falls head over heels for him. Suddenly Ethan goes from potential boyfriend material to off-limits when he and Aisha begin dating.

While on a school field trip up in the mountains, Aisha, Cassie, Lacey, and Ethan are teamed up to complete their assignment - rather like a scavenger hunt for all kinds of different things found in nature. It turns out the show more area they are in has had at least four girls disappear - one each year. And when Aisha and Ethan get into a fight, Aisha takes off running. After hours of searching no one can find her. Ethan sends the girls back down the mountain and stays to keep looking. Months of searching turns up nothing - other than lots of fingers pointing at Ethan and his grandfather.

Ethan stops by Cassie's house one night and crashes there before he takes off to live on the mountain and keep searching before they can arrest him. Then Lacey, the police detective in charge of the case, tells Cassie that she copied her dad's files. The two decide to go look for Aisha themselves, but know that they must lie about where they are headed if they are going to do it.

The two girls run into Ethan on the mountain and the three tentatively join forces, with Cassie being the glue that holds them together. They decide to search the really creepy house out in the middle of the forest, once the scary owner takes his dogs and leaves for a bit. There they discover a hidden tunnel, and in the entrance is the cover to Aisha's cell phone. At this point they decide to look further instead of going back for the police.

Rather than spoil the story I'll stop here, but I will say the storyline is very original and compelling, with characters that pull you in from the beginning of the book. And there are some very interesting plot twists that are unexpected and surprising. As soon as I finished this book I immediately began reading (and finished) the second book in the series. Now I am eagerly awaiting the release of the third book. I am hoping that the third book will be a bit more like the first than the second, but that isn't to say the second was in any way badly written. I simply was more strongly drawn into the first book. show less

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I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you!

This is, apparently, the first book in the Dollhouse series.

Just a side note on the cover here. I do like this one, it's kinda creepy, but there's also a more conventional paranormal YA cover, which isn't really something I would have picked up in a book store (or on Netgalley).

I'll admit it, I don't really like dolls, definitely don't like clowns and especially not when they're eight foot tall! Add to that a creepy house, mysterious doorways, some stupid teenagers and a pipe organ, and you've got all the ingredients for a creepy story.

I was never show more really scared, but I still liked the book. I was very curious as to know what was going on in that basement. The start is fast but filled with stupid decisions made by the main characters (You would think that anyone who's ever seen a horror movie would know better). They also decided to fight each other instead of the common enemy. Ah, teenagers...

From the moment they enter the dollhouse you know some is wrong there big time. It takes some time to find out more about what is happening, and even when this information comes, it's quite confusing and we are left to decide what is real and what isn't.

Yes, the ending was abrupt. But if it hadn't been a series, I would not have minded. Sometimes I liked reading a story where I'm left to decide for myself what happens. And I think I was perfectly able to do that given the information in the story. But since, I've found out this is a series. And that's when it started to annoy me. Not necessarily that it's yet another series (there are quite a lot of questions left), but I always think that books should not end on cliffhangers like this one. show less

I genuinely did not expect to be intrigued enough to pick up the next book, but I think I am. It was creepy and eerie and a little bit "Flowers in the Attic".

wow, this was just...different.

definitely a gothic, dark tale but....it had me confused for most of the time. And it seemed to drag in places. and, I'm not a fan of books that take you over 300 pages but never answer your questions