Review: Dollhouse by Anya Allyn

Dress-up turns deadly. . .

When Cassie’s best friend, Aisha, disappears during a school hike, Cassie sets off with Aisha’s boyfriend Ethan and their best friend Lacey, determined to find her. But the mist-enshrouded mountains hold many secrets, and what the three teens discover is far more disturbing than any of them imagined: beneath a rundown mansion in the woods lies an underground cavern full of life-size toys and kidnapped girls forced to dress as dolls.

Even as Cassie desperately tries to escape the Dollhouse, she finds herself torn between her forbidden feelings for Ethan, and her intense, instinctive attraction to The Provider, a man Cassie swears she has known before…

Because Cassie’s capture wasn’t accidental, and the Dollhouse is more than just a prison where her deepest fears come true—it’s a portal for the powers of darkness. And Cassie may be the only one who can stop it.

Kindle Edition, 205 pages

Published May 20th 2014 by The Studio, a Paper Lantern Lit imprint

(info grabbed from GoodReads) 

The Dollhouse, a young adult horror set Down Under, begins with Ethan, Cassie's best friend's boyfriend, bursting through her bedroom window in the middle of the night.  This is an awkward dream come true for Cassie, as she has been pining over Ethan for over a year, but he is her best friend's boyfriend.  Her missing best friend's boyfriend.  Ethan has decided to pop in on Cassie to let her know the cops are after him and that he didn't do it even though there may be evidence that indicates otherwise.  He informs her that he is running into the woods to avoid being arrested.  Cassie and her friend Lacey decide to chase after Ethan, the boy who may or may not have murdered Aisha, and help find Aisha (their missing friend).  Cassie has lingering guilt over crushing on Aisha's boyfriend and feels that she is responsible for Aisha running off, which serves as her motivation to run into the forest that three other girls have disappeared without a trace into.  Mayhem ensues.

So, I think I made it clear in my synopsis that these teens don't make the brightest of decisions.  It felt like the author had to dumb her characters down to get them into a horrific situation.  Which isn't anything new, unless you missed the slasher flick bonanza of the 1990's.  I love horror and especially so when it's creepy.  The Dollhouse promises that and so much more in the blurb, but it doesn't really deliver.  It's hard to be horrified when you can't stop thinking about how all of this nonsense could have been prevented.  I mean, really, your friend just disappeared into the woods and you go breaking and entering into a creepy mansion?  That just screams, "Murder me."  Darwin award goes to Cassie.

The biggest problem for me, however, is the writing.  It is what I have decided to call green writing -- it needs to ripen on the vine a bit.  Or be breaded and deep fried.  Anyway, the pacing of the novel was all over the place.  It's fast, it's faster, it's normal; The Dollhouse was like being on a possessed treadmill with all it's stopping and going.  The story starts off in a rush with Ethan busting in through the window and promptly delivering an info dump.  Half the plot and all the build up between characters happens before the novel even begins.  While I appreciate the different approach, it really destroys any chance to get attached to the characters.  Along with the rushed beginning, there is an info dump every couple pages in the first couple chapters to make up for the lost beginning.  Where could have been build up, world building, and character development, we get a rush into a haphazard romp in a creepy house.

The ideas of The Dollhouse really stuck out to me as I love all things messed up and creepy.  I was hoping to be shocked and horrified, but that just didn't really happen.  Reading the Dollhouse is like watching a bad slasher flick in slow motion, but with a lot less blood and entertainment.  I really just wanted to shake the main character until she got some sense and went home, forgetting about her self-rightous journey into the woods to find her friend.

Final Thought: 1 out of 5 toadstools

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: Hereafter by Tara Hudson

Can there truly be love after death? 

Drifting in the dark waters of a mysterious river, the only thing Amelia knows for sure is that she's dead. With no recollection of her past life or her actual death, she's trapped alone in a nightmarish existence. All of this changes when she tries to rescue a boy, Joshua, from drowning in her river. As a ghost, she can do nothing but will him to live. Yet in an unforgettable moment of connection, she helps him survive. 

Amelia and Joshua grow ever closer as they begin to uncover the strange circumstances of her death and the secrets of the dark river that held her captive for so long. But even while they struggle to keep their bond hidden from the living world, a frightening spirit named Eli is doing everything in his power to destroy their newfound happiness and drag Amelia back into the ghost world . . . forever.
Thrilling and evocative, with moments of pure pleasure, Hereafter is a sensation you won't want to miss. 

Hardcover, 404 pages

Published June 7th 2011 by HarperTeen
(info grabbed from GoodReads)

What teenager is this forward?  Ridiculous quote time!  I think three from the first 100 pages will suffice:

"'Beautiful.  Too beautiful for people not to have noticed you the other night.'"

-Joshua pg 35

"'...otherwise I'm crazy and I'm talking to a beautiful, electrified, imaginary girl.'"

-Joshua pg 71

"'Anyway, it doesn't matter where we go, I just want to be wherever you are.'"

-Amelia pg 87

Joshua, I do believe you are crazy.  I understand some odd behavior from Amelia since she's been dead for a mysterious length of time and hasn't brushed up on how to act like a non-dead-and-desperate person.  But Joshua?  His only reason for wanting to be around Amelia is "UR BEAUTIFUL AND I SAW YOU IN THE WATER WHEN I DIED.  WEIRD."  Granted Amelia's main reason for wanting to be around Joshua is also his looks, added with the fact he's the only person who can see her so, you know, slim pickings.  I don't like it.  It's not even insta-love; it's insta-attraction and nothing else.  No chemistry.  Just stupid.

  

Also, all mysterious-ness is forced.  All questions regarding Amelia could be answered with a minute of research.  And on that note, if I was a ghost and suddenly starting to remember my previous life, I think I'd be more interested in that than following around a boy who is perfectly aware of who he is.  Furthermore, if I were a boy hanging around a ghost only I could see who didn't even remember her last name, I would start investigating.  Immediately.  This book is written in the modern age (or not stated otherwise), and Joshua doesn't even think to look up recent obituaries on his smart phone?  Or go look up old newspaper articles about a girl who died in the river?  No desire to know the unknown?  What the hell! 

There is no love between HEREAFTER and me.  It is unfortunate, because I don’t like to not like books, but this one was a complete dud with me.  Momo and the infinite sadness.

Final Thought: Zero.  Just zero, no toadstools.

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: The Archived by Victoria Schwab

Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books.

Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures that only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.

Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop here four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself. Now Da is dead, and Mac has grown into what he once was, a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often—violent Histories from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a useful tool for staying alive.

Being a Keeper isn’t just dangerous—it’s a constant reminder of those Mac has lost. Da’s death was hard enough, but now her little brother is gone too. Mac starts to wonder about the boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive, the dead must never be disturbed. And yet, someone is deliberately altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece together what remains, the Archive itself might crumble and fall.

In this haunting, richly imagined novel, Victoria Schwab reveals the thin lines between past and present, love and pain, trust and deceit, unbearable loss and hard-won redemption.

Hardcover, 328 pages

Published January 22nd 2013 by Hyperion 

(info grabbed from GoodReads)

Victoria Schwab is becoming a fast favorite author for me as I love her original ideas and the way she writes.  Like in The Near Witch, her prose tends to be more long winded and breathy, giving it an ethereal feel.  It didn't have quite the effect that it did in The Near Witch, as this is an urban fantasy and would be less appropriate.  The writing is even paced and relaxed, and it never rushes.  While I do enjoy fast paced books, I also like more relaxed reads like this one.  Though the writing makes this story more relaxing to read, the story itself is not.  The Archived is full of action and butt-kickery, as Mackenzie’s job requires it. 

In The Archived, our main character, Mackenzie, works doing maintenance for the library that houses the dead.  (HOW COOL IS THAT?)  But by maintenance, I mean she has to chase down awoken spirits in the dark cloisters of the space inbetween the library and the real world and lead them back to the library -- sometimes by force.  The mystery of the book is that many more spirits are waking without any apparent reason.  Mackenzie already had her hands full with keeping her job a secret, but with an influx of spirits, it becomes more than simply overwhelming.

There is some romance in The Archived, but it’s not a huge part of the book.  More like sprinkles on top than the ice cream that is the mystery.  It is also interwoven with the rest of the plot, so it doesn’t feel like it was tacked on for marketability.  I guess that means it’s not-so-much sprinkles and more like the cookie dough in cookie dough ice cream -- it would be vanilla without it and who wants vanilla?  Bring on the cookie dough!

I also always appreciate an ending that doesn’t leave me screaming, which occasionally happens in trilogies.  I want to read more and know more about the world Victoria Schwab is designing, but I’m not ripping my hair out in agony waiting for the sequel.  However, I’m not a particular fan of cliffhangers.  If you need to be rocking in your chair with questions for the next book, this may not be for you.  But if you want a solidly great book with an awesome mystery, a heroine who can hold her own, and lyrical prose, The Archived is most likely a good fit for you.

Final Thought: 9 out 10 cookie dough toadstools

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson

The day that Louisiana teenager Rory Deveaux arrives in London to start a new life at boarding school is also the day a series of brutal murders breaks out over the city, killings mimicking the horrific Jack the Ripper spree of more than a century ago. Soon "Rippermania" takes hold of modern-day London, and the police are left with few leads and no witnesses. Except one. Rory spotted the man police believe to be the prime suspect. But she is the only one who saw him--the only one who can see him. And now Rory has become his next target. In this edge-of-your-seat thriller, full of suspense, humor, and romance, Rory will learn the truth about the secret ghost police of London and discover her own shocking abilities.

Hardcover, 372 pages

Published October 2nd 2012 by Speak (first published September 29th 2011)

(info grabbed from GoodReads)

I felt like this Jack the Ripper inspired novel had so much promise, but for me it didn’t really live up to my expectations.  I liked it, but wasn’t in love with it.  I wanted more terror and atmosphere.  This wasn’t the chilling horror I was expecting from the blurb, but it was still a good novel.  I liked it; it was still a good mystery.  I think that’s where I was mislead in that the marketing seems to project this idea that The Name of the Star is a horror novel.  It’s not, even though what Jack the Ripper did was horrifying.  The Name of the Star is about an American girl, Rory, plopped into the East End of London at a boarding school and dealing with her life there.  And then there’s this thing with the Ripper, but we’ll get to that.

Maureen Johnson is particularly gifted with created vibrant and original characters that can almost pop out of the book.  Through Rory’s school life we meet a cast of interesting people -- Jazza the quiet waiting-to-break-out-of-her-shell roommate, Jerome the Ripper fanatic prefect, and Boo.  There’s too much to say about Boo, she’s an experience.  These characters are what made the pre-mystery part of the novel bearable for me, but I’m not particularly fond of school-days contemporary.

The mystery that was promised took awhile to get started.  Rory isn’t involved as anything more than a distant spectator for quite awhile into the murders.  When she finally does become involved though, the novel began to have its own shine.  Before then, I felt like I was reading just another book based in a school and making friends with nothing exceptional going on and blah blah blah…etc.  And with any good mystery, at the end the pieces fit together spectacularly.  No extra pieces, no missing pieces -- just a solid mystery.

The fact the mystery turned out awesome was the number one redeeming quality for me.  I otherwise would have not very much liked this book.  I was somewhat disappointed, as I wanted to like it so much more (as I do any book -- believe it or not I don’t want to dislike books).  I recommend it for contemporary-lovers wanting to step out of their comfort zone and try a paranormal-light mystery (yes, this is a paranormal book -- another thing not really stressed in marketing, but always welcome in my world).

Final Thought: 3 out of 5 toadstools

This review is also posted on GoodReads

Review: Paper Valentine by Brenna Yovanoff

The city of Ludlow is gripped by the hottest July on record. The asphalt is melting, the birds are dying, petty crime is on the rise, and someone in Hannah Wagnor’s peaceful suburban community is killing girls.

For Hannah, the summer is a complicated one. Her best friend Lillian died six months ago, and Hannah just wants her life to go back to normal. But how can things be normal when Lillian’s ghost is haunting her bedroom, pushing her to investigate the mysterious string of murders? Hannah’s just trying to understand why her friend self-destructed, and where she fits now that Lillian isn’t there to save her a place among the social elite. And she must stop thinking about Finny Boone, the big, enigmatic delinquent whose main hobbies seem to include petty larceny and surprising acts of kindness.

With the entire city in a panic, Hannah soon finds herself drawn into a world of ghost girls and horrifying secrets. She realizes that only by confronting the Valentine Killer will she be able move on with her life—and it’s up to her to put together the pieces before he strikes again.

Hardcover, 306 pages

Published January 8th 2013 by Razorbill 

(info grabbed from GoodReads)

 I was really expecting to love Brenna Yovanoff’s writing and the blurb for Paper Valentine made it one of my most anticipated releases for 2013.  So with a heavy heart I admit that this book was a complete let down.  I was expecting creepiness, great atmosphere, but what I got was boring high school melodrama and just …drabness -- as if the whole world was painted gray.  I kept reading out of stubbornness and it didn’t ever pay off. 

My biggest issue was that the mystery (which from the blurb and title is supposedly what this book is about) didn’t really even begin until after page 200.  I mean, the book is called Paper Valentine, and the serial killer in the book is called the Valentine Killer because he leaves hand crafted paper valentines with his victims.  So how is that not what the book is about?  Until Hannah starts looking in the deaths in her community, I was bored out of my mind and almost put the book down.  There were all these details and attempts at character building that made me think: “Okay, maybe it will all be tied in at the end.”

But no.  Just no.  These irrelevant details stayed irrelevant.

There are so many things going on within the story that aren’t really ever explained or explored.  For example, it is the hottest July on record, but what does that have to do with anything?  Nothing ever comes about from that; it’s never even mentioned if the bodies of the victims started smelling quicker than normal because of the heat.  It didn’t add to anything.  The birds are dying and The End.  The birds have nothing to do with anything.  What is sad is these are the two most extreme examples and are on the blurb on the back of the book, but there are even more issues like this throughout. 

Looking back now, I feel that the book was kind of a hot mess that couldn’t decide what it wanted to be.  The first third was high school contemporary, filled with details that were not important and not even interesting.  The second third was romance, which seemed to have a lot of unnecessary back story and not enough romantic development.  The last third is where all the mystery happened.  It finally starts to pick up, but still fell flat for me.  I felt that there should have been more.  More intrigue, more excitement, more everything!  Even the plot twist at the end was just not enough.

I think Paper Valentine suffers from trying to do too many things at once and not succeeding in any of them.  The characters were not incredibly interesting, the mystery was blah, and just too much was going on in relation to nothing.  I feel bad writing such a negative review.  Really.  But I honestly think this book is not up to the same quality as other books in the same genre.  I do plan on reading Brenna Yovanoff’s other novels, as I have heard great things, but I cannot recommend Paper Valentine to anyone.  

On the bright side, it has a gorgeous cover.

Final Thought: 12 out of 36 toadstools

This review is also posted on GoodReads