While this book is absolutely amazing in the beginning, everything you could want in a disturbing thriller, it fades and became impossible to finish. I will update my review, if I do ever feel different and finish it.
I will use in a challenge, as well as let the members know about it in Chapter Chatter Pub’.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book started off really fast paced, exciting and I couldn’t wait to find out what was going to happen. The main character, Gloria, is a bitter and twisted individual who you can’t really begin to like. She’s a boring, overweight frump who has no friends, apart from her small doll collection. She’s a clingy, moany and evil gossip who doesn’t see anything wrong with what she says or does and really can’t understand why so many people have been cruel to her which has led her to kill them and add a replica of them to her growing doll collection. She’s extremely clever at literally getting away with murder by making the incidents look like tragic accidents although it all becomes a bit far-fetched in the end.

Gloria moves in as a lodger with Maurice who finds himself in trouble following the recent death of his mother and his inheritance. She bends over backwards to cook, clean and generally look after him and ends up railroading him into a relationship that he doesn’t really want with her. Believing he is wealthier than he actually is she starts bragging to the neighbours about not having to work as her “husband” doesn’t want her to etc. Gloria actually reminded me of the main character in Stephen King’s Misery – the “number one fan”.

I got about 2 thirds into the book and then the excitement stopped and the confusion set in. The author seemed to go off on a completely different tangent and the murders stopped and the main focus was then on Maurice and the father and son estate agents who were trying to steal him of his rightful inheritance.
A really weird ending to what could have been a brilliant book. It’s like the author stopped half way through writing, had a break for a few months and then decided to go back to the book without reading where the story had ended and then went off on a different tangent. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed the book but was disappointed by the last half of it.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Bloodhound Books and the author, Joanna Stephen-Ward, for the opportunity to read a digital copy of The Doll Collector in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.
What a thrill ride it was to read this book! I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought the storyline was well thought out and written. The characters were engaging and very realistic. Gloria is certainly not someone you would ever want to have in your life.
This book was quality work from a debut author. If this is the calibre of her debut novel, fans of this genre ( including me ) have a lot to look forward to. I, for one, cannot wait.
Well worth a read.

The Doll Collector by

<b>One sentence summary</b>
A psycho-killer story filled with some very unlikable characters.

<b>My thoughts</b>
THE DOLL COLLECTOR wasn’t quite what I expected. It was a quick and easy read that kept my attention—but Gloria wasn’t the serial killer I was hoping for. She is one disturbed and unhinged lady, though! No redeeming qualities—and not someone you want to cross or be friends with. It’s impossible to live up to her expectations and her interactions with people—and her interpretations of them—is pretty warped.

Even though she’s had a rough life, she’s so hateful and mean that it’s hard to feel any sympathy for her. There are actually very few likable characters, which makes it a pretty dark read. The author did a great job of keeping my interest and went into just enough detail about the characters. Although I thought the story was well written...it just didn’t have that WOW-factor...for me.

<b>Recommend:</b> Yes—if you’re looking for a fast and dark read.

<b>My Rating: </b>3.5 ⭐️’s

<b>Publish Date:</b> 11/20/2018
<b>Pages:</b> 294

Thank you to NetGalley / Bloodhound Books / Joanna Stephen-Ward for this digital ARC, in exchange for my honest review!
#NetGalley #TheDollCollector

<b>Book Blurb</b>
Murders that look like accidents. An accident that looks like murder.

A couple and their young son burn to death in a house fire.
A girl dies from a nut allergy.
A woman falls under a train during the rush hour.
An accountant falls down the steps to his basement.
Their deaths appear to be accidents but Gloria knows they were murdered because she murdered them. And every time Gloria kills she buys a doll.

But how many dolls will she need to keep her satisfied?
When Gloria takes a room as a lodger her behaviour starts to spin out of control. Gloria wants love and happiness and friendship and she will do anything she can to get what she wants.

I really enjoyed this story and I thought Gloria was a brilliant character! She was well developed and I loved finding out more about her past as the book progressed. I was hooked by this one right from the start.

The pace in the book was spot on for the story, the plot was gripping and I loved the ending too. The author has really nailed this genre in the book and it had added depths in the plot for me, there were bits that I wasn’t expecting and that made it highly enjoyable for me.

4.5 stars from me rounded up to 5 stars from me for this one, very highly recommended and a brilliant story!

"Murders that look like accidents. Accidents that look like murders. I am Gloria. Be kind to me and I'll be your friend. Be cruel to me, betray me or sneak on me and you'll join my doll collection."

The brief synopsis for this title drew me in. A female serial-killer who has a creepy doll collection representing her numerous victims sounds like the kind of novel I'd usually devour. Unfortunately I found that what's promised and what's delivered are two different things entirely.

Gloria's your average boring, overweight, dowdy woman-next-door, who has no real friends to speak of. A clingy, whiny, bitter and judgmental gossip, she doesn't see the negative character traits she possesses and cannot understand why so many people have been cruel to her, forcing her to kill them. Gloria doesn't like killing, though; or at least that's what she tells herself and her doll collection, which she adds to each time she takes another life.

The book starts out promising, with Gloria whispering to her dolls, telling them another will be joining them soon, and it isn't long before she gets away with murder once more, having made the death look like a tragic accident. But from here the book takes readers down a different path and rather than the promised psychological thriller, it turns into something more resembling a comedy.

Naive Maurice, who finds himself in dire straits following the recent death of his mother, places an advert seeking a lodger and, unsurprisingly, it's Gloria who ends up moving into his apartment, believing him to be more wealthy than he actually is. In a serial-killer thriller you'd expect the author to slowly build the suspense from here. Will Maurice become Gloria's next victim?

Gloria bends over backwards to cook, clean and generally look after Maurice. She's so desperate for love and acceptance that she completely railroads him into a relationship and while spineless Maurice realises he's made a mistake in letting the ghastly, domineering Gloria move in, he's too much of a coward to do anything about it. Had Gloria remained true to her historic-murdering form, she'd have had Maurice's card marked early on and he would've been dead before the novel's halfway point. But no. The book goes on. And on. And on; to what can only be described as a rather comical conclusion.

I actually found the sub-plot concerning Maurice and the scheming father and son, who are attempting to swindle him out of his inheritence, to be much more interesting than what was happening in the main storyline, which probably says all you need to know about what I thought of this title.

Even when we're privvy to Gloria's innermost thoughts and learn more about her background, I found her to be so one-dimensional that it was difficult to be interested or invested in her as a character.

The book's saving grace, for me, was Maurice. Yes, he's spineless, naive and avoids confrontation but he's one of the good guys and you can't help but hope there's a pot of gold at the end of his rainbow.

That said, I did enjoy the novel but I suspect for all the wrong reasons. It gave me more chuckles than chills, and just didn't work for me as a thriller, unfortunately.

This is the first title i have read by this author. I enjoyed the book but can honestly say i didnt particularly like any of the characters. Definitely worth a read, will be looking out for more by this author. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me read this 📚

I must admit that prior to being invited to take part in the blog tour for ‘The Doll Collector’ I hadn’t actually come across Joanna Stephen-Ward before. Sorry Joanna. Rest assured though I have certainly heard of her now and I loved reading ‘The Doll Collector’ but more about that in a bit.
I can honestly say that there was not one character in this book that I can truthfully say I warmed to nor did I even like any of them. The most sinister of the characters for me just has to be Gloria. Without giving too much away, she is one of those women that you wouldn’t want to turn your back on because she would probably knife you in it and she gives me the heebie jeebies. I can’t put my finger on exactly why she does but I find her to be very chilling in that she can switch from nasty to nice and back again with frightening ease. Gloria hasn’t exactly had an easy life but to me that’s no excuse for what she gets up to. Gloria ends up sharing a flat with a lad, who hasn’t had it easy either. She seems to take over and certainly gets him and his house in shape although I do get the slight impression that she scares the crap out of him a bit. She certainly scares me.
Oh my gosh, ‘The Doll Collector’ is one of those books that grabs your attention from the start and much like a fisherman landing a catch, the author reels you in. I ended up getting so caught up in the story that I couldn’t stop reading. It was almost as if the book had cast a spell over me and it didn’t let me go until the moment I closed the back cover. I had to keep reading to see what further mayhem Gloria would cause and whether or not she would be caught. The pages turned over so fast that it was almost as if they were turning themselves and I seemed to charge through the book rather quickly for me. I was so into the story and enjoying the characters so much that I didn’t realise how quickly the time was passing or how quickly the pages were turning. ‘The Doll Collector’ is well plotted and well written with twists and turns aplenty. Reading ‘The Doll Collector’ is much like being on a very scary and unpredictable rollercoaster ride with no idea in which direction the story/ ride is going to take you next. There were also moments that almost had me hiding behind a cushion or almost had me reading through my fingers because I feared what was going to happen next. I am a bit of a wimp in that respect.
In short I really enjoyed reading ‘The Doll Collector’ and I would recommend it to other readers. I can’t wait to read what this author comes up with next. Here’s hoping that we don’t have too long to wait. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 4* out of 5*.

THE DOLL COLLECTOR started off on a slow note for me, but I stuck with it and a few chapters later I was eager to see what secrets Gloria hid. However, while having a lot of potential, the book still ended up falling short of what it could have been.

Gloria, the main character - and Doll Collector - is sinister. A despicable character, it was interesting to get inside of her mind and see what she was thinking. While well-developed, Gloria got under my skin a lot. She was quite creepy but at the same time annoying with her racism, jealousy and pettiness. The only reason she kills is because of her jealousy and pettiness.

The book is entitled The Doll Collector and yet only has brief mentions of these dolls and these kills. She has no ties to these dolls which the blurb misleads with. Apparently this is supposed to be part of her serial killer psychology and yet they seem to be nothing more than objects she collects.

The ending was nothing that I expected and nothing in this book was truly believable.

Thx to Bloodhound Books, Joanna Stephen-Ward, and Netgalley for this ARC. I enjoyed this book by a first time author for me. It kept me interested in the storylines and the character, I had a hard time putting it down actually. Having said that, I found that the title was so wrong for this book. Thinking it would be more of a thriller suspense if the actual doll collector, Gloria, and her dolls, was the main storyline, Because of that title, the story could have been so much more then it was.
Gloria was mean and nasty, but her killing of people she named her dolls after, could have been a prequel to this book. But I did enjoy the book,and will definitely be reading this authors other works., even if it’s to see if maybe this is the authors style,

Oh, I liked this one!

I wasn’t sure at first. Our main characters are very…disturbing. And so many people in the book are up to so many wrong things!

But a few chapters in, I was completely caught up in the drama.

As for the ending, it was so very right and so very wrong all at once!

I’d happily read the author again in the future!

*ARC via Net Galley

Couldn't put this book down, Gloria is twisted and menacing and I couldn't wait to find out if she got justice for what she'd done. Great read despite a few grammatical errors.

This is the first book I’ve read in which I haven’t liked a single character, however I feel that that’s supposed to be the case. The storyline is good and I enjoyed the overall idea of the book but I do I feel that there are a lot of unanswered questions - specifically around the main antagonist, Gloria. I read this book in 2 days so it’s definitely one for keeping the reader hooked but I would have liked the loose ends to have been tied up.

Great book with strong characters expected more reference to dolls but didn’t make me enjoy the book any less. Would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good thriller.

This book had a very creepy main character. She is not very attractive but that does not get in the way of her wanting other's lives. It is not good to get this "friend" off side. Her doll collection represents each person she has killed. This feels like a tangled spider web - once you get into her field of influence you may never get out. This was a very satisfying ending. I enjoyed this author.

Well what a dark little tale! Gloria want a boyfriend, a husband, well basically she wants to be Princess Di. Is Maurice, a mild mannered, recently feline bereaved co-worker up to the job? At first Gloria seems to be his saviour, she cleans, she cooks and um she murders cats. Before too long Maurice is out of his depth but can the neighbours help?
A little gem of a book oozing with black humour and some truly repellent characters.

This was an interesting read. A decent amount of mystery and suspense. However, at times it did become a slow read with too much irrelevant detail, thus a four-star rating rather than a five.

Brilliantly twisting story that keeps you on the edge of your seat . Brill8ant story and an ending I didn't see coming

3☆ A Pacy Thriller

The Doll Collector, is a Sinister thriller.

When I first read the blurb I was really intrigued and excited. Normally books that feature dolls, freak me out but something about the blurb drew me in.

Gloria is a twisted and dark individual, with a very dangerous and sinister side.
You see Gloria has a secret.... she kills people and then buys a Doll as a trophy/memory of her kill.
Gloria is a serial killer, she kills anyone who has wronged her, disrespected her, annoyed her.
I really disliked Gloria, but she's not meant to be likeable. She's twisted, jealous and manipulative and very unlikable.

She moves in with Maurice, when he is looking for someone to rent his home with.
But Gloria quickly becomes possessive and jealous, controlling everything.

There was not one character that I liked in this book. But I really do think that was done for a reason. The Characters are all despicable, and out for their own gains.
The only character that I did find ok was Maurice, but I was willing him to get a backbone, as he was just a pawn.

Despite not liking the characters, this is a pacy thriller with a few twists along the way.
My only gripe was I wish we had more focus/story on the dolls. As I said before it's what drew me to the story, despite being scared of them. I just wasn't unnerved enough. When I read thrillers I like to feel my heart racing, unfortunately i just didn't get that and I can't put my finger on the reason.

Overall The Doll Collector is a Tense, Pacy Thriller, with Desperately flawed characters, some dark, twisty and at times sinister moments. Which made for an entertaining read.

Thank you to Emma at Bloodhound books for this copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

I wondered from the start about this book. In it's core it is a great story, bit the collection is not the point. You have a warped being, tormenting everyone she feels has bettered, or appears to have slighted her. You lose track of the dolls until it's dropped bit by bit throughout the tale. It's in no way a bad story, I wanted to keep reading her vengeful acts on people. She truly is a despicably horrible character, you just can't like. As soon as she has a redeeming quality, she messed it up. It's a story of watching a murdering, vengeful train wreak see how far she can push it. The characters built around her, you just empathize and sympathize with. This, making her thought process and actions more maddening. Great story, just think either focus more on the dolls, or not make them the hook of the story. I was expecting a serial killer that collected doll effigies, and ended up being wrapped into a web of this mad woman. Vengeance and spite is the name of her game. Sure, there are small holes in the story, weak areas, but it was an emersion into the mind of a mad woman. I hated her every minute more and more, but couldn't stop reading wondering what she would do next. 3.8/5 stars