Twins Angel and Bud have been abducted and find themselves in a basement "apartment" called the Dollhouse, and they aren't alone. First Doll, Olivia, has lived there for over a year being tended to by Jennifer and serving the whims of Alfred. The addition of new dolls isn't an entirely welcome situation because, while it means she now has company, it also means things are changing… and not necessarily for the better.

Alfred wants to fix his past by staging his own version of his family photos. Each of the dolls plays their part, but often there is a twist involved. You see, Alfred's memories of those photos are not fond ones, and his idea of fixing them is to get his revenge. He is unpredictable, violent and creative with his punishments. Basically, the dollhouse has become a torture chamber. On good days, it's only psychological, but then there are the bad days…

The dolls know their time is running out. There are only so many photos in the album, and Alfred is getting more unstable the closer they get to the end. They need to escape, and Angel, the least likely hero among them, is their only hope.

The Dollhouse by Sara Ennis is like a force of nature. From the first page, it consumed every free moment of my time. Not only are we given the lives of the dolls, but we are introduced to characters on the outside, like Olivia's dad who has given up his career to search for her and has also set up a foundation to help parents of other missing children. We see the effects of both sides of the abduction as the story speeds toward the end, picking up momentum as it goes. By the time I reached the last quarter of the book, there wasn't the tiniest chance I was putting it down until I knew exactly how it ended. When it did, and I realized it was the first in a series….what next??

The one negative thing I could say is that there is a situation involving an abduction that doesn't quite work out properly once a twist is revealed. Whether it's major, or not, is in the eye of the reader. I think some will find it a more important mistake than others. Myself, I was happy enough with the rest of the book that it didn't bother me too much.

I will also say that you need to remember the dolls are fourteen and sixteen years old, and Alfred is a sick man. If those statements give you pause, this is not the book for you.

I've read the blurb for the next book in the series, and all I can say is…"how fast can Sara Ennis write?!"

An advanced copy of this book was provided to me for free, and I have chosen to leave this objective review.

Thank you to Sara & Alicia (the editor) for gifting me a physical copy as well as ebook via NetGalley!
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This is a creepy psychological thriller of a psychopath who kidnaps children (especially teenagers) across states and puts them in a house basement to live out his childhood traumas. Although the book is marketed as a psychological thriller, the abuse is quite extreme like what you’d find in horror books. If you’re a horror reader, you’re good but if you read only thrillers and avoid horror elements like the plague, DM me or anyone who has read the book for triggers. I also do not want to add much more because you gotta go in as blind as possible.

With that out of the way, I will say I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book. The book is full blown action-packed and comes in short chapters that I’m finding holds my attention a lot more. And speaking of attention, if you’re starting to read this book, make sure to free up your calendar from any work or other activities. Ignore your other half, friend, kids, neighbor, manicurist, grocer, football games etc. because this book sucks in your attention right away and you aren’t going to get much else done till you reach the end. You can thank me later for this little piece of advice.

Speaking of the end, this book is actually the first of a sequel and I want to thank the author with a big bouquet of flowers (if flowers are her thing) to NOT leave us hanging with a painful cliffhanger that so many book series do. You could easily read this book alone and be done, although I highly doubt you’ll stop with this one. I’m glad Sara Ennis’ books came on my radar and I can’t wait for her next one soon!

Dark and twisted! You know that moment something is sick and disturbing but you cannot not take your eyes away that! THIS is it! It had my attention at every page. It was a difficult read at times and be warned may be a trigger for some people but the author did a brilliant job of reeling you in to lives of the main characters and wanting the best outcome for them!
If you love a twisty, dark thrill ride, this one needs to get on your shelves!

First of all, this cover is what got my attention. It' is somehow bold and dramatic and uncluttered. Then I read the blurb and thought- this sounds creepy AF. Would I actually be able to read it without giving myself nightmares? And the answer is yes! Oh, The Dollhouse by Sara Ennis is creepy all right. But it's so smarty plotted and absorbing. It gave me chills but no nightmares and I couldn't turn he pages fast enough!!

This psychological thriller had me all in and on the edge of my seat the whole time I read it.. It was the first book the made me cry. Definitely an amazing read and I am lucky to get an arc of this book. I never knew how it ended the more I read. I was so invested in the story line. Did research to see of there was a book that continued the story for one of the main characters Angel.

Children are abducted to help a disturbed man recreate and deal with his childhood trauma. I enjoyed how the story played out and the character development. I did have a few little niggles in the back of my brain like the children being teenagers. It isn't what I would first think of if I were told someone had abducted children to recreate their own childhood. Additionally there was something I started catching on to later than I think I should have in the book. Maybe I was reading too fast and missed the signs, but the children should have figured it out well before me and there was never a reason given as to why they didn't. I don't need my books all nicely tied up at the end, but this one aspect seemed a bit too strange to ignore. I also enjoyed how the story included others dealing with the trauma of the kidnappings from the FBI agent to the younger brother and even some of the townspeople. It is really easy to forget how so many people can be impacted by trauma. I look forward to more from this author.

I see a lot of five star reviews which is a little astonishing to me. I was eager to read because of the title (I collect dolls and dollhouses). There were a lot of fascinating parts of the story but even more creepy ones. This said, it was the language that mostly ruined it for me. There was so much profanity and dirty words.. too much for me to accept.

3.5 stars

I expected a creepy psychological thriller, and I mostly got that with this book. I like that the majority of the story was told from Angel's perspective, as it added to the horrors in the Dollhouse scenes. The pace was fast overall, which helped me stay engaged, and there were a few unexpected twists. I did find it to be a bit long with some lulls, that could've been fixed with a tighter edit. It appears that this will be a sequel, which I found a bit surprising.
Descriptions were vivid, making the story easy to visualize.

If you enjoy thrillers and aren't squirmish with details, this is a book to add to your list.

This one is hard to review, because I definitely think it’s not for everyone and likely needs a lot of different trigger warnings. It also utilized things that may be offensive to some. I personally enjoyed it, although I did find it a bit quirky, but I also like demented, disturbing, and dark books. It’s one I would say to approach with caution!

can I say about This book? First of Whatall i would give it a lot of triggerwarnings. So beware of that before you read the book. It scared the crap out of me, realizing that people like This exists. With their sick and twisted minds. This book is not for the fainthearted. I really do not know how to explain This book.
Thank you to netgalley for letting me read This e arc in exchange for an honest opinion

Started off strong but wow the ending was absolute hot garbage. Not only was it not believable in any way, it uses mental health stigmas and transphobia as it’s big twist? Barf.

Incredibly suspenseful, a total roller coaster ride of heart pounding tension, I loved this book, and finished it over a weekend, ignoring all other chores. I am so looking forward to reading Angel’s next chapter in her life.

If you like Criminal Minds, you will LOVE this book. I really liked all the different points of view from the different characters and how they all come together. I may have watched too many crime shows, as I could predict one of the twists in advance, but definitely didn’t guess all of them. There is some things in the book that if you’re sensitive, this may be hard for you to read, but I really enjoyed it.

This is a very odd & haunting book that involves kidnapping of 2 children from an inattentive mother. Two children, a brother & sister, are kidnapped and taken to what the lady calls "The Dollhouse". If you are looking for creepy and a little on the odd side, then this is the book for you!

This book initially didn’t capture my interest. I didn’t care for the generic names of Angel, Bud, or Sunshine. I was skeptical from the jump based on that, but once the story got moving along, I quickly became invested. Especially the last fourth of the book, I was all in and looking for opportunities to read. It’s not often that a book almost brings me to tears, but this one did it. Bravo!

Dark, creepy, and disturbing, THE DOLLHOUSE was a near-perfect thriller.

Alfred is collecting "dolls" to re-create moments from his childhood that are carefully preserved in a photo album. Alfred has less than fond memories of his childhood, so the "dolls", or the children an accomplice abducts for him, are his attempt to re-write his sad and painful childhood.

This book read like an episode of Criminal Minds, and it was both fascinating and sickening to get inside Alfred's mind. His accomplices were equally disturbing in the ways they gained a child's trust in order to abduct them.

Trigger warnings: Violence against children, death involving children.

I had a lot of issues with this book, I think it was mostly a matter of taste. I read a lot of dark thrillers, but this some just didn't hit the mark for me.

First, the pluses. The "dolls" were well rendered and it was easy to root for them. I thought all of the scenes in the Dollhouse were well done. But it did seem a little repetitive with the photoshoots alternating with the "run to the store" game. But it still made me feel for these kids and hope they make it.

I didn't care for the other perspectives in the story however--namely Peter, (a man who seemed to be lacking personality, and mostly just steps in to play rich, white savior for other parents). I think I would have preferred to know more about our bad guy's history OR the FBI's perspective than Peter's.

I really didn't like the way this story ended. Suddenly, Nick--a character that has largely been offscreen the whole time, is front and center? Suddenly Angel has a mission? The last section felt like a Herculean effort was being made to turn this clear cut story into a thriller series and, for me at least, those efforts landed with a thud. (Plus it robbed us of any sort of resolution with the bad guy).

Trigger warning: torture

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and author Sara Ennis for the electronic copy in exchange for an honest review.

I flew through this book in 48 hours! You are pulled into the story very quickly, which I love. Really helps the suspense build right from the get go.

The story follows a few different characters. Angel and Bud are 14 year old twin sister and brother who come from a less than ideal background with a father in jail and a mother who's not exactly mother of the year. When their mother decides to leave the twins alone for a long weekend of her own fun, the twins find themselves kidnapped and taken to a place known as The Dollhouse.

As the new 'dolls' Angel and Bud are forced to recreate their captor Alfred's old photographs. But Alfred is hard to please, with a hot temper and a twisted sense of humor.

Peter Baden, a respected journalist, has been away from his work for over a year as he uses his high amount of inherited funds to search for his own missing daughter, Olivia, as well as to help those who have little means themselves to search for their missing children. When his hard work begins to pay off, he catches a couple a similarities between Olivia's disappearance and the twins. Similarities that may lead him to finding his daughter after all this time.

Through pain and torment, both physical and mental, you get to see Angel and Bud transform themselves from innocent children into smart, strong young adults with a growing will to survive. This book kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. The twins never know what kind of mood Alfred will be in every time he visits. Will he be friendly and cooperative or will he snap at the slightest sign of noncompliance? Get a view into the mind of a mad man and discover what he, as a person, has gone through in his past to make him into the monster he is today.

A great thriller. Truly enrapturing. Perfect for anyone looking for a suspenseful spooky season read!

This book gives such chilling creepy vibes. A great thriller and I absolutely loved it. Horror fans will love this one as well as it gave me such horror vibes.

The perfect combination of thriller and horror. I was totally wrapped up in this story and stayed up way too late finishing this. Highly recommend.