I really wanted to enjoy this one but was both bored and confused.
Myra owns a mansion, really a dollhouse she refuses to call a dollhouse, and blogs about it. Alex, across the country sees the dollhouse (it’s a mansion!) and realizes it’s a recreation of his home. The pair start correspondence and try to unwind the past. There is time switching and the current day was more interesting to Me. I found this slow overall unfortunately.

After a car accident when she was younger took the life of her beloved step-grandma, Trixie, and left her scarred, Myra Malone hasn't left her house. She seeks refuge in the mansion (not a dollhouse) she inherited from Trixie, spending days working on new furniture to add, rearranging the rooms, and crafting stories to go along with it. When her friend convinces her to share the mansion online, Myra didn't expect anyone would care and is shocked when she gains a massive following. Soon, everyone is taken by the enigmatic Myra as they are with the ever-changing mansion.

While working at his family's furniture business, Alex Rakes keeps coming across patrons looking to match the aesthetic of a mysterious mansion. One customer shows him a picture of the mansion, and Alex is bewildered to find himself staring at a smaller version of his own home. How can a stranger across the country know his family home down to the most minute detail? Alex reaches out to Myra, and soon the pair strike a correspondence, hoping to unravel the mystery tying them together.

If you're looking for a warm book to curl up with once winter hits, this is it. Everything about it felt cozy. Burges' writing is inviting and whimsical. I enjoyed all the magical touches peppered throughout. I liked the premise of these two lonely people connecting over this strange mystery. There were certain aspects of both Myra and Alex that I could relate to, so it was easy to become invested in their story. However, the pacing was a little rocky, especially with all the changing timelines, and I wish we had a little more explanation of the magic. Aside from that, I thought this was charming.

I was charmed by this tale of a lonely girl and her magical, miniscule mansion. Told in alternating chapters, we learn the history of the “not a dollhouse” and the current story of the blog and Myra’s connection to the owner of the actual mansion.

As drawn in as I was to the story, I was more captivated by the 2015 timeline. I felt the storyline of the past dragged a little. Reading those chapters didn’t fly by as reading the more current storyline. About halfway through I switched to text reading. I think this is a book I would more enjoy as an audiobook. Myra’s blog posts and her character’s conversations with others were lively and I would have liked to read more pages like that and maybe less about the sad past. Still, a very enjoyable story of magical realism.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC.

There is nothing minuscule about the charm and enchantment this book brought me! What a wonderfully lovely ode to family, to connection, to wanting and creating meaning in our daily lives; Audrey Burges has a new fan.

I loved a lot of the writing and small but meaningful phrasing in this book, I saw value in the childlike wonder in Myra's story and also the value in seeing her come more into her adulthood, to move outward and not just inward, and to find connection with her past but also a future possibly with Alex. I liked how her background stories were actually used to move the present day story forward, I don't always like back and forth timelines but I felt the author did a nice job of using the earlier timeline chapters to bring connection and explanation to the narrative.

I loved Alex's different voice as well, he was a fully developed character and I actually connected with him a bit more. I related to his desire for something more, to understand his connection to the Mansion, his pursuit of his passions and interests, and his hope for more than being a part of the family business.

I also was delighted by the background notes with Alex and the people he encountered as Mansion fans (it is Mansion though?); I thought those small scenes added a nice outside perspective to how Myra and her Mansion were a presence in many lives. It was a thoughtful detail in the storytelling!

I might quibble a bit with the pacing of the end of the book and might have wanted more of the Mansion explained (but also appreciate the element of magic being just that... magic) but this is a book I can happily recommend. A strong debut!

The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone was an interesting magical realism read. It did read a little slow for me and it was a bit too easy to put down. I did finish it (between the other books I was reading) and was happy I stayed with it.

The Miniscule Mansion of Myra Malone is a beautiful piece of speculative fiction that focuses on the complex relationships between people, houses, and homes. Alex and Myra are the perfect example of opposites attract, showing that different life experiences get different people to who they need to be.
I love a weird house. The average person spends most of their life at home, and Burges does a great job of showing what that can mean for different people. Most Authors see the home, and the house, as a place of family, but the Miniscule Mansion shows that home can have meaning beyond that. For Myra, her home is both the cabin in which she has lived her entire life, hardly taking steps outside, as well as the miniature mansion she has spent her whole life currating. For Alex, it's the main mansion in Lockhart, even if he only lived their for a few short years.
I think the only think I might change is the final meeting of Alex and Myra, in which Myra acts rather out of character. The whole pacing of the ending is a bit rocky for me, and the magic doesn't get as explained or elaborated on as much as I might like, but it's still a solidly enjoyable read.

I received an eARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had some fun with this magical realism book centered around a blog (also named the title of the book) about reclusive Myra's "not a dollhouse" mansion and a full sized version where Alex lives.

The mystery was something that I solved way before it was revealed which delighted me, but still kept me reading to see it be fulfilled. Myra had such a special voice and it really came through in her blog posts.

This book is as charming and enchanting as the house at the center of the story. The protagonist, closed off from the world since a young girl, finds herself with a large audience for her blog about the miniature house that occupies most of her thoughts and days. Across the country, a young man has returned home to work with his ailing father in the family's furniture shop, and he discovers a surprising connection to the minuscule mansion. As the story unfolds, we learn about previous generations, their relationships and attachments to the house in question, and there is a bit of fantasy and magic that come into play. A perfect antidote for troubled times.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin/Berkley for providing this arc.

The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone by A. Burges, published by Berkley Publishing Group, Berkley, is a full-length, stand-alone.
Myra works on a library in a Mansion, a minuscule Mansion, posting about it on her blog. Acroos the country, Alex reads her psots and is intrigued. Alex is rather a mystery character in this twisty and complex story. A slow burn that took me a minute or two to connect with. The story jumps between present and past, a style I'm not a big fan of. But all in all, the storyline is intriguing, 4 stars.

I had no clue what I was going to be reading. A grown woman who sets up a dollhouse and shares it on her blog. What? But this book was so intriguing. Once I started reading, I could not stop. I needed to know what Myra was going to do next, but even more important what was going to happen in The Mansion. Which room would appear next? Which room would disappear? What accessories would change? Most importantly, why?

The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone is a quirky and unique story. I read in quickly and enjoyed every word. The story has magic, romance, and mystery. It is a story of healing, of new relationships, and of redefining yourself. This is Audrey Burges’ debut book and I look forward to more by her.

This was such an interesting concept for a novel. I've never honestly read something with a premise like this, and I overall enjoyed it I just found a bit of the reveals and the turning points to be... a bit lackluster in the grander scheme of things.

The Miniscule Mansion of Myra Malone by Audrey Burges is an intriguing story that draws readers in as the mystery unfolds. I would recommend it to readers who enjoy family dramas, mysteries, and multiple timeline stories. Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

How to describe this magical book... Part real, part dream, a story you hug close but also want to share. Audrey Burges has given us a story about love and family and pain and a timeless world. If you had told me this tale when I was a child, when I would sit in the woods alone listening to the sounds of nature; I would have said, yes, I've been there, too. Since this is a review I feel I should say more than just oh you must read it! But that is true, but don't rush. Read it and experience the story unfurling, its parts like wet autumn leaves or opening spring blooms, both sad and lovely. I can't explain it very well in practical terms, and a synopsis isn't really necessary. For those who are anxious, it does have a lovely ending, and if you must go through a little fire to get there, it is worth it.

The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone was a delight to read. Myra, her childhood impacted by a tragic accident, has locked herself away from the world with a miniature mansion (not a dollhouse), which she uses as a substitute for the real world. Her friend, Gwen, persuades her to create a website with the mansion and its decoration and that is when Myra's life changes. Alex, across the country, has his own mystery to solve and it brings the two into each other's orbit. A throughly enjoyable read in the vein of Sarah Addison Allen.

DNF @ 18%

The premise for this was so interesting but the writing style and pacing were a slog to get through. As much as I found adult Myra dull and uninspiring, I really didn't enjoy reading her perspective as a child, I didn't vibe with her blog entries (ostensibly the biggest point on which the plot hinges), nor did I find the fantastical elements all that compelling to keep reading.

But, perhaps, I am in the minority and it does get better.

As I was reading this story I kept thinking of the classic movie The Enchanted Cottage (1945) but with a sort of updated magic that is at the same time ancient. A young reclusive woman who is consumed by a miniature mansion given to her as a child, a lost young man that discovers her blog and realizes he lives in the full size version of the miniature mansion. A love story is bound to happen. Well written, imaginative, with good character development. Though it felt like I was entering the story almost at the middle; we know the middle and the end, but how long ago did it actually begin? Where did the Lady begin?

If you know anything about the doll collecting or doll house crafting will appreciate The Miniscule Mansion of Myra Malone. But even if you don’t, its lush fantasy climbs will enchant as it weaves its spell over you.

Myra Malone lives an isolated life in the attic of her grandfather’s cabin. Ever since she was a small child, she’s been decorating her grandmother’s dollhouse – she was very close to Trixie, and the way Myra lost her has forever affected her adult life. Now thirty-four, she is an agoraphobe with very few close friends. One of them, Gwen, encourages Myra to share information about her dollhouse online, and Myra soon has a very popular blog. Her fans love her and have built a community around Myra’s posts about the dollhouse as well as the notion of creating dollhouses of their own – and even larger display pieces, even trying to transform their own homes into Myra’s creation. Myra does what she can to feed them content, but she is stuck within the walls of her Arizona mountaintop cabin, fascinated by the dollhouse, which plays music at odd times and whose furniture rearranges itself. Whole rooms can disappear and reappear out of the blue, and new ones can be added while Myra sleeps. But now she’s in dire straits – her childhood home is about to be auctioned off, and she and Gwen team up to use Myra’s fame to raise funds to save it.

Alex Rakes and his family have been building furniture in Virginia for generations now, and when he encounters a group of Myra’s fans looking to buy his custom furniture to replicate the dollhouse in their own homes, he’s shocked to discover that her miniature manse resembles his family’s ancestral mansion. He even sees his childhood bedroom done up in miniature in Myra’s house.

Determined to talk to Myra, Alex bids on one of the auction items and wins a lunch with her. They establish an online correspondence before he flies down to see her, and together, they investigate the mystery of Myra’s dollhouse. But what will they find, and what secrets does it hold?

The book’s mystery holds together, and both Alex and Myra are great central characters. Even the way the characters’ PTSD is written feels good and realistic (Alex has been through a lot, and his family has a complicated history of its own).

But as a fellow working-on-it agoraphobe, I must point out that Myra’s move from being shuttered away for years in her grandfather’s cabin due to a childhood trauma to leaving the cabin entirely to see and be with Alex, feels too abrupt. There needed to be more steps, more uncertainty. But their romance is well-done on the whole.

I loved pushy Gwen and the way the book accurately plays with both internet fame and the things miniaturists go through on a daily basis. I’m deliberately downplaying the fantasy plot and the mystery connected to the house proper, because to explain the magical mechanisms at work will ruin the book. But The Miniscule Mansion of Myra Malone is a fabulous experience that’s well worth having.

Buy it at: Amazon, Audible or your local bookshop
Visit our Amazon Storefront

Great debut novel.
Plot is so unique yet similar to The Miniaturist.

A seanless read. I never felt as though the reading became sluggish or dull.
However, being a literalist, I did find myself questioning at least two issues but not to the point that my opinion about the book changed.
There are likeable characthers that have hang ups to hurdle; friendships(new and old); dysfunctional family relationships; a slight touch of mystical/magical and a surprising yet totally predictable ending.

Great job Audrey Burges!

My goodness, this was the best book I've read in a long time! Myra is just a child when her step-grandmother dies in an accident, but still loves the Mansion that was left behind - don't call it a dollhouse, it isn't one. Myra blogs about it, decorates it, and uses it as a refuge from the life she's living. However, Alex lives in the full-sized version, and when he contacts Myra about it, that sets in motion a meet-up that was bound to happen.

The magical feel of the Mansion, the twists and turns in Alex and Myra's family stories, and the allure of the wisteria-covered home itself all worked so well to pull me into this reality! I adored this story.

No corrections in the ARC I read.

Part fantasy, part romance, and part mystery— and one hundred percent captivating. I loved reading about reclusive Mya and her fascinating miniature house, her backstory that showed us how she arrived in her current situation, and how her life ultimately entwines with that of Alex Rakes, a man who lives on the other side of the country and whose home looks exactly like Anya’s miniature house. I enjoyed this ride very much and look forward to what Burges writes next!