Just a so-so short story from Lisa Unger. I felt like too much was attempted for a short story. I also felt like it was all very predictable. However, it did have the creepy factor (especially the smart house and the sad girl in the garden). It’s a good spooky season short story, but nothing groundbreaking.

Thank you Netgalley, Lisa Unger and Amazon Original Stories for the arc of The Dolls House.

The Doll's House is a fast paced Novella which has a little bit of everything in this short story. It's told in 2 POV, Jules who has recently got involved in a new relationship and her daughter, Scout.Who is trying to settle into her new school life, I felt that even though its a novella, the character building was good for both these characters. Kirin who is Jules's partner doesn't really appear much until the last part of the book but you still get a good sense of who he is. The plot itself is fast paced and a quick read. It definitely has a creepy vibe about it which makes it atmospheric which I really enjoyed. The direction of the plot wasn't really a surprise but it didn't take away from how much I enjoyed reading this. I'll be looking out for more of Lisa Unger's books in the future.

4 stars

Having lost their husband/father, Doug, Jules and Scout make a fresh start with Kirin Winslow. He is the acclaimed puppeteer who also loss someone, his sister Emma. This is short and creepy! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy.

This story was a quick and easy read. It has a good mystery and an element of delicious creepiness to it. I loved the ending and hope that Lisa Unger considers adding more to this story. Definitely recommend!

Un pasticcio: personaggi poco caratterizzati che agiscono a casaccio, una trama thriller che ha più buchi di una rete da pesca e tenta di rappezzarne qualcuno lanciando qualche elemento fantastico completamente random. Se questa è la qualità media della scrittura dell'autrice mi risparmio senza problemi il resto della sua produzione.

Thank you for this book!

It reminded me of. Goosebumps book

The lack of quotation marks around texts really bugged me and confused me

This is a very fun, quick, creepy read. It's hard to start over after a loss, but it's even harder when you're dropped into a creepy place where people have gone missing. I liked the mystery and the supernatural elements. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

I really enjoyed this short story! So much happened! Jules falls in love with Kirin. She decides her and her daughter scout will go live with Kirkin in his mansion. But Scout is not happy to be there. She feels like danger is lurking in the house. Can Kirkin be trusted? Should Jules have listed to Scout and not moved in with Kirkin. If you’re looking for a quick short story thriller, I’d definitely recommend this book! Thank you NetGalley, Lisa and Amazon Original Stories for the ARC!

The Doll’s House was really good! It was mysterious and kept my attention from beginning to end. Any story that revolves around dolls is going to be creepy, but it wasn’t too scary. I really like Lisa Unger’s writing style she really has a way of captivating the reader! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

ARC Review
4.5⭐️
This was so good! I'm usually bot thrilled with thriller novellas, but I loved this one. It kept me intrigued the whole time, and you can easily eat it up in just an hour or two. It was weird and eerie and actually made me a little nervous myself for the future of AI lol. So if under 100 pages is able to do that for me, it's absolutely getting a high rating!

I do enjoy a short story, especially when so much happens. In just 98 pages, Lisa Unger manages to draw the reader in quickly, with characters you will have strong feelings about in a short time.

This book is creepy in so many ways.. I mean dolls are always enough to make me squirm. This book is full of them, and a doll maker to boot. It is emotional, a mother and teenager grieving the loss of the man in their lives. There is a missing girl, a new school and a memorial garden.

So much in so few pages..

Thanks Amazon Original Stories and NetGalley for the early copy to read. Publishes on September 12th.

📚 PRE-PUBLICATION SHORT STORY REVIEW 📚

The Doll's House By Lisa Unger
Publication Date: September 12, 2024
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚MY REVIEW:

If I only had one word to describe this short story from Lisa Unger, it would be CREEPY.

Offering multiple POVs with alternating chapters between mom and daughter, and coming in just under 100 pages, this book was SUCH a quick read. Because it was a short story, there wasn't a ton of context in the characters and plot. In my opinion, that worked well for this story because I think the whole point was just to be creepy... And further context and development of the storyline might have crossed the line and made the book "odd" and too far "out there."

This book features a big old 'creepy' estate, an overgrown 'grief garden,' missing persons, a 'creepy' doll that looks just like one of the missing persons, a mysterious teenage girl who keeps showing up on the property, a 'creepy' automated computer system in a house that monitors your movements and talks to you like Siri, 'super creepy' puppets... You get it. A lot of creepy elements here. In fact, the only creepy things missing from this story were clowns and an old basement. Add those two things in and this short story would have been the stuff of my worst nightmares.

The storyline escalates quickly (I mean, it kinda has to; it's a short story) and the overall creep factor of the book stays prominently featured throughout. I'll be honest, I was glad this was a short story, because I was able to read it fast while it was still light outside. If it would have been a full-length book, I probably would have laid awake half the night, listening to my house making noises and wondering if creepy puppets were coming to get me. Ha!

If you like creepy short stories, you should probably get over to NetGalley and download this one immediately -- it's available as a Read Now selection. If dolls and puppets creep you out, you might wanna sit this one out. 😂 Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the advanced copy of this short story in exchange for my honest review!

#TheDollsHouse #LisaUnger #NetGalley #NetGalleyReviews #ARC #bookreviews #bookrecommendations #shortstoryreviews #thrilleraddict #thrillerlover #thrillerreads #creepythrillers

creepy as heck!! i dont read a lot of spooky books or thrillers but when i do, i just like to get spooked a little and not to find out about the twist. this did just that. short and sweet. just enough to keep you interested

📖📖 Book Review 📖📖 Grief is cruel and so difficult to capture on paper and yet this story does such a remarkable job with the complex emotions. The Doll’s House House is a beautifully dark short story, a haunting reminder that life is not always as it seems. Lisa Unger packs a powerful punch in this atmospheric and immersive read! The Doll’s House is a deliciously dark and twisty story perfectly paced for one captivating sitting.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Review is on Goodreads and will be posted on instagram closer to publication date and on Amazon when published!

This book was short but definitely not sweet…

In such a short space of time, the author has created nothing less than a creepy masterpiece. I was hooked from the off, intertwined with the mystery unravelling before me.

I loved how lifelike and vibrant each of the characters were and how in such a short space of time, I didn’t suspect once how the story was about to unfold.

Title: The Doll’s House
Author: Lisa Unger
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Pub Date: September 12, 2024
My Rating: 4.5 Rounded up

This is my thirteenth Lisa Unger novel - I call myself a fan!
I am not big on short stories as they just are not long enough to satisfy my reading taste- this is my first short story by Lisa Unger and since I enjoy her stories I was willing to give it a try.

Story is told from the POV of Jules and her daughter-Scout
Jules is a thirty-seven year old widow who believes she has been lucky enough to have enough love for a lifetime. She certainly was not interested, needed, or expected to find love again. However, handsome artist Kirin changed that!
Scout is a teenager who misses her father and not happy that mom is willing to leave their home filed with love and move into Kirin’s mansion.
Scout goes exploring in the mansion and ends up in Emma’s room. Emma was Kirin’s sister and went missing twenty-five years ago when she was a teenager. Scout sees a doll and as she is picking it up Kirin walks into the room. He tells her that as a puppet and doll maker this was his first doll. He made the doll using Emma’s items- pieces of clothing, jewelry etc.. He tells Scout that she may have the doll.
She accepts and it seems to transfer a connection and a desire to find the truth.

I enjoyed this story – I knew Ms. Unger would not disappoint.
I am good with paranormal so found this very interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for this early novella.
Publishing Release Day scheduled for September 12, 2024.

From the get-go, I have to say this book is packed with action, and I honestly wished it was a full-length novel. There’s so much happening, and while everything is crystal clear and straight to the point, I craved a bit more build-up to the events that unfolded. I was blown away by how well the characters were developed in such a short span—by the end, I felt like I knew each one personally. I wouldn’t have minded an extra epilogue from Kirin’s perspective, just to get inside his head a bit more. But overall, I’m really satisfied with how it all wrapped up. Big thanks to Netgalley and Amazon Original Stories for letting me read and review this ARC!

A good short story about a grieving mother and daughter who move in with the mother’s fiancé. The story was unique, fast paced and a quick read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for providing me with an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This short story drew me in with an intriguing story told from multiple perspectives. A haunting look at how wrong we can be about those closest to us and where things can go wrong in our relationships.

It's supposed to be a fresh start—a new romance, a sprawling mansion, an easier life. And it is...at first.

I was just eyeing a Lisa Unger book at the library (literally, it's the next tab open on my browser), so it felt like perfect timing when this short story (novella? what's the cutoff?) turned up. This hits a lot of classic notes, from the isolated house to the creepy dolls. (Fortunately these are themes that I enjoy in a mystery!)

There aren't a lot of surprises here, I think largely because it's a short story with (again) a lot of those classic notes; there isn't a lot of room for guessing or red herrings, and almost as soon as the characters know something is wrong, they're rushing to resolve it. I enjoyed this as a short story/novella, but I'd enjoy it more as something full length—something where we see more of the house unfold, where Vivi gets creepier as time goes on, where there's more time to raise the stakes.

Recommended to those who want something short and straightforward, without too many twists. As I think this would be a better fit for me in a longer format...it might be time for me to find one of Unger's full-length books to read after all.

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.