Starting to like short stories. It was easy and fast to read. Always love books that read fast. I do have to say, this book is not what i expected. Expected something to happen with the doll. Also expected it to be more creepy/scary, but that wasn't really the case for me. But i still enjoyed reading it, it was still a nice story and the suspense was still there. Just not what i expected. Liked the ending, sounds like there is more coming. Not sure if that's the case. But the possibility is certainly there.

This was just what I needed! A short, fast-paced thriller. This was perfect for starting off the spooky season reads! It had me really on edge and really invested in the story with this doll and the house. Read this book…. But don’t read it at night!

3 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Not bad, not awesome. Fun, short read for the spooky season! I wish it could’ve been a full length novel though.

My thanks to Amazon Originals, Lisa Unger and Netgalley.
I've not read too many of Lisa Unger books. Hell, I may have only read 2 others by her! But, I've enjoyed everything of hers that I've read. This novella was slightly different. Not in the enjoyment level, just in the maybe wanting more level? I'm actually unsure about that!
First off..Doll houses.....only creepy when dolls are actually added!
Second off.....fucking dolls!
Third off..... Dude who creates dolls!
So, great concept, Lisa fucking Unger! You managed to make my skin crawl!
Also, I'm giving this 3.5 stars rounded down. Only because...DOLLS.
Honestly? I'm 60 years old and have only once owned a doll. She was a ballerina that I thought was from my dad, but turned out it was a lie from my grandma. I'm still clueless about why I don't like dolls! Lol!
Just kidding. Not clueless on that front.

🔎 Review Time!

The Doll's House

@launger
@amazonpublishing

My Rating:
🌟 4/5

👀Read if you like
Dolls
Dual POVs
Short Stories

When Jules first meets the handsome artist Kirin, she’s still mourning her husband’s death, but a fairytale romance soon sweeps her off her feet. Now she and her daughter Scout are moving out of the city and into Kirin’s once-lonely mansion. He’s thoughtfully updated and adapted the home to match their personalities. But Scout is determined to keep her father’s memory alive by rejecting the new life her mother and Kirin have spun for her.

Scout’s sullenness begins to fade, though, when she finds a beautiful handmade doll in one of the many empty rooms in the house. Kirin says that the doll belonged to his late sister and he’d like Scout to have it. Scout’s hopeful for a connection over their shared grief, but as she grows more curious about Kirin’s sister, she can’t escape the feeling that a danger lurks in the house…and its gaze is fixed on her mother.



🔎 My review
I love Lisa's books and was excited to see this short story on NetGalley. Even though this short story is only 98 pages long (which makes it easy to read in one sit) it was action packed with Spooky/Supernatural vibes. I highly recommend reading this if you haven't already.

#books #bookreviews #bookstagrammer #bookworm #bookstagram #bookobsessed #spooky #shortstory #amazonoriginal #lisaunger #TheDollsHouse #NetGalley

Thrilling and edge of my seat. I did not see what was coming. This book was all I expected and more!

Jules new boyfriend seemed almost too good to be true. Handsome, rich, successful, and sensitive to her needs, she was happy to move into his home with her teenage daughter. Kirin had prepared his home with them in mind. Things started feeling 'off' though and it was soon apparent things weren't what they seemed.

This is an entertaining book. I loved the creepy ending

It was a pretty good read. I liked the characters and the creepy dolls. The story started out strong but was very predictable. I wish we could have had a deep dive into the characters development. I think I would have enjoyed the story more if it were a full length book so that we could have gotten the things that were missing from the story, it felt too rushed at the end. But if you are looking for good, easy and fast read book that’s also a little creepy then I recommend checking this one out!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was so creepy! I am in my short story phase and this short story delivered. I think it was the perfect amount of suspenseful and spooky. This will make a great spooky season read for sure.

This short story was well-crafted, offering enough depth and resolution to leave me satisfied as a reader.

After losing her husband, Jules is quickly swept off her feet by Kirin, who brings her into a fast-paced romance that leads to marriage. However, her daughter, Scout, is not a fan of this new man in their lives. The situation is made even more challenging when Scout has to leave behind her friends and school to move into Kirin’s mansion.

Scout's suspicions about Kirin grow, and she becomes increasingly convinced that there’s more to him than meets the eye.

Although this book is labeled as horror, it felt more like a short story with an unsettling undertone rather than a full-blown scary tale."

Just wow! Lisa Unger delivers a heck of a punch! This was an intense story with fantastic characters. Definitely kept me flipping pages long into the night. Huge on the creep factor!
Thank you NetGalley and Lisa Unger for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Quick little spooky story. I really enjoyed our mother and daughter main characters. I think this would be better as a full on book or shortened a little, the ending seemed a little rushed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

When Jules first meets the handsome artist Kirin, she’s still mourning her husband’s death, but a fairytale romance soon sweeps her off her feet. Now she and her daughter Scout are moving out of the city and into Kirin’s once-lonely mansion. He’s thoughtfully updated and adapted the home to match their personalities. But Scout is determined to keep her father’s memory alive by rejecting the new life her mother and Kirin have spun for her.

There are stories that are too long and could be 100 pages shorter and then there is this one that needed about another 100 pages to add a little more depth and a better ending in my opinion. Lisa Unger typically keeps my attention and I have liked most of what I have read by her but this one was meh. I believe writing a short story is harder than a novel simply because you only have a few pages for development and punch. I honestly feel that it started out strong but it lost momentum in the second half and then just ended.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon publishing for the ARC of The Doll’s House.

A quick and easy thriller that actually leaves you thrilled. I really enjoyed this book! I would highly recommend.

🎎Book Review🎎
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Summary- When Jules first meets the handsome artist Kirin, she’s still mourning her husband’s death, but a fairytale romance soon sweeps her off her feet. Now she and her daughter Scout are moving out of the city and into Kirin’s once-lonely mansion. He’s thoughtfully updated and adapted the home to match their personalities. But Scout is determined to keep her father’s memory alive by rejecting the new life her mother and Kirin have spun for her.
Scout’s sullenness begins to fade, though, when she finds a beautiful handmade doll in one of the many empty rooms in the house. Kirin says that the doll belonged to his late sister and he’d like Scout to have it. Scout’s hopeful for a connection over their shared grief, but as she grows more curious about Kirin’s sister, she can’t escape the feeling that a danger lurks in the house…and its gaze is fixed on her mother.
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Rating- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
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My thoughts- This beauty came out last week and at only 98 pages long it’s totally worth the read! I loved this one SO much, Lisa Unger can do no wrong in my eyes. I would have loved a full fledged novel from this I loved it so much! This was such a fun horror novel, it’s so fast paced and so much fun! Will you see the twists coming ? Probably but man this is fantastic !
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QOTD- what is something that scares you ?! Haunted dolls and clowns always scare me !
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This is a short story which was available on Amazon Originals.

I personally find dolls pretty spooky so a horror story centered around a doll maker in an isolated mansion should really get to me! However, although I found the story very entertaining and beautifully written, I felt that it lacked suspense. I could guess most of the time what would happen next which definitely lowers the scary rating!

Still four stars because it was a pleasure to read, the characters were well done, and it was a great way to spend an hour on a quiet afternoon. That last paragraph though! Now if the author wanted to write a part two but featuring Vivi and Shiva - that could certainly be very scary indeed.

Okay this one I absolutely loved. Such a great creepy, spooky read! I don’t know what to even say other than if you want a great creepy read this one is a must! The characters were amazing and the plot was just phenomenal!

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

The Doll's House is a creepy, quick read that has you slowly leaning forward onto the edge of your seat as you read it.
Jules and Scout are off to start a new life after the death of Jules husband (Scouts father). Moving in with Karin (Jules boyfriend) in his huge home is a huge change, especially for Scout, who finds it hard to hide her real feelings on the matter. The House is run by an AI security system called Vivi (which freaked me out), and Kirin seems just too good to be true, especially coming along at just the right time in their lives. But after Scout finds a lifelike doll of Kirins missing sister and Jules has strange visions, the pair are left fighting for their lives.
I flew through this quick read and have a feeling this story is not finished yet, and we may be seeing a part two from that ending! This book took me back to goosebumps type stories from my youth in a way, and I absolutely loved it.

EXCERPT: (This excerpt contains some spoilers - so if this concerns you please skip forward to the ABOUT section.)
JULES
God, I miss him so much. Doug, it must be said, was not a great husband. An A-plus father, but just barely clinging to a passing grade as a spouse. He was bad with money, left us with more debt than I was aware of. He was periodically unfaithful - once a publicist, once a superfan who followed him on tour. He battled depression most of his life and finally took his life in a Los Angeles hotel room on the road for his last novel.
But, wow, did I love him. Against all reason and good sense, I loved him deeply. I tried to shield Scout from the worst of it. She doesn't know we had to sell the apartment, that I needed the money to pay off Doug's debts. I didn't want her to know that he left us in such a mess, without even a note of explanation or a goodbye.
I sit across from him, staring. This is not right. He's not here.
'Rich, handsome, successful, devoted,' he says. 'You've leveled up, Jules. Good for you.'
I am not going to answer him, because that would mean that I'm not aware I'm hallucinating. I'm just going to pretend this isn't happening.
'It's picture perfect, just like you always wanted. Except for the grief garden, the scared mystery girl warning you away, and the whole locked-in-your room thing,' he says. 'That's a little sus, as the kids say.'

ABOUT 'THE DOLL'S HOUSE': When Jules first meets the handsome artist Kirin, she’s still mourning her husband’s death, but a fairytale romance soon sweeps her off her feet. Now she and her daughter Scout are moving out of the city and into Kirin’s once-lonely mansion. He’s thoughtfully updated and adapted the home to match their personalities. But Scout is determined to keep her father’s memory alive by rejecting the new life her mother and Kirin have spun for her.

Scout’s sullenness begins to fade, though, when she finds a beautiful handmade doll in one of the many empty rooms in the house. Kirin says that the doll belonged to his late sister and he’d like Scout to have it. Scout’s hopeful for a connection over their shared grief, but as she grows more curious about Kirin’s sister, she can’t escape the feeling that a danger lurks in the house…and its gaze is fixed on her mother.

MY THOUGHTS: Delicious!

I loved the creepiness, the sense of foreboding. Lisa Unger is one of the few authors who can fully round out a short story, providing the full tense and suspenseful reading experience in very short (92 pages) format. The Doll's House lacks for nothing.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

#TheDollsHouse #NetGalley

THE AUTHOR: Lisa Unger lives on the west coast of Florida with her family.

DISCLSOURE: Thank you to Amazon Original Stories for providing a digital ARC of The Doll's House: A Short Story by Lisa Unger for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

I was captivated by this short story! The blend of past and present in this tale really drew me in. Jules, a widowed mother, is ready to start fresh with her daughter, Scout, but the mansion they move into holds more than just memories—it seems to have its own dark secrets.

The way Lisa Unger weaves the story of the handmade doll and its connection to Kirin’s late sister was both haunting and intriguing. I loved how Scout’s growing curiosity about the doll and its origins built up the suspense. The atmosphere was chilling, and the sense of impending danger kept me hooked from beginning to end. It’s a perfect read if you enjoy a mix of emotional depth and eerie mystery!