A huge thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC of DOLL PARTS.

DOLL PARTS is a stunning debut. Zang captures the feeling of being a college student, of being a "sad girl", and the feeling of feeling different perfectly in this dual timeline novel. Rich with detail, DOLL PARTS will leave you guessing as to who you can (and can't trust), and the ending will completely surprise you.

The dual timeline of the past from Nikki's POV and the present from Sadie's POV creates the perfect amount of tension throughout. The female characters in DOLL PARTS are realistic, and are women that we each know; yes, they are sad at times, and confused, and even chaotic, but they are also smart, strong, and determined. Zang writes Nikki and Sadie in a way that the reader can see a bit of themselves in each girl.

Two surprising parts of DOLL PARTS that I love. The first is the detail around fashion. Fashion plays a pivotal and important role in DOLL PARTS, and Zang gives us beautiful imagery of Nikki and Sadie's attire that encapsulates the 90s. The second is the references throughout to Sylvia Plath.
As a huge Plath fan, I often find her misconstured and misunderstood, particularly by men. I appreciate the detail and research Zang puts into correcting these misunderstandings.

I went into this one wanting to love it. As pages turned and time went by, I came to realize I think this just wasn’t for me. I couldn’t connect to the main characters and I couldn’t really feel out where the plot was heading. I can’t give it a bad review because I just think I’m not the right audience for this one, because I know other readers rave about it! Hope you have a great pub day!

When Sadie receives the news that her estranged college best friend Nikki has died, she finds herself in a life she had never imagined, pregnant with Nikki's widower and living in a house where the past refuses to stay buried. Two decades earlier at their prestigious college, Sadie and Nikki were inseparable and drawn into the mystery of a campus legend. The Sylvia Club was a secret society that was linked to the suspicious deaths of multiple girls, all obsessed with Sylvia Plath. But time and tragedy fractured their bond, and now, as Sadie uncovers remnants of Nikki's obsession with their past, she begins to question what truly happened all those years ago. Is Nikki trying to reach her from beyond the grave? Or could Sadie be unraveling under the weight of grief, guilt, and a life she was never meant to inherit?

Doll Parts is the kind of book that lingers long after you finish the final page, like a whisper in the dark or a half remembered dream. Penny Zang's debut (how the hell is this a debut?!?!) is an absolute masterclass in atmosphere and emotional depth, blending dark academia with the deeply personal themes of grief, identity, and the bonds of female friendships. The dual timelines are flawlessly executed, the past and present weave together and echo off of each other. The Sylvia Club mystery is eerie and explores the danger of romanticizing tragic women with care and nuance. Sadie is a beautifully complex narrator, raw, flawed, and wholly human. The writing is both poetic and hypnotic. Every single page felt steeped in longing and dread, and the way Zang captures the emotions of girlhood is A+. This book absolutely grabbed me by the throat and did not let go! Gorgeously written and emotionally intelligent, Doll Parts is well deserving of a spot on your TBR! Penny Zang is definitely an author to keep your eye on!

Thank you to NetGalley, Penny Zang, and Sourcebooks Landmark for both the eARC and physical copy! Publication date is August 26th 2025.

I had mixed feelings about this book. The concept was interesting and I really enjoyed the last half or so but the first half really dragged for me, pacing wise. The writing is beautiful but the first part of the book is descriptive and repetitive to the point of taking away from the story a bit. I would have preferred more emotional exploration than just facts about the different aspects of Loch Raven.

That being said, the second half of the book had me hooked and I did appreciate the way the whole book read like a kind of stylistic fever dream. The dual POV/timelines was actually very well done. I didn't feel as though more energy was put into either and both storylines felt fully fleshed out for me, which I find can often be a missed mark in this type of storytelling.

I think if you're really into tragic authors like Sylvia Plath this may hit home a bit more than it did for me, but either way, I did enjoy it and would read more from this author.

DOLL PARTS
BY JENNY ZHANG

From what I understand about dark academia I would say this book is a great example of the sub genre as it contains the following:

● Dark gothic college campus
● Depressed students that worship Sylvia Plath
● Images/ghosts of students who have passed
● A professor who behaves poorly
● Professors that students worship
● Students who conduct seances
● Messages sent from beyond the grave

As far as a thriller/murder mystery this novel contains:
● Hidden messages
● Hidden documents
● Locked rooms with hidden keys
● Dead students whose demise is unknown
● Characters whose parents passed in a heart wrenching way
● Dual timeline where characters are trying to discover secrets from the past

This woman's college campus is full of extremely interesting characters. It is populated with wealthy students as well as struggling scholarship girls who are unjustly held to a much more rigid standards than the others. The school also has mysterious professors who are not held up to high standards. The characters are well written and well developed. They were truly individuals whose stories I wanted to follow.

There was an especially odd campus counseling center which was either closed or staffed with a counselor who only wanted to hand out pamphlets instead of talk to the girls needing help. It was frustrating to see this at a campus which had a history of student suicides.

The ride or die friendship of the two main characters Nikki and Sadie was so very intriguing. They were two darker “outsiders” on campus.

If you enjoy novels which include the components I have listed above definitely pick up a copy of Doll Parts. Pub day is August 26!

Thank you to Jill Zhang as well as her publisher Sourcebooks Landmark for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this intriguing novel. Thanks as well to NetGalley for facilitating the reading of Doll Parts.

Told in a dual timeline, the novel follows Sadie and Nikki, former best friends whose college years were shadowed by the eerie Sylvia Club, a campus legend surrounding the suspicious deaths of Sylvia Plath-obsessed students. While Nikki was once drawn to the club's mysteries, her own fate is now the latest tragedy.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark

"I fake it so real, I am beyond fake / And someday you will ache like I ache." - Hole, "Doll Parts"

4.5 stars rounded up.

Happy publication day to this astonishing debut novel! I am not usually drawn to ghost stories, but "Doll Parts" hooked me from the very first page. It's a haunting, atmospheric ode to girlhood and friendship, layered with nostalgia, grief, and a touch of mystery. Told in dual timelines, the novel seamlessly blends dark academia with domestic suspense, all told in beautifully eloquent prose.

At their women’s college outside Baltimore in the early 2000s, best friends Nikki and Sadie hoped for fresh beginnings, blasting Courtney Love and dreaming of the future. But shadows hung over campus - among them "the Sylvia Club", a grim legend tied to the deaths of multiple Plath-obsessed students. Nikki, an aspiring writer, found herself captivated by their stories, diving deep into research about the “sad girls” who came before.

Decades later, Nikki is dead, and Sadie - estranged from her best friend for years - finds herself entangled in Nikki’s life in an unsettling way. Living in her late friend’s preserved home, married to her grieving widower, and mother to his child, Sadie begins to sense Nikki’s presence everywhere. Is it grief, guilt, or something more? As past and present intertwine, Sadie uncovers the threads of Nikki’s unfinished search for the truth about the Sylvia Club - and realizes that some stories refuse to stay buried.

"Doll Parts" shines most in its atmosphere. The fall campus setting is drenched in melancholy, the Sylvia Club legend like a campus ghost story you can’t quite shake. Nikki’s voice in the past timeline is particularly vivid, lyrical, and poetic - at times the prose felt like reading a beautifully melancholic poem. Penny Zang never wastes a word, and as a result, each page is saturated with mood. Just as powerful is the depiction of Nikki and Sadie’s friendship. It is deep, messy, complicated, and utterly real; when it fractures, the loss feels like a physical blow. This is as much a novel about grief and the painful evolution of female friendship as it is about mystery and hauntings.

The resolution of the Sylvia Club mystery itself was a bit underwhelming, and there are a few loose threads. Personally, I found that fitting. In a story about grief, obsession, and the ache of unfinished lives, not every answer needs to be neatly packaged. The ambiguity feels true to life, where some mysteries will always remain unresolved.

"Doll Parts" is an evocative, gorgeously written debut that will especially resonate with fans of dark academia and literary suspense. You don’t need to be a Sylvia Plath devotee to appreciate it, though readers who know her work will find an added depth.

Haunting, lyrical, and both touching and thought-provoking, this novel lingers long after its final page.

Many thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me with an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

"Doll Parts"'s publication day is today, August 26, 2025.

Doll Parts - Penny Zang

✨✨✨✨✨/5

Thank you to NetGalley & SOURCEBOOKS Landmark Publishing for the opportunity to read the ARC of Doll Parts. All opinions of this book are my own.

I loved this book so much. I was gripped from the beginning by the true love, friendship, and ghosts (of course). We follow besties Nikki and Sadie as they adventure out into the adult world and into college. They attend a picturesque, expensive, all-women’s school that neither can afford. As we learn about Nikki's painful past, we are also learning about the school's unfortunate past as well.

Nikki and Sadie are more like sisters than best friends. Their bond is deep and loving in the best (and worst) way possible. Nikki and Sadie are willing to put their lives on the line for each other.

This book is written beautifully and Plath's presence is very clear throughout the novel. The dual POV is slow at times, but incredibly detailed (just like Nikki). Because Nikki and Sadie have become so enmeshed with each other, they spoke in the same way, making the dual POV sometimes confusing. I think that was the point because Nikki and Sadie were so close to each other.

To have (or to have had) a friendship like Nikki and Sadie’s is to know platonic love in it’s truest form. For both girls, it was their first love. And you never forget your first love.

My 90’s grunge loving heart was so excited to start this book. When I saw this described as The Virgin S**ides meets Sylvia Plath I was all in!

Sadie and Nikki were the best of friends…20 years later, they were estranged, Nikki is dead and well…after the funeral Sadie might just be pregnant and living with her ex husband…yeah this gets a little messy. Sadie is searching for answers to her former best friend’s death…is Nikki leading her to answers from beyond the grave?

There is this creepy sense of tension with paranormal vibes that really worked well in the story and I really loved the use of Dual Timelines - we have Sadie in the present and Nikki in the past. I love stories about female friendships and how this mystery unfolds.

I can’t tell you anything else - I do recommend going into this one blind!

✨What To Expect:
⁉️Psychological Thriller
🏫Dark Academia
🔪Suspense & Mystery
🖤90’s Grunge Vibes
💋Female Friendships
👻Paranormal Vibes
📚Sylvia Plath Club
🤫Secrets
⏰Dual Timelines

Yesss this one hit the spot. Dark academia, best friends, suicides on a campus across decades, ghosts - I read this book exactly when I needed to.

Such a creepy, captivating debut - truly can’t wait to read what Penny Zang writes next.

There were some parts that felt silly and far fetched, one specific plot point that just didn’t make sense with the character at all that was bothering me, a bit slow to get going into the story - but those are minor critiques for a book I enjoyed so much.

If you’d love a Gothic dark academia book centered around some Sylvia Plath obsessed students, you’ll love this one.

4.5 ✨
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

Such an interesting debut! I always enjoy a dual timeline and POV, so when I read the premise of Doll Parts by Penny Zang I was intrigued. This method of storytelling also added more depth to the characters, although the pace is slower than I usually enjoy. The writing is atmospheric, especially in the past timeline, but I would have liked more scenes emphasizing how close Nikki and Sadie were instead of reading it through narration in the present timeline. I enjoyed the dark gothic vibes and loved how the author pulled me into certain scenes using creepy flashbacks. Like when Sadie saw the likeness of Nikki in Nikki’s daughter it was like seeing a ghost, amping up the tension. I would have liked more scenes between Sadie and her husband, exploring the dynamics in their relationship. This is definitely a book you need to pay close attention to, noting all the details so the twists make sense. Speaking of, I enjoyed the ending along with the unexpected twists. It was satisfying and I’m excited to read what Zang publishes next!

For readers who enjoy dual POV / timelines, complex female friendships, and dark academia vibes.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The plot in theory sounds amazing and so cool and dark. In practice, it fell completely flat.

It may be a case again where this is just purely personal preference. I didn’t connect to Sadie and Nikki and obviously the whole book is about them, so if I don’t care about them, I won’t like this book.

It was written well! So that’s not the issue. The vibes of the book really showed through the writing. Very atmospheric. But everything else was a no go for me.

It was a little bit of a case of we were told Sadie and Nikki were super close but it didn’t really show. Yes we saw them hanging out and interacting with each other, but I still didn’t really feel the chemistry between them.

I was vaguely interested what happened to make these girls not friends anymore and what actually happened to Nikki, but not enough to fly through this book.

Not to mention the future timeline I thought would be more interesting, but it was not to me. I thought there would be more drama between her and Nikki’s husband, with him being with Nikki in the past, but he was barely present. It was very much an afterthought to the rest of the book. And there was really no point to Diana’s character. I thought she flipped back and forth too quickly to make sense.

There was a couple things at the end that surprised me, but some of it was kind of predictable.

When everything was revealed it picked up, but at that point we were 90% into the book, so it didn’t matter or make the book any better.

I thought the reason why they stopped being friends was lackluster and kind of ridiculous. I thought it would be bigger than what it was. But again, I didn’t care about either of them, so I’m not upset they weren’t friends anymore.

I would be cautious when starting to read this. It may sound very appealing, but the execution wasn’t there at all to me. If you want to take a chance on it, go for it, but I thought it was too all over the place, and boring enough I didn’t care what was going on.

Love the cover of this book though.

With Doll Parts, Penny Zang leans equally into dark academia and 90s nostalgia. Think: Courtney Love meets Sylvia Plath for a drink in an Edgar Allen Poe-themed dive bar. This mystery/thriller weaves a complex tapestry of motherhood, girlhood, female friendship, and grief. While the pacing dragged at times, there was pay-off by the end with a few unexpected twists and the ending was ultimately satisfying. Overall, this was an enjoyable read and excellent debut.

This is a haunting study of friendship, grief, and the dangerous dark roads of silence. Told across two timelines, it begins in the 1990s, when Nikki and Sadie are students at a women’s college steeped in the legend of the Sylvia Club— a circle of Plath-obsessed girls whose deaths are ruled suicides. Years later, after Nikki’s own sudden death, Sadie finds herself drawn into Nikki’s preserved home, pregnant and bound to the life her estranged friend left behind. What follows is both a ghost story and a reckoning: a meditation on how the past refuses to stay buried.

Zang writes with a lyricism that renders nostalgia uncanny; memory both luminous and corrosive. The way she entwines literary allusion with raw emotion, revealing how easily a culture romanticizes female suffering while dismissing its reality, is endearing and entrancing. The novel asks difficult questions about how we mythologize “tragic girls,” and what gets lost (buried or erased) in the process. Through Sadie’s perspective, denial and defiance coil together, exposing the uneasy intimacy of deeply rooted female friendship and the hollow spaces grief leaves behind.

What could have been a conventional campus mystery instead becomes something stranger, sadder, and more luminous: a story that is as much about the stories we tell of women as it is about the women themselves. Doll Parts lingers because it refuses the neatness of closure. It understands that the most terrifying hauntings are not the ones that whisper from the dark, but the ones we carry forward— half memory, half myth, and wholly alive within us.

Moody, magnetic, and beautifully weird. This one’s got haunted friendships, and a dual timeline that keeps you hooked

DOLL PARTS by Penny Zang is an excellent debut, one of the best I have read in a long time. Nikki and Sadie are also two of my new favorite characters in fiction because their friendship feels so real and fierce. I am almost jealous because I don't think I have ever had a friend quite like that. Zang's writing bites and stabs and rips you to damn shreds. I don't know if I agree with the VIRGIN SUICIDES comparisons, though, because the Lisbon sisters are purposefully kept at arm's length in that tragic tale, whereas Nikki and Sadie are very much at the forefront of this story. If any comparisons are necessary, I would go with a combo of MY DARK VANESSA + REBECCA. I am so sad by what happens to both Nikki and Sadie, but, golly, I love how much they love each other. I am sure DOLL PARTS won't stray far from my thoughts in the coming months.

Any book that references being a cross between something and The Virgin Suicides is going to be a read for me. Doll Parts does offer some of the same haunting sadness and the pain of coming of age that is woven throughout Eugenides' novel, for sure. But, the book is much more dark academia than morose suburbia. Written in both dual POV, and dual timeline, Doll Parts traces the story of Nikki and Sadie, two childhood best friends who follow each other to college. However, their time at university is cut short by a tragedy that splits the two friends paths, only to be reunited by Nikki's suicide.

This is not a book that you can passively consume, the switching timelines and POVs mean that you have to pay careful attention to what is happening, but also keeps the story moving. Other stylistic choices, however, felt clunkier. There are some interstitials within chapters that feel jarring and unnecessary, some character appearances felt sudden and jarring, and the overwhelming references to Plath were a bit much.

Despite those complaints, I found Doll Parts to be a compelling debut novel by Zang, with a payoff that I didn't expect or see coming.

* Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review! *

I thought this book was the perfect mystery story and the writing and suspense kept me reading! Nikki and Sadie are best friends and are ready for their adventure together at an all girls college. They quickly find out that the college has a dark history of girls committing suicide and an obsession with Sylvia Plath. Nikki becomes obsessed with investigating the suicides and quickly gets wrapped up in what happened. I thought this book was very interesting and I enjoyed the suspense and mystery of the story. Also loved the character dynamic showing friendship, loss, and grief. Overall a quick intriguing thrill read!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a dual timeline story of two women, Nikki and Sadie, who were freshman together at Loch Raven College. Fast forward 20 years later, Nikki is dead and Sadie has moved in and has a baby with Nikki’s widow.

There is "an event" that severed the friendship of the girls at Loch Raven and led to them both dropping out. There was also the eerie presence of a cultish group of girls on campus who were infatuated with Sylvia Plath, and more specifically, her death, and a professor who himself was infatuated with dead women.

I loved the relationship of the 2 women as they were so close, loved each other any yet it was not a romantic love. I thought the dual timeline was well done and added depth to the characters and story. The author blends magnetic and dynamic characters with beautiful and lilting prose. Pacing is on point and the atmosphere set the tone. Well done!

Penny Zang's stunning debut, DOLL PARTS, is nothing short of mesmerizing. With its atmospheric vibes and addictive, lyrical prose laced with dark undertones, this novel will keep you glued to the pages. It’s an emotionally charged and thought-provoking literary suspense that’s both impressive and unsettling.

So, what’s the scoop?

Set across dual timelines, the story centers around Sadie, who finds herself pulled back into the life of her estranged college best friend, Nikki, after a tragic event.

PRESENT: In the present, Nikki's mysterious death leaves Sadie grappling with grief and confusion. Sadie was a childhood best friend through college until they were no longer after Nikki married.

Nikki was a bestselling author, wife, and mother. Sadie had not seen her in eighteen years. Then she shows up at the funeral. Hearing how she died was painful. They had not spoken in almost two decades.

The day Nikki died, a man Sadie barely knew slept beside her in a cheap motel room. Then she saw the classy Barbie doll in human form. Had Nikki appeared in her motel room only hours after she died?

Now living in Nikki’s home and raising a baby, Rhi together with her friend’s husband, Harrison, who was not only a heart doctor but also a devoted father to teen Caroline.

A new mother, Sadie, believes she can still communicate with Nikki. She suspects foul play in her friend’s death. Not suicide? Was she getting too close to the truth about the past? There's no way Nikki would leave her daughter Caroline behind—not after experiencing the same loss with her mother.

Caroline is going to the same school. Nikki would not want her in this school, and Sadie must stop her interactions with certain people. Protect her and her daughter.

Has Nikki left clues in her writings, her podcast? Murder among the suicides?

PAST: Multi-layered, flashing back to the past, Sadie recalls a treasure trove of memories, from slumber parties to school dances of the 90s, but darker shadows are lurking too. The campus was rife with tales of tragic girls, and Sadie and Nikki, in particular, were interested in The Sylvia Club, a legend tied to the suicides of Sylvia Plath-obsessed students. Nikki was determined to uncover the truth, and the girls of the Sylvia Club longed to be heard. What was the connection?

As we alternate between past and present, we learn what transpired at Loch Raven College, the only all-women's Catholic college in Maryland, that drove them apart and led them to two very different lives. Was Harrison an escape route for both of them?

Secrets are destined to unravel Sadie's seemingly perfect suburban life—some stories that simply refuse to stay buried.

Here’s my take…

Bewitching! Equal parts captivating and disturbing. Best friends Nikki and Sadie will steal your heart.

If this is just the beginning, I'm eager to see what Zang has in store for us next. She's an impressive writer and an author to watch. She has secured a spot on my list of favorites.

With her immersive and evocative writing style, the author brilliantly weaves a hypnotic, twisty, haunting, dark, and puzzling tale, effortlessly alternating between timelines that keep you engaged. Both narratives are equally compelling, while The Sylvia Club’s secrets become a haunting, chilling puzzle, dark and disturbing.

Beautifully written, edgy and moody, the author delves deep into nostalgia-the intricacies of female friendships—secrets, intimate and often toxic- while exploring themes of motherhood, daughters, guilt, trauma, grief, adolescent longing, suicide, mental health, the mysteries and ghosts that haunt us, and the fight for justice for the young women whose lives are cut short.

The atmospheric blend of Gothic vibes, a whodunit mystery, thriller, psychological suspense, with a touch of horror, and a campus coming-of-age story offers a rich tapestry of literary suspense, with a sprinkling of paranormal, while reflecting our cultural obsession with beautiful, sad, dead girls.

An ideal book club pick! Check out the reading resources and playlist included. In the final copy, you will find a reading group guide and a conversation with the author.

Recommendations

DOLL PARTS is a must-read for those who appreciate stories of Sylvia Plath, female friendship, exploitation, and literary suspense fiction. Fans of authors Megan Abbott, Ashley Audrain, Tammy Greenwood, Lauren Nossett, Rebecca Makkai, and Simone St. James will find a lot to love here!

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My Rating: 5 Stars +
Pub Date: Aug 26, 2025
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Musings...

Sylvia Plath's "musings" encompass a range of complex themes found in her journals and writings, including the intense yearning for diverse experiences, the struggle with mental illness, the desire to find purpose through writing, the critique of patriarchal structures, and a profound introspection on life and death. Her thoughts often reveal a deep emotional depth, expressing feelings of emptiness, alienation, and a simultaneous longing for profound connection and self-discovery, often using powerful metaphors and imagery to illustrate life choices and internal conflict.

I love all of Plath's poetry and The Bell Jar, the only novel written by the American writer and poet Sylvia Plath. She died by suicide a month after the publication of her first United Kingdom release.