I enjoyed this debut — a mystery, even thriller, of a woman who’s in her former best friend’s life after the best friend dies. It’s propulsive and interesting, and unlike other books I’ve read!

I was very impressed how unique this book was, a great addition to the “weird sad girl” / “ghost chic” lit fic genre. Its Baltimore roots were firm, its nods to Plath were excellent, and there were plot twists that definitely made me gasp. It was more literary than a standard thriller, and I loved how Zang took us for that ride.

I’d recommend to anyone who is interested, and thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Doll Parts seemed my jam. I love anything dark academia. I love anything with toxic friendships. This book filled my need for all of these tropes. I really enjoyed it. Being Gen-X, I loved the timeline, all the references to all things from the late 90's from the clothing to the music. The only thing is, is that sometimes, I got confused with the alternating chapters between Sadie and Nikki. It may have been drawn out a little more than necessary. Those are my only 2 issues with it. I look forward to reading more by this author in the future. 3.5 stars.

I loved this book. From the 90s nostalgia to the deeply wrought, complicated female friendship, to the mystery throughout, I was on-board. The alternating perspectives of past and present, as well as the nicely dropped details throughout, kept me in suspense, while the prose was beautiful and powerful. Zang has a winner on her hands here, and I can't wait to see what she writes next.

WOW I did not know I was waiting for this 2025 ARC to inspire me to improve my own writing at line level. I got about ten pages into the first chapter of DOLL PARTS by Penny Zang and was so taken by the writing style and quality of the prose that I was immediately and thought-provokingly drawn in. DOLL PARTS is a compelling, sensory, smart, unique, and very atmospheric read, but also relatable because so many of the emotional beats could be taken from my own friendships and ordinary life as a mom and wife. And yet the depiction is also like that certain slant of light…where it causes you to see everything completely differently.

Dang, this woman can WRITE. 🙌🏼 I am very inspired, impressed, and thoroughly enjoyed this dark academia/thriller combination. The music references are great and really well incorporated. Also be ready to shiver in parts of this story. 👻✨

(Thank you NetGalley & Sourcebooks for the ARC.)

Wow. This book was moody, mysterious, and well crafted. I enjoyed the mystery that unfolded through two perspectives and timelines. The two main characters felt real, messy and at times unlikable, but intriguing. I loved it!

this unfortunately took me sooo long to get in to the writing BUT once i was hooked i didn’t put the book down! the povs were good, i was stuck trying to figure out the hidden part and a little disappointed we didn’t get a real ending with all the answers but i enjoyed the read!

This hauntingly nostalgic mystery/thriller lured me away from my family so many times because I couldn’t put it down! I locked myself away in the final chapters because I knew I’d feel completely hollowed out in the best of ways. Riveting, exquisite prose. A must-read.

OK, just WOW! I had no idea what to expect, as academia thrillers can be hit or miss for me! This one was a hit and so much more!! Nikki and Sadie are college besties. Something happens. They are estranged for 20 years. Nikki marries Harrison. Nikki kills herself. Flash forward and Sadie is living with and has a baby with.....DUN DUN DUN!! HARRISON!! Wait, WHAT?? So, we basically get two different but connected mysteries. What happened in the past and what is going on now. Both are page turners, and I had to know what happened! This was a stunning debut, and I cannot wait for more from Penny Zang!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Penny Zang and Sourcebooks/Landmark for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I will post my review to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Instagram and other retail and social media sites upon publication day of August 26th.

I’m generation X, so this book was a thrilling and poignant trip through time. A beautifully written story with so many different elements. This book does dual POV and dual timelines with each POV providing insight into the complexities and bonds of female friends and the mysteries between them. I loved the unique storyline. Friend has a baby with dead friend’s grieving husband. The ghosts, the poetic writing and the tributes to Sylvia Plath. This book has so many amazing elements for a great read, 5 stars and highly recommend!

Oh. My. God.

I knew at about 40% of this book that it was likely to be an all-time favorite of mine. I consider this a once in a lifetime read. Every once in a while you read a book that wildly changes you, the way you view the world and how you approach different topics whether it be friendship, politics, or maybe romance. These particular themes, those of girlhood, it's darkness, the bonds of friendship, shared grief and generational ties in every direction, cut to the absolute core.

I was hooked on the very first page. I did not expect the mystery, almost thriller style of story that kept me feverishly turning pages (metaphorically, of course). It had an ending I absolutely never saw coming, which almost never happens, so kudos. The imagery of the school, the friendship, even the two perspectives across the years, ties everything together in such a fascinating way, I just couldn't get enough. The symbolism of the black dresses, the Sylvia Club that's a not so natural phenomenon on campus shows so much of the ways in which women and girls interact with each other. We can be each others best allies or worst enemies. You see this even among characters that aren't depicted as obvious antagonists, which I think is very representative of life.

This is also a tale of female friendship. In this case a deep, almost lifelong, friendship that you spend so much of the story wondering about - what could have possibly gone wrong here? The way these girls are bonded and know each other in such an undeniable way, it exposed memories I never thought I'd revisit as an adult. These are the kinds of stories you love and that stay with you forever, stories that expose parts of yourself you had forgotten or chose to forget. Even the muddy footprints tracked in and the photos left behind - they feel like artifacts of a past only you remember that when put together are just.... gut wrenching. Haunting, even. Which I suppose is exactly the point. Even the distance and betrayal was so grounded in reality it almost broke my heart.

I will recommend this book to anyone who will listen. This book sits up there with The Moonflowers by Abigail Rose-Marie and The Last Tale of The Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi as deeply profound stories of female friendship that changed my life. I think it would make an incredible limited series television show. I think women everywhere should read this book, especially ones who consider themselves "different" or who felt "different" growing up. Doll Parts perfectly captures the broken feelings of developing womanhood and the deep sadness that so often permeates growing through those phases of your life. Not to mention the twisted ways in which men and sometimes other women can take advantage of that, judge that, and use it to their own benefit.

11/10
6/5 Stars

From the opening sentences, author Penny Zang lured me into her world.
“How to write about a dead woman:
First, confirm she is dead. Dead enough not to mind…”

Her brilliant novel, Doll Parts, haunted me as I immersed myself into the world of dark academia. Ride-or-die friendships, Sylvia Plath-obsessed “sad girls,” disturbingly ghostly characters, rituals to appease specters, creepy professors and complicit college administrators…Zang’s story clawed its way under my skin, sinking into my subconscious. My shoulders knotted from the tension, the characters creeping into my dreams.

Maybe it was her impeccable attention to friendship details, from magic marker nail polish to switching outfits mid-outings to darker moments I won’t reveal. But the characters of Sadie and Nikki embedded themselves in my brain, so fully fleshed out that I didn’t need my imagination to fill in any gaps.

But Zang is equally gifted in creating atmosphere. You’ll wonder at the bonds of this friendship throughout the years, told in a dual timeline. You’ll hold your breath, hoping the Sylvia Club won’t claim another member. You’ll absorb the grittiness of the bar—and want to wash your hands after. You’ll shiver at the museum-like quality of the house—and want to leave dirty dishes in the sink.

Zang not only creates a mesmerizing world with rich characters, but she also addresses difficult topics—topics many of us knew too well during our college years in the 80s and 90s.

If you’re missing your childhood best friend, if you listened to Courtney Love on repeat, if you’ve ever feared your teenage secrets might follow you to adulthood…you need to read Doll Parts, debuting in August 2025.

Doll Parts is a slow burn, intoxicating read with an intriguing dual timeline, two compelling characters and a gothic, edgy feel that invites you into the story.

It is one of those mesmerising narratives, a literary delight, Sylvia Plath inspired and utilised, haunting in its own way and a delight to read.

I love this kind of novel. It speaks to me. Recommended.

I’ve had the honor of reading Penny Zang’s debut, DOLL PARTS. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect going into it, but WOW, it’s a dark, suspenseful book with mesmerizing characters. Told in dual-POV and dual-timeline, it follows the story of two friends, one unraveling the death of the other, set in both suburbia and a dark academia-style Ivy League. I’d call this mystery and thriller with a twisted touch of horror—this sort of book you start and can’t set down until you’ve gotten to the end. One of my favorite books this year!

An intriguing and creative debut novel with dueling timelines of "sad girls on campus" twenty years ago and another timeline of today.

Sadie has a baby and lives with her child's father, Harrison. Harrison is recently widowed by Sadie's former childhood friend, Nikki. So, Sadie and Nikki were estranged and never spoke for 20 years. Nikki dies, seemingly of suicide, and Sadie sits in the back at her funeral. 9 months later we skip and Sadie is living with her widow and has a baby with him.

If this seems weird and a bit unbelievable, you aren't alone in that thought!

We side with Sadie and see things from her perspective. We don't love Harrison, we aren't sure about Caroline, who is Nikki and Harrison's teen daughter.

Both mysteries are good, the past one is better, it is clever to be following two mysteries in different timelines because it gets away from the typical criticism of slow burn mysteries as that it can drag in the middle.

Why is it called Doll Parts? No idea! I do love the cover, though.

My favorite character was Nikki, the past segments are in her view point.

Lots of open ended things with no conclusion, but it works. I liked this and found i very readable, some of the minor characters didn't have enough characterization so I didn't know them as well. I did love the setting and the writing style.

A fresh new voice in women centered mystery/thrillers!

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks/Landmark for the ARC. Book to be published August 26, 2025.

“What if you conjured a woman out of death and couldn’t put her back?”

Told in alternating timelines and voices, the story follows Sadie and Nikki, best friends until a life-changing event during their college years that left them estranged. In their freshman year, they were haunted by the deaths of several college women, dubbed "The Sylvia Plath Club," and by a professor whose obsession with them bordered on the inappropriate.

Fast forward to the present: Sadie is now married to Nikki’s widower, whom she met at Nikki’s funeral. However, the circumstances surrounding Nikki’s death don’t align with the girl Sadie once knew. Suspicion grows as Sadie begins to see Nikki around the house, with a chilling clue—Nikki’s dedication that reads, “To my bestie, I would never leave without you. I pinkie swear.”

What caused the rift between the friends? And what really happened to Nikki? As Sadie uncovers cryptic messages and clues Nikki left for her, she must unravel the truth before it’s too late.

This slow-burn mystery blends elements of The Virgin Suicides with a gripping whodunit.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

4 stars ⭐️ Dark, creepy and haunting! This book took me by surprise. I don’t usually pick up this kind of book but the description was too intriguing! I loved it!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This story has a lot of really great ideas that pulled me in from the first few chapters - I really enjoyed the dual timeline POV and Nikki and Sadie's characters! The ending was heartbreaking and stuck with me for a while, but I was left feeling like something was missing.

While I liked the ideas, I felt there were a lot of gaps that caused them to feel separate more than intertwined together; I struggled with the pacing of the storylines, and I found myself paging back to double check and make sure I wasn't missing anything. Like what happened between the girls? Why aren't they friends anymore? Was I missing something?? I also wasn't a huge fan of the whole ghost Nikki thing - while I enjoy a good paranormal thriller, this one just felt odd and a bit of a stretch.

While this one wasn't for me, thank you for the ARC!

The thing I loved the most about this story was how each and every female character was a fully developed human you could imagine encountering in the world. Even the minor characters had ups and downs, grew and changed, held onto certain things and let go of others. You could fully imagine their interactions with one another because they felt like the argument you'd have with a friend or the snappy first judgement you'd make of a neighbor only to learn more about them later.

There was so much to like about this story, but the characters sealed the deal for me.

A debut novel that everyone should add to their list for this year immediately! This is suspenseful, haunting, and had me hooked from the very beginning!

I was curious about this one! Very vibey and atmospheric- loved the gen x music references! A quick read, but nicely done. Perfect for vacation / summer.