Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately, I juts couldn't get into this one. I found the pacing to be a bit too slow and I just couldn't get into the story.

I hope others enjoy this one.

This middle grade book was so creepy in the best way! It had just the right amount of jump scares, heart, and a thoughtful layer of grief woven through the story. The atmosphere reminded me of the kinds of stories that used to air on Are You Afraid of the Dark? It was spooky enough to give you chills but full of heart and meaning underneath.

I loved following Kaye’s perspective as she navigated her grief, her unique struggles, and the eerie mystery surrounding the dolls. The pacing is fast & the blend of horror and emotional depth worked beautifully. Even though it’s marketed as middle grade, this adult horror lover had such a great time with it!

Thank you NetGalley & HarperCollins Children’s Books for the gifted copy.

Broken Dolls is the kind of story that sneaks up on you like a creaking attic door—quiet at first, but by the time the dolls start whispering, it’s too late to look away. And honestly? You won’t want to.
This is middle grade horror at its best—unsettling, deeply emotional, and laced with just enough heart to make you cry and sleep with the lights on. Ally Malinenko (queen of creepy kids lit) gives us a story about grief, anxiety, and haunted dolls with too many secrets in their tiny porcelain skulls—and it works.
Meet Kaye.
She counts things. Steps. Threads. Dolls. It’s how she makes sense of a world that stopped making sense when her grandfather died. She’s also navigating selective mutism, and the way Malinenko handles her interior world? So tender. So real. You feel her ache, her frustration, her fear. And then… the dolls start showing up.
At first, it’s just one. Then another.
Buried in the garden. Hiding in the walls. Smiling when no one’s looking.
And somehow, her little sister Holly—sweet, sensitive Holly—is talking to them. Or maybe they're talking to her.
Cue the slow spiral:
🔪 A locked-room, slow-burn sense of dread
💔 Real emotional stakes (grief, sisterhood, anxiety)
🧵 Dolls that are way too aware
🕯️ That classic MG horror balance: spooky enough to chill you, grounded enough to heal you
What makes this so special?
The horror is earned. It’s not just jump scares and creaky floorboards—it’s the kind of fear that grows out of the things we don’t talk about. The things we can’t say out loud. The things we lose, and how we survive them.
Broken Dolls is about a haunted house, yes. But more than that, it’s about a haunted heart. And how sometimes, facing the ghosts (even the ones with glass eyes and fixed smiles) is the only way to find your way back to the living.

4 stars

I quite liked This Appearing House and so was eager to see what Ally Malinenko came up with next for middle-grade horror; this spooky tale of malevolent dolls did not disappoint. Malinenko neatly balances the trials of growing up with the horror of discovering that your house is haunted by cursed, possibly possessed dolls.

Our protagonist, Kaye, is easy to root for. Kaye is struggling under the pressure to be a dutiful daughter to her mom and a responsible older sister to her little sister Holly; the pressure only compounds when her beloved grandfather and best friend in the whole world dies. Kaye feels like she’s being pushed to move on when her world has been rocked to its foundations, and renovating grandpa’s old house is just rubbing salt in the wound. But when Kaye finds her family under attack by an ever-growing contingent of not-quite-normal dolls, which seem to be targeting her increasingly uncooperative little sister Holly, she finds that she still has a life and family she wants to protect.

I really like how Malinenko is able to combine classic horror tropes with the already scary reality of being a young person, and how combatting the horror often requires working through the very real challenges of growing up. I think this book will be especially appreciated by any children or young adults struggling with grief or with their parents/peers not understanding their neurodivergence, and especially appropriate for older siblings.

What is scarier than clowns? Well, dolls of course! In Ally Malinenko's latest offering "Broken Dolls," 12-year-old Kate finds herself dealing with an onslaught of dolls as she also attempts to deal with the loss of her beloved maternal Grampa.

The task of mourning is tough for such a young girl, so tough that she finds it very difficult to adequately express herself - she often literally can't say a thing. As a method for dealing with their loss, Kaye's mom takes her and her younger sister Holly to up-state New York from their home in Brooklyn for the summer to visit Kaye's uncle, who is renovating her Grampa's old house. Soon after arriving, Holly receives a doll as a prize from a magician at the local Cheese Festival. But it isn't just any doll, it's Holly-doll, the splitting image of Kaye's sister.

As the summer progresses, Holly wishes Kaye would spend more time with her, but Kaye seeks solitude to mourn. With Holly spending more time by herself, her collection of dolls grows, and Kaye believes there's something sinister about them. With the help of her new friend Joey, Kaye must investigate the strange occurrences she's witnessed and be the big sister Holly needs. Before it's too late!

"Broken Dolls" is a story about loss and near loss. Malinenko does a wonderful job describing the tough time Kaye is going through with the death of her grandfather. The feelings Kaye experiences are the same for anyone, but for Kaye, they are her first. Death is not an easy thing to deal with or accept, and Kaye has great difficulty. Through her investigation of Holly's new doll collection and with the help of Joey, Kaye manages to overcome her own difficulties and see that the rest of her family also is mourning, especially Holly.

It's, of course, a book about scary dolls and their nefarious goals, but it's also a book about love and family. It's a book to assist middle-graders with the traumatic experience of losing a loved one, but can just as easily be used by those of any age (like me). Malinenko weaves Kaye's grief with the immediate horror she faces with Holly's dolls in a way that provides emotional stakes with a great payoff.

Full of suspense and a heavy creep factor, "Broken Dolls" is a great read for any middle-grade horror reader. But it's the heart and familial love that provides the story with that extra bit to help readers who also may be dealing with loss in their own lives.

This is why I’ve always been afraid of dolls. From the time I was first introduced to Chucky in Child’s Play, I was horrified that my own dolls would come to life. This story definitely plays in to that ever present fear I’ve carried with me since a child. It follows Kaye and her younger sister, Holly, as they spend the summer with their mother and uncle. After recently losing their grandfather, the children navigate a terrifying maze of loss and living dolls. This book has some legitimately scary moments in it that made me almost not want to turn the page. Ally Malinenko uses grief to amplify the trauma and horror of the story. As someone who lost a very important grandparent at around Kaye’s age, I related to her in a way that I, usually, do not to most literary characters. The emotions, guilt, anger, and especially fear that she felt were very familiar. Now, if I’d had to experience that and deal with living dolls, I don’t know that I would have survived. This book is a great read for YA readers that is sprinkled with life lessons among all the chaos and terror. The descriptions and details of the dolls as they get scarier throughout the story is disturbing, to say the least. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a great book to introduce children to the genre of horror. And, who knows? It might even scare the adults too!

I absolutely loved this middle grade horror book. 😮‍💨 Creepy dolls have always fascinated me, and this cover? Perfection.

Without giving any spoilers away, please note that this book is just as heavy on grief as it is horror. Our fmc Kaye struggles a lot, and the author did a great job slowly releasing her pain and dread throughout the story. I could feel it..so life like.

For someone like me, who has had a lot of loss and loves horror, this was the perfect mash-up.

I, too, lost a very important person in my life around the same age Kaye did. The struggle of coming to terms with that and the emotional damage of coping of such a tremendous loss at that age is terrifying enough. Therefore, when adding the horror element of dolls, it magnifies the story, leaving anyone who has ever been down that road of heartbreak utterly engrossed in the pages with true fear.

This one reminded me of the episode "The Tale of the Dollmaker" from Are You Afraid of The Dark, only with much more heart and depth. What a story! Perfect for spooky season that's quickly approaching. 5✨️

👇🏻 This line had me choked up 👇🏻

"They wouldn’t even know she was broken because they wouldn’t compare her to her old self."

Thanks for this e-galley @netgalley @harpercollinschin @allymalinenko ~ pick it up on September 30th! 🩷📗🛍

This was disturbing in a quiet, clinical kind of way. The setup is eerie from the start, and there’s a constant sense that something is deeply wrong, even when you can’t name it yet. It leans heavily on atmosphere and slow reveals, which worked well for me. While a few moments required some suspension of disbelief, the pacing never dragged, and the payoff was satisfying. It’s one of those books that lingers—not because it’s loud, but because it’s cold.

4⭐️ This mid-grade horror story was creepy good and so scary!

Kaye and her Brooklyn family are grieving the death of their dear father/grandfather. Kaye suffers from OCD and has been increasingly silent. Her Mom decides to take Kaye and her sister Holly to the country to aid in the remodeling of the grandfather’s house.

While attending a local carnival a strange man called the poppet master gives Holly a mysterious doll as a prize. What ensues is truly terrifying! Possessed dolls are one thing that gives me the creeps, and these dolls and this story is frightening! Of course all the adults are oblivious and it’s up to the kids to save the day!

Well written and fast moving plot with a classic horror feel!


Thank you NetGalley, Ally Malinenko, and Harper Collins publishing for the eARC in exchange for my honest review

Malinenko’s portfolio glows with supernatural stories, and Broken Dolls may be the spookiest. Kaye was recently diagnosed with arithmomania, an anxiety disorder involving numbers, and the death of her beloved grandfather has only made things worse. Staying in his old house over the summer is just too much, but her little sister doesn’t seem to mind. In fact, she’s having a great time with all the weird dolls she keeps finding. Kaye swears that they blink. They smirk. They even whisper to her in the dead of night.

Many middle grade horror titles toe the line on what’s too scary, but Broken Dolls boldly stomps on said line. Fear of dolls is a diehard trope in the genre, and Malinenko taps into what makes it absolute nightmare fuel. The visuals and constant tension are perfect for chill-seeking readers. Malinenko’s background in poetry shines through in Kaye’s poignant journey with grief, speaking directly to readers in the midst of their own mourning. Broken Dolls is a certified eerie entry into doll horror that youngsters and adults alike can hide under the covers from.

I feel so privileged to have been able to read an advance copy of Ally Malinenko's newest gripping middle grade BROKEN DOLLS!

A girl struggling with anxiety and the intense grief of losing her beloved grandfather spends the summer in the country with her mom, sister, and uncle as they renovate a house. After attending a local fair, Kaye's little sister wins a mysterious doll that seems to take on a life of it's own and seems to be taking over her sister at the same. Filled with an heartbreakingly honest depiction of grief, vulnerability, courage, loyalty, lots of love, and some *very* creepy moments, Malinenko has once again knocked it out of the park.

I definitely recommend clearing your schedule for this one: you're not going to want to put it down!

Special thanks to Harper Collins, NetGalley and Ally Malinenko (author).

What a great book for Middle Grade, just the right amount of Horror to it but the grief was so heartfelt, I honestly read it in one go. Dolls were a very scary thing for me as a child and this book brought it all back.

Great writing, great story = 5 stars!

In every Ally Malinenko book is a scene that stays with me. In THIS APPEARING HOUSE it was four pages of teeth. In BROKEN DOLLS...well, all I have to say is life sized Raggedy Ann. Ally always does an exceptional job melding grief and survival with the supernatural. Evil dolls, manipulative puppet masters, circus secrets all take their place in a book about a little girl, Kaye, struggling to move on with life while grieving the loss of her grandfather. How can you make friends, laugh and experience joy when your grandfather is never coming back? How can you get your own space to breathe and grow while being vigilant over your little sister...who is in danger that the adults won't acknowledge? This is a perfect MG horror!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – Creepy, heartfelt, and full of surprises Broken Dolls was such a ride. Ally Malinenko blends eerie atmosphere with real emotional depth, and it works. The story has this unsettling, almost dreamlike quality that kept me hooked, and the characters—especially the main one—felt layered and relatable.

It’s spooky without being over-the-top, and there’s a lot of heart underneath the horror. Some parts felt a little rushed, but overall, I really enjoyed it. It’s the kind of book that makes you think while also giving you chills. Perfect for readers who love their middle grade with a dark twist and a lot of soul.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this ARC!

Wow, this was so spooky. Dolls just creep me out and the dolls in this book made me go no in several parts. I loved this so much. The horror was on point, but the grief that was the backbone of this story was handled so well. I loved Kate and her struggles with talking after losing a loved one. I loved all of the characters in this book (except the dolls because no). This was perfect horror.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my review.

This was a genuinely CREEPY middle grade novel. As someone who was terrified that her dolls would move as a little girl, this was the stuff of nightmares for me!

This Middle Grade Horror really grabbed my attention and never let up for a second! It's age appropriate but still spooky and the grief horror aspect was done very well. I really felt drawn to Kaye's character and felt that I could empathize with her. Losing a close family member is life shattering and can be even more difficult to process while being a kid and trying to navigate life. The characters were all developed well and the storyline was absolutely amazing. The backstory of how the dolls came to be added even more to the suspense. This was such a fun read and I recommend to any horror reader.

Broken Dolls follows Kaye. Her grandfather has recently passed away and she is really struggling with it. Her and her sister are staying with their uncle for the summer at their grandfather's home and things begin to get strange rather quickly upon their arrival. The cheese festival is a popular annual tradition in the town but what is awaiting the girls is highly unexpected. There is a peculiar man with his table of mysteries. Holly, the youngest sister ends up winning the prize of this strange card game and the prize is none other than a doll but this is no ordinary doll... it looks exactly like Holly. Weird... oh but it gets weirder! You need to grab this book when it releases to find out why!

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins and the author for this ARC. Broken Dolls releases on September 30th, 2025.

Was super excited to read an advance copy of this book. The story is a fun, scary, emotional read that will surprise and grip you until the end.

I would love to read a sequel, even if it was an anthology series.

Reminded me of Stephen King's Needful Things but with a much stronger ending and better pacing

Kaye is struggling to cope with her grief after losing her grandfather. Looking for a change of scenery, Kaye, her mom, and her sister decide to spend the summer in her grandfather’s house upstate. During one of their first nights there Kaye’s sister is given her first doll. Kaye can’t shake the eerie feeling the doll gives her. As her sister “finds” more and more dolls, Kaye gets more and more signs that the dolls aren’t as innocent as they seem.

I think most people have had at least one creepy experience with a doll (right? right…), so I’m sure many readers will be spooked by this book. At its heart though, this is a story of family, new friends, and learning to live with grief. As we approach spooky season, this book is an important addition to classroom / school libraries!

Between Ghost GIrl and This Appearing House I knew Broken Dolls was going to deliver... But WOW this might be one of the creepiest books I have read all year! I am so excited to recommend this to my young patrons. There was fantastic prose/vocabulary and strong character development. This is definitely one for the (my personal) shelf bonus points for the super creepy cover!