Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for my gifted copy.

This was a DNF at the point when someone started to taxidermy a puppy. It’s not for me

Highly enjoyed this one! It kept me engaged throughout and was a joy to read, would certainly recommend!

I loved this book! It's well-written, enjoyable, and a great read. Elizabeth Macneal did a great job of writing in a way that captures the readers attention, and makes you not want to put it down until you're finished! I would highly recommend it!

The Doll Factory is set in 1850's Victorian London during The Great Exhibition. Amongst the crowd are Iris, an aspiring artist, and Silas, a collector and taxidermist. Their brief meeting doesn't mean much to Iris, but to Silas it was an important encounter.

I often struggle with Victorian Era settings in books as I don't always connect with the characters. I enjoyed the setting of the Great Exhibition though and loved all the references to art. I felt that this story was interesting with the mix of historical fiction and mystery. There were some darks parts to this book that some people may want to skip over (Silas is a taxidermist), but overall I found this well written and intriguing.

The animal cruelty at the beginning of the novel was unnecessary and completely took me out of the story. There are more skilled ways of showcasing how disturbed the Silas character is or at the very least a more subtle way to insinuate instead of creating detailed accounts.

This is a debut novel set in the Victorian era. It’s dark, gothic, and has a fairly high creep factor.
Twin sisters Iris and Rose painting doll faces for a laudanum addicted employer. They dream of better lives. Rose wants to open her own shop. Iris wants to become an artist and agrees to model for a pre-Raphaelite artist, upon the condition that he teachers her to paint professionally. Young Albie frequently sells handmade doll clothes to the shop and occasionally sells small dead animals to Silas, a taxidermist.
While watching the construction of the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park in 1850 London, Iris meets Silas. It is the beginning of his obsession with her. It sets off a horrific chain of events that it seems only Albie can stop.

This is not an easy story to read. It’s dark, but it’s well done. Macneal does a great job pulling back the curtain on Victorian England and showing some of the horrors of that time. Side note: I also read the author’s second book, Circus of Wonders, and thought it was even better than The Doll Factory.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for my review.

Just didn't think it was good, tbh. The writing was a bit sloppy and the pacing didn't keep me invested.

“A lush, evocative Gothic.” —The New York Times Book Review

I would say that out of all of the reviews this one is perfectly written for this book. The Doll Factory by Elizabeth Madneal will grab ahold from page one and not let go until the end. The author sends the reader on a roller coaster ride and theirs is one of my favorite historical thrillers.


5 out of 5 stars

I wanted to like this story more but I just could not get into the gothic fell and the time setting of 1850. The story had potential and I like the parts of Iris and Silas, who becomes crazily obsessed with her. Maybe if the story was set in a different time I would of connected better.

I could not get into this book, sorry. Trying to clean up my netgalley. Didn’t realize that I was forgetting to leave reviews on netgalley itself, My apologies.

Beautifully written, artsy dark book. It’s a bit of a slow burn, and you have to pay attention to the characters, but overall a great atmospheric read.

When an irrational mind is combined with a wild obsession, it will become the most eerie horrors.
The whole story feels like a short, chilling whisper. The writing style and the fragmented storylines are most dreamy like, it was a cold and obscure fascination.
Though I should confess that I prefer the first half of the story better, overall it’s still a really good gothic story.

This book has a VERY high creepiness factor. There were passages that I had to skip over entirely (especially ones about violence towards animals), so it's definitely not for the faint of heart.

Set in 1850 in London, the story follows three different perspectives: Iris, an amateur painter who works tirelessly in a doll shop; Silas, a taxidermist who becomes obsessed with her; and Albie, a street urchin who travels in both of their worlds. The setting is perfect for the story, and I thought Macneal did an impeccable job painting the picture of what it would have been like living in that time/place.

However, the story was incredibly predictable - to the point where I felt like even if I skimmed a few pages, I wouldn't miss anything. I felt like I could see the progression of where each character would end up at the very beginning of the novel (and I was right for each of them).

Even if I could get past some of the truly awful graphic elements (most of which weren't necessary to the story), there just wasn't anything that made me glad I'd read the book in the end.

This book was intriguing, but not necessarily my favorite. The ending was definitely interesting, and the twists and turns throughout the book were great.

The Doll Factory is reminiscent of a Dicken's story, but so much darker. The story follows Iris, one half of a set of twins who has always felt like she was shadowed by her sister, Rose. Rose was the beautiful twin, until a sickness disfigured her and she lost all confidence in one day finding a husband. Iris has a permanently twisted and scared collarbone from a break when she was an infant. Now the girls work for a cruel woman, painting china dolls and just trying to make enough money to live. Iris has dreams of painting much bigger things than just dolls. One day she is presented with the opportunity to be a model for an artist, Louis, and she makes a deal that she will model, if he teaches her to paint.
Meanwhile, Silas is a curator of oddities. He takes dead animals and preserves them, creates baubles out of butterfly wings, and cleans the skulls of found animals, all of this to try and get renowned attention for his work. He sees Iris and developed an obsession, making up scenarios in which they are together as lovers and friends.
This is a dark tale that really speaks to what it was like to be a woman in those times and how little has changed. Iris expresses that she isn't allowed to have relationships with men without being seen as a "whore," while the men are just seen as taking paramours. Additionally, Silas feels as if he is owed attention by Iris simply because he is a man and he's been nice to her.
I really enjoyed this read even though being in Silas's head was mostly infuriating.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Atria for the opportunity to read this book!

This was a different type of thriller in that it was set in the early 1900s. There were parts that were beyond creepy. The character development was outstanding. The characters were realistically flawed and well-drawn. I wasn't entirely sold on the ending. I felt that there could have been more said. Overall, a very dark and dreary but suspenseful read.

I really tried to get into this novel, but it just didn’t click with me. I felt like I read the same page over and over because is just kept losing focus. In the end I didn’t I just couldn’t finish it. Thanks netgalley for my free copy for review.

Going through my NetGalley backlog. This one isn’t for me. I loved the darkness aspect but wanted more. I put it down and didn’t find myself coming back to it. May try the authors newly published book.

1850's, Gothic and Victorian, with taxidermy and this book was mesmerizing! Taxidermy is a fractionating art, which of course can be a messed up one with the wrong people. Here in this story, two sisters work under a harsh female employer. But they make dolls for the street kids. Rose and Iris are twins, one with small pox scars. They don't know their beauty or their worth. There is a wold fair coming up, and displays that could be money makers. So the poverty stricken do have some hope, but there is always dark and evil lurking even near the light. There's a killer, and his issues are slightly unusual. It's about love, life and determination. I do wish there was a bit more to the ending. It's not bad, but it lost one star because I didn't feel all the threads were neatly tied up for me. I should note that people who can't do anatomy, or understand how taxidermy works, or can't comprehend that things in the 1800's were far more raw than today's world might be thrown off by this story. The rest of us are just thrilled to have had a strong tale to read.

Thanks to Net Galley for a digital ARC. This review is my own, left freely. A positive review is never rewired.

This book is a frightening rollercoaster of twists and turns that kept me up all hours of the night for many reason. This is the first book I've read by Elizabeth Macneal but it certainly will not be my last. She's able to twist this tale to work on a lot of peoples greatest fears and manage to create a real nail biting thriller.