Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This had a good storyline, some twists and good characters but have to say it was not brilliant.

Paper dolls by Lisa Bradley


When 2 teenage girls are missing, Leah Wallace a newspaper editor documents missing girl Hope on the front page and gives Tilly, who is believe to have just ran off from home, a small article on page 18. Hope was found quickly as a result of the article as she was spotted in the train station, whereas Tilly was never found. Leah was heavily criticised for her handling of the articles of the missing girls and was blamed by Tilly’s parents for her not being found, as a result Leah resigns from her position as editor. Throughout the whole book you can see that this massively affected Leah and she wanted to make amends for her actions.

A few years later Leah features in a Netflix documentary about the missing girls and strange things soon start to happen, candles lit in the garden, paper dolls being sent to her house and ouija boards spelling Tilly’s name, just to name a few. Leah soon becomes paranoid and people around her think she is making it Up.

The whole way through I kept changing my mind about who was responsible for the strange things happening to Leah, the ending was such a shock twist that I didn’t see it coming at all! At one point I actually started to believe that Leah was having a breakdown as was doing all this crazy stuff to herself. The book is so well written and I the ending isn’t rushed. It’s a page turner from start to finish and I couldn’t wait to find out the truth about what really happened to Tilly and who is terrorising Leah as a result.

I would definitely recommend Paper Dolls - it’s become one of my favourite ever reads!!

A well written book with good characters, wasn't an edge of seater for me and in parts I found it quite slow.

Thank you to Netgalley and Quercus Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

Sixteen years ago a 15-year-old girl, Hope Hooper-Smith, is reported missing. The police fear that she has been abducted. Hours later, another teenage girl,Tilly Bowers, goes missing. But she is from a troubled background and is a habitual runaway.

Leah Wallace, an editor at a regional paper, decides to run the Hope's abduction on the front page, while Tilly only gets a small mention on page eighteen. The next day, Hope is found unharmed at a train station. But Tilly is never seen or heard from again.

Now, a TV documentary questions Leah's decision not to give Tilly's case immediate coverage. Branded as a racist and implying that she could have cost Tilly her life, Leah starts receiving threats and she begins to find mysterious paper dolls all over her house. Somebody wants to punish her, but who?

This book had an interesting and unique plot. What I liked the most in the book, was the depiction of relationships of Leah with her son Luke and her best friend Bunty. Initially I found the book moving at a slow pace but as it reached the end, it picked up pace and the end was good and unexpected.

Overall a satisfying read!

Thank You to NetGalley and Quercus Books for this ARC!!
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15 years ago, Leah Wallace made a decision that has come back to haunt her: When two girls, Hope and Tilly, are both reported missing, Leah chooses to place Hope on the front page, and Tilly as a small mention on page 18. Hope was found two days later. Tilly was never found.

Branded a racist for reporting on the missing middle-class White girl, and not the Black girl from a rougher part of town, Leah's career comes to an end and 15 years later she is a housewife, a failed journalist, and still consumed with guilt over her decision to not give Tilly the attention she felt she deserved. Leah has never forgiven herself for her (possible) role in Tilly not having been found ... and it would seem, neither has somebody else.

Reminiscent of the candles Leah lights in remembrance of Tilly at her local parish, Leah begins to find burning candles coupled with paper dolls - cutouts made from the newspaper with Hope's face on the front page. Somebody is trying to send Leah a message, and hold her accountable for her mistake 15 years previously.

All in all, I found this book to be a satisfying read. I wouldn't say that it is a candidate for "thriller of the year", but it keeps you interested and the story moves quickly. I did, however, think that there were slightly too many plot points that just didn't add up. It felt as if certain chapters were written with the purpose of meeting a word count, rather than for progressing the plot, and as a result, the main action of the book all felt rushed into the last 20% of the book.

The characterisation of Bradley's main characters (Leah, her son Luke, Leah's friend Bunty, Leah's husband Chris) all seemed consistent and real, and I felt invested in these characters and their relationships. However, other characters (I won't mention names because of spoilers) seemed to do a complete 180 for no apparent reason other than to neatly tie off Leah's moral conundrums. If the author intended for this to be some kind of commentary, I don't think it worked; it just felt a bit like incomplete characterisation.

The ending of the book also seemed to happen in fits and starts - there were a couple of times when I thought the book could easily (and effectively) be wrapped up, but then a potential climax fizzled out and left you clinging on for a few more chapters. When the book did end, though, it was an ending I didn't see coming, and it was a good one!

All in all, I think that Lisa Bradley has all the right tools in her arsenal and utilised them relatively well. I enjoyed this book, and Bradley's voice was compelling and easy to read, making it easy and pleasurable for me to pick it up when I had a few spare minutes. This book suffered slightly from uneven pacing and (in my opinion) incomplete characterisation, but the essence of the story was strong (it also suffered from some shoddy proofreading, with spelling and grammatical errors littering the book, but I can't be sure whether this is just because the book still needs to go through a final check before publication, so I have tried to not let this colour my review of the book itself). Overall, a promising new voice to the thriller genre, and I would like to see more of Bradley's writing in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley and Quercus Books for the ARC of this book.

I really enjoyed this read, I found the characters likeable and the storyline held my interest. I did find at time’s this read more like a romantic chic lit, more than a thriller but I personally like that genre so didn’t mind as much. There was a lot going on but it was told in such a way that it wasn’t hard to follow. The twist at the end was so intriguing and I really hope this is the basis for a second book.

This book has kept me up far too late but I have absolutely no regrets.
A great and captivating read which is completely unpredictable and keeps you addicted so you don’t want to put it down.

What. A. Book. I raced through this thriller in no time! The conversational tone of the book and my warmth towards the protagonist Leah made this such a great book for me.


First and foremost though, I feel I want to quickly touch of the Mother/Son bond between Leah and Luke, yes this is a thriller above all, but the bond these two have and show throughout the book is really heartwarming, and made me question whether the author herself may have a son she is extremely close to as it really was written with such kindness and love that it made me heart swell when they were in dialogue with each other.

Now onto the thriller itself, WOW. I couldn't have read it quicker, the idea of the paper dolls cut from old newspaper clippings of the case was such a spine tingling touch and I could really picture the candlelight flickering just to realise small traces of the faces in the pictures... truly terrifying. The book follows our protagonist Leah as she is ready for a documentary to launch on Netflix about a case of 2 missing girls in which her newspaper may have highlighted the wrong girl instead of giving them equal exposure, leading the less highlighted girl never being seen again and the one they gave the attention to being found within a day. We follow along as Leah is being tormented by someone who is playing mind games with her and almost mentally torturing her for her papers decision all those years ago... but is she being tortured by some unknown being, or is it all in her head? or could she possibly be doing it all herself?

The book flips between two time lines, 'present day Leah' which I have mentioned above and 16 years earlier which is when the 2 girls in question went missing, and the story around the disappearances and the papers decision on which to give coverage to is slowly revealed,

A thoroughly enjoyable book which will keep you guessing till the very end. Spoiler alert... I tried to guess and I got it all completely wrong!! Thanks to Netgalley and Quercus Books for the ARC!

First thing I noted was the family relationship. I loved that it wasn’t like anything else I’d read before. What a quirky, modern family relationship! It felt fresh and immediately got my interest. Bunty needs to talk like an adult though please or just shut up! She nearly killed my new found love for Paper Dolls.

So this is creepy but it didn’t have enough thrills for me. I’d consider the first few events really tame, they weren’t worth calling the police for so making out like it’s the scariest thing in the world made me see Leah as a drama queen...actually she’s the definition of a drama queen (still a great character though!).

The last 25% of this story makes up for any faults or minor issues. It’s so shocking, scary and plain evil that I gasped and it takes a lot for me to gasp from a thriller!

Really enjoyed this book it was very tense and kept me on the edge of my seat madly turning pages. It kept my interest right the way through the book, it was dark and dangerous and there were a few oh wow moments. Very good book, it’s my first by this author and it won’t be the last. Highly recommend this book.

Leah was a newspaper editor and made a tough decision about which missing girls she put on the front page. One was found, the other never was. Now 16 years later, someone is leaving paper doll cut outs and candles for Leah. Leah nearest and dearest begin to wonder if she leaving these herself. The danger escalates and Leah needs to find out who is behind it all..
Can’t wait to read more by Lisa Bradley.

Wow, I loved this. I think I suspected Every Single Character in Paper Dolls, as I desperately tried (and failed) to second guess the ending.

The characters felt very relatable - I swear, I've had many nights out with Leah and Bunty!

I'd definitely look to read any future books by this author.

Really good read. I love the title too! Would recommend to friends and family. I could sympathise with characters (important for any fiction novel!) and looked forward to picking it up and reading the next few chapters! Interesting plot line and a good ending. Will look out for more novels by the author. Thank you.