I found the premise really intriguing. And while the concept of the miniature house was really unique and interesting, I didn't quite feel the relationship between the two main leads. I loved that both Myra and Alex were gentle people, despite their childhoods and pasts, but the chemistry fell a bit flat for me. It wasn't entirely credible.

With that said, I am confident this book will appeal to many readers. It just didn't work for me.

“And some people…some people make lonely seem like the best way to be.”

“Trixie laughed and told her that learning to avoid pain was less important than learning it would always be there, and that you often caused it yourself, so it was best to learn to live with it.”

A year after the death of her beloved step Grandmother Trixie, Myra is gifted Trixie’s prized possession. Her beloved mansion. No, it’s not a doll house, it’s just a miniature mansion. From then on, Myra is obsessed with the mansion and the mystery it brings. Rooms disappearing, reappearing, music playing, things destroyed just to name a few. When Alex comes across the minuscule mansion blog, he realizes that this mansion is his own home. The same furniture dots the rooms, and the strange occurrences happen to him as well. While Myra doesn’t usually speak to anyone besides Gwen, Alex is determined to get her to talk to him so they can figure out this mystery together.

Ok first of all, I want a minuscule mansion of my own. I loved the descriptions as Myra redid the rooms, built furniture, sewed outfits and linens, it was all just so fun and made me want to be able to do the same! I absolutely adored the Myra/Trixie relationship. It was just the absolute sweetest and so lovely and wholesome. I also really enjoyed the back and forth between time periods, as we learn where the mansion came from through it ended up in Myra’s hands. the relationship between Ruth and Willa, as well as the one between Rutherford and Alex, just broke my heart though. This story was so unique and quirky, and I truly enjoyed every minute.

I thoroughly enjoyed this unique story and I loved the quirky characters. Myra shows so much growth and is so endearing you can't help but cheer her on and Alex is so patient and kind despite having a difficult childhood. The element of magic gives sparkle and a hint of mystery that will keep the pages turning and your imagination smiling the whole way through the book.

I received a gifted galley of THE MINISCULE MANSION OF MYRA MALONE by Audrey Burges for an honest review. Thank you to PRH Audio, Berkley Publishing Group, and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review!

THE MINISCULE MANSION OF MYRA MALONE follows the titular character, a woman who inherited a miniature mansion (not a doll house). Her blog about this incredibly detailed little house has made a big impact in the blogging world and people from far and wide follow along as she discusses the house, sending her miniatures for inclusion.

Alex is a young man working in a furniture store who encounters a couple of Myra’s fans. When he begins to read more about the miniature mansion he is shocked to see that the house looks like Myra his miniaturized his own life. Alex reaches out to Myra to learn more and uncover how this came to be. In a second timeline we are also getting the life story of Alex’s grandmother as a young woman.

This is a hard book to pin down in terms of genre. In the end I would call this primarily a contemporary story with some romance, mystery, historical, and magical realism elements. Myra is an interesting character, one who is largely cut off from most of the world even as she puts a small (pun not intended) part of her life out for public consumption at the encouragement of her best (and only) friend. In the background we’re seeing some of the struggles of her family and her larger life. Contact with Alex begins to shake things up for her.

I found this a little bit slow to get started, but the writing was very well done and kept me interested in the story as things begin to start moving. This had me very interested to see how the story would play out. It hits on some serious subjects even as there are uplifting moments.

Magical realism can be a bit hit or miss for me and not everything here has answers where I might have wanted a few more concrete endings. In the end, I could have been drawn into the story a bit more, but ultimately it is beautifully written book! THE MINISCULE MANSION OF MYRA MALONE is out today!

“We can’t always choose the details of our burden, Myra. But we bear it just the same.”

This was a really charming and unique story. I went in blind to The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone and was so pleasantly surprised! The book is part fantasy, part contemporary romance with magical elements. There are tragic and heartbreaking moments, but it was balanced well with the overall whimsy of the story and world.

The mystery plot was pretty clear early on, but I still enjoyed seeing it all unfold. The story is told in multiple timelines and keeping things straight chapter to chapter was a challenge sometimes. The romance between Myra and Alex was sweet and I enjoyed the epistolary elements, but it felt a bit rushed and forced. It did make for a very heartwarming, full circle ending however.

The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone is a love story, but not just romantic love. It’s about the love of family, friends, and oneself. It’s about the sacrifices and choices we make in the name of love, for better or for worse.

I both read the ebook and listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed Christine Lakin’s narration. She performed all the different characters in unique and complimentary voices and I definitely recommend experiencing this one on audio!

Audiobook Review
Overall 4.5 stars
Performance 5 stars
Story 4 stars

CW: complicated/strained family relationships, death of loved one (past, car accident), trauma, scars, recluse, hoarding (secondary character), housing insecurity/foreclosure due to debt, food insecurity (secondary character, past), mentions of war and PTSD (past, secondary character), arson/fire, suicide (secondary character), long term illness, verbal/physical abuse (past)

*I voluntarily read and listened to an advance review copy of this book*

"A woman learns to expand the boundaries of her small world and let love inside it in this sparkling and unforgettable novel by Audrey Burges.

From her attic in the Arizona mountains, thirty-four-year-old Myra Malone blogs about a dollhouse mansion that captivates thousands of readers worldwide. Myra's stories have created legions of fans who breathlessly await every blog post, trade photographs of Mansion-modeled rooms, and swap theories about the enigmatic and reclusive author. Myra herself is tethered to the Mansion by mysteries she can't understand - rooms that appear and disappear overnight, music that plays in its corridors.

Across the country, Alex Rakes, the scion of a custom furniture business, encounters two Mansion fans trying to recreate a room. The pair show him the Minuscule Mansion, and Alex is shocked to recognize a reflection of his own life mirrored back to him in minute scale. The room is his own bedroom, and the Mansion is his family's home, handed down from the grandmother who disappeared mysteriously when Alex was a child. Searching for answers, Alex begins corresponding with Myra. Together, the two unwind the lonely paths of their twin worlds - big and small - and trace the stories that entwine them, setting the stage for a meeting rooted in loss, but defined by love."

The perfect book for the dollhouse obsessed who spent their childhood marveling at the Thorne miniature rooms at the Art Institute of Chicago or Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle.

When I was a kid, my local library had a dollhouse on display, and I was fascinated by it. I don't know if that's what sparked my love for miniature houses and small rooms, but it's definitely a core memory. So much so, that in high school I took an interior design class specifically because the final exam consisted of building an efficiency apartments in a box. I have recently started building miniature buildings (I'm working on a bookstore!)

So a book about a magical dollhouse was right up my alley and I'm so glad that it didn't disappoint.

I don't normally like books with multiple POVs and dual timelines, but every chapter, every piece that was revealed, was required in order to stitch the overall story together. There are books where I don't always feel that's the case. The overall arc of the story, and how the history of the houses (the miniature and its larger muse) tied Alex and Myra together was incredibly unique and so beautiful.

One thing I wasn't completely sold on was the quick romance between Myra and Alex. While falling in love via emails and phone calls isn't unbelievable (especially compared to a magical dollhouse), it's a trope that I don't really enjoy.

I almost wish the book was a little bit longer, so that as readers we got a greater glimpse into the lives of Alex and Myra once the two intersected. But overall, this was an incredibly enchanting read and I am so impressed by the story Burges created.

It is such a clever book. I quite enjoyed the opening and the magical realism. The house felt like it was its own character

Short Review: Magical. Beautiful. Perfect. A beautiful tale of love, magic, and heart.

"You're the only shelter I need."

Long Review: Savor this book. Go slow. Let the magic consume you. It's one of the sweetest most endearing love stories I've ever read. I loved it with my whole heart.

Thank you to @netgalley @berkleypub and @berkleyromance for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to @prhaudio for a free download of the audiobook. And thank you to @berittalksbooks and @dg_reads for including me on this buddy read.

Myra inherited a miniature mansion when her step-grandmother passed away. She designed her life around this mansion and created a blog with a cult following. Through a contest on the blog, she discovers that her mansion is a replica of an actual house in Virginia currently inhabited by Alex. The magical connection between the real and miniature mansion brings together Myra and Alex and draws Myra out of her sheltered life.

I really wanted to love this book. It was unique and the premise sounded fresh and new. It gave me the vibes of the movie The Lake House. Unfortunately, I found myself bored and thankful that I had the audiobook in order to finish. The narrator was fantastic, I just didn’t get a connection to the book until the very end.

3 stars

#books #bookishlife #booklover #readingisfun #iowabookstagrammers #iowabookstagram #netgalley #berkleypub #berkleyromance #berkleybuddyreads #prhaudio #ltbreaderteam #berkelywritesstrongwomen #theminusculemansionofmyramalone

Okay, when I first started this book I absolutely couldn't stand Myra. I understood what she was going through, but I just wanted to shake her character. I realize that people with agoraphobia can't control it, but it was frustrating to just see her wasting her life not leaving her attic or her house. However, as I learned her story and the story of the "Lady of the House", I began to like her more and more, and at the end, I was rooting for her and Alex to make it. This was an interesting tale. The writing made me want more, and I found myself sad to see it end. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who likes romance and a little bit of magic.

A recluse who blogs about her miniature mansion is shocked to discover it exists in real life. I was excited because this was touted as a great read-alike for the Night Circus which is one of my favorite books but the writing wasn't nearly as good and the characters felt flat.

I loved this sweet, magical story of an agoraphobic woman who channels her anxieties and fears into building rooms for a model home (it's not a dollhouse!) that she keeps in her attic. We learn the history of how the house came to be hers, as it intertwines with the story of a man across the country who discovers that he actually lives in the house this miniature house was modeled after. A charming and truly unique entry into the magical realism genre that has skyrocketed in popularity in the past year, I will be recommending this book to all of my audiences.

Happy New Year to all!

For my first read of the new year, I decided to start with an ARC of a book that normally wouldn’t be up my alley in terms of genre, but the premise of the story interested me enough that I wanted to give it a try. I’m honestly glad I did because I ended up enjoying this one way more than I thought I would.

“Once upon a time, there was a house.” Such an appropriate first sentence for a story that has both a fairy tale feel and a mysterious house as a central character. Myra Malone came into possession of the Minuscule Mansion (essentially an antique miniature dollhouse but with no dolls) when she was six years old and since then, she became its meticulous and thoughtful “caretaker”, dedicating her life to the Mansion’s maintenance and upkeep such as mending broken furniture, decorating rooms with themes during holidays, etc. Now 34 years old, Myra has been living a reclusive life in her family’s cabin in Arizona ever since surviving a car accident when she was a child and spends most of her time in the attic tending to the Mansion as well as writing about her experience. Through the encouragement of her only friend (and former neighbor) Gwen, Myra begins to share her writing via blog posts and soon amasses a huge following that numbers in the hundred thousands. Meanwhile, in Virginia, Alex Rakes, who works for his family’s custom furniture business, encounters a couple looking to recreate one of the Mansion rooms — when they show him pictures of the room from Myra’s website, he is shocked to discover his own bedroom mirrored back to him in miniature scale. Hoping to find out what is going on, Alex starts up correspondence with Myra and as they begin to share their respective stories as well as slowly unravel the mystery behind the Mansion, they end up going down a path that neither of them expected.

I found this story enchanting and delightful. Even though there are tragic and sad things that occur, these are handled in a thoughtful manner that doesn’t diminish the seriousness of the events, while at the same time, maintaining a lightheartedness to the story that made this a compelling but by no means heavy read. I loved the bits of humor sprinkled throughout the story, especially in the excerpts from Myra’s blog posts as well as in the dialogue between the characters. Speaking of the characters…yes, the main narrative revolves around how Myra and Alex ultimately fall in love, but this was so much more than just a love story — this was also a story about friendship and family, about hope and resilience and overcoming tragedy, about loneliness and finding a sense of connection — most centrally though was the theme of remembrance and how we carry the memories of people and places with us, even when the physical manifestation of them are gone.

This is one of those books that doesn’t fit nicely into a particular genre — some may consider this a fantasy, others may categorize it as contemporary fiction with magical realism elements (I lean toward the latter). Whatever the category though, I appreciated the uniqueness and charm of the story, which was evident in the fact that, even though some scenes were a bit too “cutesy” for my tastes and the “mystery” part was obvious from the get go, I still found this book irresistibly hard to put down. This was also an instance where reading outside of my usual comfort zone paid off and it’s an experience I definitely recommend. The ARC I read also had an excerpt from the author’s next book, which is scheduled to come out in 2024 — it sounds just as charming and I look forward to reading it!

Received ARC from Berkley via NetGalley.

Myra, a 34 year old recluse, lives in the attic of her childhood home. She writes a blog about a miniature mansion that some refer to as a dollhouse. It’s not a dollhouse, don’t make that mistake. This mansion is a refuge with its own secret abilities.

Alex, a scion to the a furniture business, discovers this blog only to find out the miniature mansion across the US from him is an exact replica of his home. The two connect and bond over the mysteries surrounding their mansions and grandmother. Can Alex be the one to finally get Myra to leave her home?

My thoughts:

This was very unique and intriguing. The timelines flowed a bit odd as the story from the last unwound to match the future, but it meshed well. I loved the magical aspect and how the two were brought together.

If you are looking for a book that will capture your imagination and keep you up reading way too long, The Miniscule Mansion of Myra Malone is your book! This is a 4 1/2 star book - it starts slow, but by the middle of the book, I didn't want to put it down.

Myra lives the life of recluse. Her only connections to the outside world are her best friend Gwen and her mother. Myra was in a car accident when she was 5, and has hidden from the world since then. She has scarring that she thinks makes her unlovable, and why would she leave her home when she can do everything via the computer? Her real life is creating new and curating items for her miniscule mansion, given to her by her step-grandmother (who died in the car accident that led to her isolation). Gwen created a website about the mansion, and now people everywhere feel they know Myra through her posts about the mansion. Just don't call it a dollhouse - there are no dolls here!

Alex lives in a house thousands of miles away. His dad has always been surly, but he is sick now and so Alex has moved home to be near him. But he is not living in his dad's modern townhouse. Instead, he is living in his grandmother's mansion, which is exactly like Myra's mansion, down to the furniture and the fixtures (even things he just purchased this year). He enters a contest (Gwen's idea, not Myra's), to meet Myra and have coffee with her, because he is really curious how her mini mansion looks exactly like his grandmother's house, and why he keeps hearing music when the piano has been gone for years.

The story goes back and forth in time, telling the stories of Myra, Alex, his father Rutherford, his grandmother Willa, and the mansion. It is a fascinating web that entangles you in its magic and makes it hard to put down!

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy of this wonderful book.

I absolutely loved this book! It was a fantastical tale that kept me intrigued the entire time. I loved seeing the relationship between Myra and Alex develop and I really, really loved all the details of the mansion. Burges's world-building and descriptions were beyond gorgeous and I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next!

I am a big fan of magical realism and The Minuscule Mansion of Myra Malone has the perfect amount of magic. The author writing style is so pleasant and comforting, it was easy to become engulfed in the story. Myra and Alex are out two main characters. The narrative switches between them both as well as the past and the present. I found the present to be more enjoyable to read. The past felt darker and sadder, less hopeful. The magical connection between Myra's miniature mansion and Alex's real life home located across the country was interesting to read. It was clear that there was more than the house that was connecting them.

I hoped for a more clear understanding of Willa, her magi and the purpose of the mansion. I was easier to connect with Myra and Alex, but I was still unclear what their future would be.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the arc.

A seriously delightful book with just the right amount of magical realism, a good amount of romance and plenty of miniature for folks who love dollhouse design (though it's not a dollhouse!)

Ok - 1. I absolutely love tiny things so this was definitely on my list. 2. I love magical realism - especially the creativity that comes with it. The first half of this book slowly drew me in, until halfway through and I'm trying to read it every moment I had to fins out what was happening. I really enjoyed the story through the eyes of all the characters. I'm definitely recommending this one as soon as it comes out.