I was fully invested in this up until the end. I felt very let down by the ending. While I didn't particularly like the characters, I was invested in the possible downfall of the academy and those in charge.

I really enjoyed how engrossing this book is. I couldnt put it down and hope that the author expands on this alternate reality.

Very well written novel! I was intrigued and questioning what to believe throughout this entire book. I am looking forward to reading more from this author!

I think this novel could have benefitted for some editing due to its length. It was suspenseful and an excellent concept, but I felt like we could have got to the point, and had more action with the characters in the end.

That being said, it was well written, and I it had a compelling theme - it just didn't have enough drama and action to continually hold my interest - the characters were not as captivating as the story seemed to wear on.

A sharp thriller that explores the dark side of fame and power, but I unfortunately didn't connect with the writing style, which felt poorly edited. I would have liked this a lot better if it had remained purely in thriller territory and avoided the science fiction twist. The premise of a secret society conspiring to shoot certain people to stardom was fascinating, but I didn't feel connected to any of the characters. I wish there had been more narrative distinction between Ivy and Ramona: as it stands, it was difficult to differentiate between their chapters.

As a child I once had an ongoing fantasy about a house where all the current child stars of the day lived together. It was a found family situation, but there was also plenty of internal drama. intrigue, and personal interactions. Margarita Montimore wrote my old imaginary world into life in an adult form.

We follow friends, Ramona and Grace, as their 15 minutes of live theater fame morphs into a coveted invitation to join The Dollhouse. The Dollhouse is the old Hollywood studio system reinvented as an insulated town/compound in upstate New York with an uncanny success rate of turning out star performers. One friend experiences a catastrophic rise into stardom, the other begins to question herself and everything The Dollhouse represents. Adding to the story’s mystique are diary entries from the OG Dollhouse star – Ivy Gordon. Are her recollections and musings true, or the byproduct of someone who has broken under the pressure of her storied career? There is no question that The Dollhouse makes stars – but how?

Sometimes the suspension of disbelief necessary to get into a book can be a barrier to enjoying it, but in this case I just sailed right over that barrier. This book was twisty, fun, and exactly what I needed. The Dollhouse Academy was boarding school meets the Stepford Wives and, although some of the revelations were predictable, I still very much enjoyed the ride.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing Company for this Advanced Readers Copy of The Dollhouse Academy by Margarita Montimore!

Does fame and glory worth selling your soul over?

This is an exciting mystery novel with a dual POV that starts off strong: the first scene sets the pace as we follow Ivy Fordon, a young superstar from The Dollhouse Academy being this close to experiencing a plane crash. But did she really? After this traumatic experience, she dedicates her time off to put pen to paper and write everything she goes through as a Dollhouse Academy star.

We also get introduced to Ramona and Grace, two aspiring actresses/singers who just want one thing out of life: to join the Dollhouse Academy. Is this really what they want? What is the Dollhouse Academy about though, really?

This book is sick and twisted and made me resent Hollywood even more than I already did recently with these ugly cases emerging these past few years with the Diddy case, the Album of Year award that Jay Z paid for his wife to "earn".. it was fun to read, and I wouldn't be surprised that what his happening behind closed door at the Dollhouse Academy isn't just fiction.

If you are sensitive to trigger warnings, please look them up before reading this book, though.

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for this e-ARC in exchange of my honest opinion.

The Dollhouse Academy started strong with a setting I WANTED to eat up, but it just never fully delivered. I think that making a good, middle-of-the-road dark academia novel is easy, but making one that truly stands out among the crowd is DIFFICULT, and unfortunately, I do not think that I will remember any details about this book beyond the final pages.

By the end, the twists felt regrettably predictable, and the tension had fizzled out for me personally, leaving me with an electronic book that was far more interesting in its concept than its execution. Again, it was a solid read, a FINE book, and there's nothing wrong with that, but I just think it could have been more, done more, sunk its teeth into something. I also think better pacing could maybe have benefited the book.

I didn't know what to expect from The Dollhouse Academy coming from the author of Oona Out of Order which I absolutely loved. From page one of this book you can tell you are going to be in for a ride. The story revloves around a person who is in the academy and wants out two that are in it and trying to stay in it. The acdemy is a place run by a woman who manipulates the boys and girls in the academy who are trying to make it n show business. If you are chosen tham you will make it if you follow her advice and take the medicine that the acdemy makes. I mean what could go wrong. The two woman Grace and Ramona soon find wht can go wrong. It's an absolute page turner of a novel and you can already see the mini-series being developed from this book. I know I'd watch it. We live in a society that is all about perfection and if you just do do this you'll succeed. But sometimes that is not the case and a lot of it has to do with luck and if you actually have talent. This is a though provoking novel with characters that burn right off the page. This is an excellent book for bookclubs and discussion groups. This book will be a word of mouth book. I know I'll be telling people if you're looking for a fun read to get your mind off things than this is the book for you. Thanks to Flatiron Books and netgalley for the read!

What an interesting idea for a book! The Dollhouse Academy is a residential school and entertainment agency in Owl’s Point, NY where potential actors/performers go to hone their skills and flourish. It’s very competitive to be selected to attend, and some of their actors have become quite famous and successful. However, the Academy turns out to be a closed off, super controlling, dystopian type world. But why don’t people leave? In the quest to become the next popular celebrity name, what are people willing to do to make it big? What are they willing to sacrifice? How important are family, friends, relationships, education, health, dignity, vanity? Who is really in control? What about the power of money? This book brought up many ethical questions. I found it a little confusing at first, but then I grew to like the characters, their emotions and what drove them to work hard. 3.75 stars rounded up to 4 stars! And a great ending! Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the digital ARC.

I really loved this book!! So crazy and fun! I loved the ideas in this book. It's also so weird you can hardly believe it but it definitely makes you wonder if the things that happen could be possible!

I got a good way through this book before I became quite bored. While the intrigue was very strong at the beginning I felt like I stopped carrying whether the girls made it through in this situation,. Definitely a disappointment.

Huge thank you to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest, unbiased review!
Rating: 2.5/5

The summary of this book sounds riveting: secret-society-level company promises to turn aspiring actors into stardom, but (obviously) a seedy underbelly is exposed and things get dangerous for our main characters of past and present.

But it just...didn't hit the way it should. The writing is plain, but instead of allowing this to build tension and have me flying through the pages, it just left me wishing there were more. More description, nuance, character building, etc. We have the POV of Ivy Gordon, whose diary entries lead up to present day, and the POV of Ramona, a modern attendee of Dahlen Academy. Their narration styles are pretty much identical. In fact, their plotlines hit so many of the same beats that I did have to go back a time or two to check whose head I was in for the chapter I was currently reading.

There are a few scattered love interests, both for Ivy and Ramona, and I didn't care about a single one of them. They were written as quite flat characters, I didn't think romantic tension was sufficiently built, and I didn't root for one relationship over another. There's an attempt for one relationship to be motivation, and I just didn't feel the emotional impact. It felt like the character saying "this devastated me," and me hunting for the evidence that they were, in fact, devastated.

I also kept waiting for the plot to GO THERE. The plot seemed to be hinting at a speculative twist (evil clones? A sudden turn into supernatural body horror?) and despite the lack of this genre listed on review websites for this title, I couldn't help but hope that something special would surprise me.

And finally, the ending (commentary in spoiler tags in the attached review links)

Overall, I think I let myself down by the potential ways the plot would go, and when it played it relatively safe, and the characters remained uncomplex, I couldn't see myself rating this one high.

Another great book from Margarita Montimore. I loved following the story of Ramona and Grace, how their shared dream became something different for each of them. I loved the dark story of the Hollywood machine. The stories, the manipulation, the cut-throat environment, all made for an entertaining read. The only thing I wanted was a slightly more sinister ending.
4.5 stars rounded up.

Margarita Montimore always hits the right notes for me! This was my third book by her, and I enjoyed it nearly as much as Oona Out of Order and Acts of Violet. The Dollhouse Academy is set in the late 1990s, Ramona and Grace are best friends living in New York and pursuing acting. They get their big break when they are invited to join the Dollhouse Academy, an acting academy for a production company that is its own entertainment microcosm.

The renowned studio releases a variety of successful and well-crafted movies, television series, and musical albums. I hadn’t really been aware of this, but it is based on the old studio system, where its actor’s careers are completely controlled by the studio. Though prestigious, the production company is shrouded in mystery. I found the focus on friendship, ambition, and the price of fame very intriguing. I listened to the audiobook, which is fabulously narrated by Brittany Pressley as the main narrator and Xe Sands who narrates short letters interspersed in the text.

Thank you Flatiron Books and Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for providing this ebook and audiobook ARC. All thoughts are my own.

This is an experience - at once nostalgic and fresh - how far would you go, and who would you become, for fame? And what does it mean when the role you play becomes bigger than you, and what steps would be taken to ensure it continues?

The Dollhouse Academy takes place in the late 90s - the academy itself is the training rounds for Dahlen Entertainment, a powerhouse for every kind of media imaginable, and a place where people with talent can be honed and shaped into what will bring them fame and attention. Inspired by interviews with child actors who are now adults, it provides answers to questions I never even knew to ask, and carves at that strange societal phenomenon of obsession with being famous, with thinking being watched is the same as being seen.

Ramona is a great lead, at once talented and wanting to perform, but with a core of self-assurance that ultimately saves her.

Parts of the ending were a bit abrupt, and I was surprised when I was in the mid-90%s because it felt like there was so much more to know. This must've been a fascinating world to create, and one that's easier to disappear into. You'll be glad when you get out of the dollhouse though...not everyone can escape.

Ramona Halloway can’t believe her luck. She and her best friend, Grace, have landed spots at The Dollhouse Academy—Dahlen Entertainment’s elite talent incubator, the very place that shaped their idol, Ivy Gordon. Growing up glued to Dahlen’s flagship TV drama, In the Dollhouse, they dreamed of this moment. Now, they have the chance to train alongside industry legends and maybe even cross paths with Ivy herself.

But the dream isn’t quite what Ramona expected. Struggling to stand out, she watches Grace’s star rise while she flounders, envy gnawing at the edges of their friendship. She always said she’d do anything to make it—she just didn’t think it would cost her Grace's friendship.

Ivy, meanwhile, has spent eighteen years as Dahlen’s biggest star, and she knows better than anyone what the Academy demands from its performers. Through secret journal entries, she starts documenting the truth: the invasive medical exams, the mysterious supplements, the terrifying hold Dahlen has over her life. If she can’t break free of this gilded cage, what hope does she have of helping new talent like Ramona?

The Dollhouse Academy is a hard book to pin down—part dark academia, part psychological thriller, with a simmering sense of unease that only fully boils over in the final act. There’s even a touch of sci-fi, adding to its genre-blurring appeal. The slow-burn buildup kept me intrigued, but the resolution felt rushed, leaving the characters frustratingly close to where they started. A romantic subplot for Ramona also fell flat, adding little to the novel’s core themes.

There’s a lot to admire here—an eerie premise, compelling character dynamics, and sharp commentary on the cost of fame—but the ending left me wanting more. I just wish all that buildup had paid off in a more satisfying way.

This was a fun ride. Mixing dark academia, Hollywood pressure, and wonderful eighties and nineties settings, this book was really engaging. It went in a direction I was not at all anticipating.

Ivy Gordon has been living for eighteen years as a star with the Dollhouse Academy, an elite educational institution that trains elite and famous performers. While her life might look amazing, things are not as they seem, which she starts recording in a diary.

Ramona, along with her best friend, Grace, is accepted into the Dollhouse. As Grace experiences a meteoric rise to fame, Ramona starts to suspect that things at the Dollhouse are not what they seem.

This book was such a fun read. It was unsettling, ominous, suspenseful and I was hooked from page one. A look at the darker side of fame and ambition, The Dollhouse Academy was incredibly atmospheric in its world building and the characters were written so well. Both Ivy and Ramona were relatable and I was absolutely invested in them. I had such a hard time putting this book down and I was so excited to see where the story would take me. The social commentary on the entertainment industry was so well done. This book had major Clara Bow by Taylor Swift vibes. The ending was very ambiguous, BUT the mystery fit the story so well. I definitely want to pick up more books by this author!
TW: suicide, medical trauma, drug use, car accident

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for an advanced digital readers copy in exchange for an honest review.