The Doll's House
Lisa Unger

A really well written, spooky little tale ...
A mother, who's moving on after the death of her husband with her daughter and new boyfriend, begins to experience spooky stuff ... Is this really happening? Could it be stress causing her imagination to run amuck?

The story kept me intrigued. I enjoyed the writing, and I thought the characters were well fleshed out. I think it certainly could have been longer, giving more space to expand. (And more time for the events within to take place, which could have benefited certain aspects.) Instead, it got right to the point ... and I respect it.

An hour well spent.

4 / 5

Chilling and very gripping. I love Unger's writing style. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the free eARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

This is a fantastic short story! There is an ominous tone created throughout the entire story. The ending was good. I would love to read a sequel! If you like dark unsettling stories, this is perfect for you! Special Thank You to Lisa Unger, Amazon Original Stories and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

"The Doll's House" is a short story that captivated me from beginning to end. It was both chilling and creepy, making for an excellent read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

ARC Review 💌 (I'm sorry it's so late. I was unable to read this at the time, but I finally got to it and still wanted to leave a review)

This short story is about a widowed mother, Jules, who is ready to give love another chance. She moves into her fiancé's smart house with her teenage daughter, Scout. But as they try to build a future together, the past refuses to let go.

I was quite surprised by this story. I don't generally go for short stories but this sounded really interesting and I wanted to give it a try. It started off really well, very easy to get into and I liked the main characters. The plot was also really good. The book was progressing very well and I was certainly entertained. I listened to the audio version and I feel like that already made the experience better (I liked the narrators).

Throughout the story I kept trying to figure out what happened to Kirin's sister, and I had my own new theories after every chapter, however, I must say near the end of the story I felt things happened a bit too fast. I know it is a short story, but I feel like even with maybe 2 or 3 more chapters it would've been better. The ending was also slightly predictable but, I still liked it and I was shocked at it regardless.!

The concept of this story is great. I think it's very creative and I really did enjoy reading The Doll's House. Other than the pace at the end, and the ending being a little predictable, I really had fun with this one.

Thank you Lisa Unger and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this short story🫶🏼

Format: Kindle / Audible
Rating: 3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: -

Book Review:
Title: The Doll's House
Author: Lisa Unger
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/3 stars

This was a creepy little tale that I listened to during the spooky season last month. Jules Cranor is a widowed woman with a teenage daughter, Scout.
Kirin Winslow, a single, handsome puppet and doll maker, manages to sweep Jules off of her feet even though she's still in mourning. Scout is determined to not let this new situation progress easily. After Jules and Scout move into Kirin's mansion, the Winslow House, Scout comes across a handmade doll.

Kirin created this doll in memory of his sister, Emma, who went missing and presumed dead, although her body had never been found. Kirin gifts the doll to Scout. That's when strange things begin happening. Scout starts to see a young girl with dark hair, crying, in what is called "The Grief Garden," which was created by Kirin and Emma's late mother. The Emma doll and this ghostly girl seem to be trying to send Scout a message. Maybe Scout should look into the stories of Kirin's dolls?

There were definitely some creepy parts in this novella, especially since dolls were present. A quick read!

Published: September 12th, 2024

Thank you, @netgalley and @amazonoriginals, for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was my first book from this author, and wow was i pleasantly surprised! I thought this book was absolutely fantastic, especially for a novella.

I love a fast paced, short chapter, quick to point kinda book and this delivers!

The ending twist was predictable but still done very well, however, one of the little twists did surprise me and I was not expecting it at all!

I will definitely pick up more books from this author now I’ve had a taste of her writing!

This was a short story that made you want to keep reading til the end. If you are a lover of Lisa under then you will not be disappointed. If you have never read her you will become a fan. This is a good mother daughter book

Thanks to Netgalley and Amazon Original Stories for a chance to review this eARC!

This was the perfect novella for spooky season! It delivers all the chills!

Jules Cranor, recently widowed and a mother to a teenager Scout, meets Kirin Winslow and falls helplessly in love. Kirin is a doll and puppet maker, rich and soon asks Jules and Scout to move in with him. Although Kirin's house is modern and equipped with the latest technology, Scout finds a doll resembling Kirin's late sister Emma. Scout is unable to escape the feeling that a danger lurks in the house…and its gaze is fixed on her mother.

Short stories are usually a hit or a miss for me. Unfortunately, this is a miss.

This novella manages to give off a creepy vibe. However, I wish the scenes with the dolls were creepier. Maybe it's because it is a short story. Perhaps if this was longer and it did a deeper dive into character development this would have worked out better.

I like the pacing. For a short story, it was well paced. The opening dives right into the book and I was immediately intrigued.

I could guess of the plot points and twists so this spoils the fun a little. Some parts are clichéd. I was left with so many unanswered questions and that was disappointing.

All in all, this was a decent read. Entertaining but without the wow factor. Maybe it's just not for me.
𝓜𝔂 𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰: ⭐⭐⭐/5

Thank you NetGalley @netgalley and Amazon Original Stories for my complimentary copy.

This is such a fun short story! I honestly felt like it. Plus have been extended into a full novel. It uses suspense masterfully to create tension and leave you on the edge of your seat. The hints are all there… such a good spooky read!

Thank you, NetGalley for an advanced ARC of this novella/short story

This was a quick and fun read that I highly enjoyed, I do wish it was longer and drew the story out more to grab the reader in more and become lost in the atmosphere and tension that was building (not going to lie this has inspired me to write an audio roleplay series for my voice acting channel). The story was well-written and I loved the creepiness of the dolls and the essence of the person being able to be trapped forever entwined but not fully shown.

I could imagine so much more happening if the book was longer because I would have read another 200 pages of this story, I will be keeping an eye out for more novels from this author in the future

Well I definitely shouldn’t have read this right before bed. This felt very much like one of those creepy twilight zone episodes in book form. I wish this was a full on book and not just a short story.

3.5 stars. This was a quick and easy book. I don't usually read short stories but I enjoyed this brief step into this genre. There were places where this felt very rushed and I think the story only spanned a few days which made it sometimes a bit unbelievable.

However, it was a spooky read with some supernatural elements. A perfect halloween read.

I alternated between listening and reading and both experiences were good. Id recommend this one to anyone who likes horror/thrillers and wants a quick read.

Perhaps I had too high expectations, but I felt quite let down by the story. I was looking forward to reading this short novella after having previously read and enjoyed "The New Couple in 5B." However, the story in "The Doll's House" was neither engaging nor thrilling. It was also, quite frankly, not surprising at all. Perhaps the story would have benefited from being longer and having more fleshed-out characters because it had potential, and the characters were not too bad.

This was a deliciously creepy read perfect for the Halloween season. I didn’t even realize this was a short story when I requested it from Netgalley; I just saw it was by Lisa Unger and had to read it!

The story alternates points of view between mother and daughter Scout and Jules just as they’ve moved into a new home (re: mansion) with Kirin, the man Jules has fallen in love with following the death of her husband. All seems to be normal and like a fairytale until Scout begins to dig into the disappearance of Kirin’s sister Emma.

For a short story, this really packed a punch. We got a lot of details and really felt the connection between Scout and Jules. One thing I loved about this story was its ambiguity in the end. We got answers to a lot of things, but I think there was a lot that wasn’t completely hashed out and that open-endedness added to the creep factor!

A widowed mother and teenage daughter move into her fiancé’s ancestral smart house to begin their new life together. Both Jules and Scout are still mourning the suicide of their family patriarch. Her fiancé Kirin updates the house to suit their desires and a ghost can be seen haunting the grounds. When Scout finds a doll in Kirin’s sister Emily’s old room, she becomes curious about her disappearance. What happened to Emily? Are they in danger?

I really enjoyed the first half of the short story. However, I was left with so many unanswered questions in the end as things started to get really wacko. The premise just fell apart, as if Unger didn’t really know where where she wanted to go with the story. I might have enjoyed this more if it was a full length book.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

The Doll's House by Lisa Unger was a great quick read that was a great read especially for Halloween which is just around the corner. This book maybe only 98 pages but it was so creepy with brilliant characters I was gripped from the beginning and enjoyed reading it. I loved the way the author Lisa bought you into the Doll's house which was creepy.

Big Thank you to NetGalley and Thanks Amazon Original Stories for my ARC.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

This was unfortunately a boring and predictable story for me. The characters were not strong at all. You can definitely skim read this story and not waste your time. Copy and paste almost was the style of this story.
Soft pass on this story.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lisa Unger and Amazon Original Stories for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I love Unger’s writing so much. I don’t usually read short stories but I took a chance and I’m not upset about it. It was twisted and easy read, while still feeling like it was a full and finished story.