Thank you Amazon for the ARC to read and review!

I thought this was a well-written story and I appreciated the descriptiveness. It has good twists although I knew, mostly, what would happen.

Typically I find it hard to get to know characters in short stories, there just isn't enough time to delve into characteristics. But this one was really good with Scout. The reader knows her biggest character trait is that she misses her late father. She was actually my favorite character for who she is.

The Doll's House is an outstanding short story that was a quick thriller read. It was about a widowed mother who falls in love again and decides to move into her fiancé’s family home with her daughter Scout. Things start happening shortly after they arrive though. The author did an amazing job writing this and it was the perfect creepy short story for the fall season. Overall it was a wild ride for just a short story and one I loved a lot. I would recommend this one to any reader who loves a good thriller or horror. Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for this outstanding read in exchange of my honest review of The Doll's House by Lisa Unger.

I was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review-
Lisa always writes a winner and she has done it again with this book!
Jules husband has died and she finds herself swept off her feet by kirin. She packs up her daughter etc to move in with Kirin. Her daughter is not excited about this move and feels danger. Why does she feel danger? She finds a doll with a map and a key on her bed- where does this lead and why was in on her bed? She and her friends begin to dig for answers and find the danger is real!

5 stars-This is the Lisa Unger that I love so much! A whole lot of creepy and a little bit of ghostly elements make this short story so entertaining. The moral of the story, what seems to be too good to be true often leads to exactly that, something too good to be true. As much as I liked this story I think it would’ve made a great novel by adding more depth to the story. Still, a great quick read! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

I’d like to thank netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review, I will preface this by saying although I enjoyed it and it is a short story, I was hoping for just a bit more. Overall though I really enjoyed the setting, especially the house and the creepy dolls.

This is a short story but it packs a punch. Not much time for red herrings and you can figure out the suspect pretty quick but it still made for a thrilling story. Jules has a new guy but is mourning the death of her previous husband. Her daughter Scout is also having a hard time and she has to go to a new school too. Kirin is rich, a puppet maker (cool and it would have been cool to see some of his famous puppets) and has a smart house (smart houses are creepy no matter what!) that they all move to.

Thankfully Scout is able to dig up the history of Kirin's missing sister (thanks to convenient new helpful friends) even as the creepiness gets to Jules and while it is a close call with the suspect , with the help of a bit of the supernatural spirit there is a happy ending. Or is it? Nice little creepy bit at the end leaves a hope maybe for more of this with the puppets that may be more than just puppets.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read this short story.

Lisa Unger’s The Doll’s House is an intriguing short novella that follows widow Jules and her daughter Scout as they navigate a new chapter of their lives. Jules has met Kirin, a hot well off artist, and found new love. Scout is struggling with the loss of her dad and separation from friends as she and her mom move away from the city into Kirin’s technologically advanced mansion.
I really enjoyed the ramp up of creepiness from descriptions of the house and the passively ominous AI. It was a tightly paced but still has space to address some of the complexities of grief and mourning. I read it in one go. Great entrance into spooky season!

Just a so-so short story from Lisa Unger. I felt like too much was attempted for a short story. I also felt like it was all very predictable. However, it did have the creepy factor (especially the smart house and the sad girl in the garden). It’s a good spooky season short story, but nothing groundbreaking.

Thank you Netgalley, Lisa Unger and Amazon Original Stories for the arc of The Dolls House.

The Doll's House is a fast paced Novella which has a little bit of everything in this short story. It's told in 2 POV, Jules who has recently got involved in a new relationship and her daughter, Scout.Who is trying to settle into her new school life, I felt that even though its a novella, the character building was good for both these characters. Kirin who is Jules's partner doesn't really appear much until the last part of the book but you still get a good sense of who he is. The plot itself is fast paced and a quick read. It definitely has a creepy vibe about it which makes it atmospheric which I really enjoyed. The direction of the plot wasn't really a surprise but it didn't take away from how much I enjoyed reading this. I'll be looking out for more of Lisa Unger's books in the future.

4 stars

Having lost their husband/father, Doug, Jules and Scout make a fresh start with Kirin Winslow. He is the acclaimed puppeteer who also loss someone, his sister Emma. This is short and creepy! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy.

This story was a quick and easy read. It has a good mystery and an element of delicious creepiness to it. I loved the ending and hope that Lisa Unger considers adding more to this story. Definitely recommend!

Un pasticcio: personaggi poco caratterizzati che agiscono a casaccio, una trama thriller che ha più buchi di una rete da pesca e tenta di rappezzarne qualcuno lanciando qualche elemento fantastico completamente random. Se questa è la qualità media della scrittura dell'autrice mi risparmio senza problemi il resto della sua produzione.

Thank you for this book!

It reminded me of. Goosebumps book

The lack of quotation marks around texts really bugged me and confused me

This is a very fun, quick, creepy read. It's hard to start over after a loss, but it's even harder when you're dropped into a creepy place where people have gone missing. I liked the mystery and the supernatural elements. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

I really enjoyed this short story! So much happened! Jules falls in love with Kirin. She decides her and her daughter scout will go live with Kirkin in his mansion. But Scout is not happy to be there. She feels like danger is lurking in the house. Can Kirkin be trusted? Should Jules have listed to Scout and not moved in with Kirkin. If you’re looking for a quick short story thriller, I’d definitely recommend this book! Thank you NetGalley, Lisa and Amazon Original Stories for the ARC!

The Doll’s House was really good! It was mysterious and kept my attention from beginning to end. Any story that revolves around dolls is going to be creepy, but it wasn’t too scary. I really like Lisa Unger’s writing style she really has a way of captivating the reader! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC!

ARC Review
4.5⭐️
This was so good! I'm usually bot thrilled with thriller novellas, but I loved this one. It kept me intrigued the whole time, and you can easily eat it up in just an hour or two. It was weird and eerie and actually made me a little nervous myself for the future of AI lol. So if under 100 pages is able to do that for me, it's absolutely getting a high rating!

I do enjoy a short story, especially when so much happens. In just 98 pages, Lisa Unger manages to draw the reader in quickly, with characters you will have strong feelings about in a short time.

This book is creepy in so many ways.. I mean dolls are always enough to make me squirm. This book is full of them, and a doll maker to boot. It is emotional, a mother and teenager grieving the loss of the man in their lives. There is a missing girl, a new school and a memorial garden.

So much in so few pages..

Thanks Amazon Original Stories and NetGalley for the early copy to read. Publishes on September 12th.

📚 PRE-PUBLICATION SHORT STORY REVIEW 📚

The Doll's House By Lisa Unger
Publication Date: September 12, 2024
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories

📚MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

📚MY REVIEW:

If I only had one word to describe this short story from Lisa Unger, it would be CREEPY.

Offering multiple POVs with alternating chapters between mom and daughter, and coming in just under 100 pages, this book was SUCH a quick read. Because it was a short story, there wasn't a ton of context in the characters and plot. In my opinion, that worked well for this story because I think the whole point was just to be creepy... And further context and development of the storyline might have crossed the line and made the book "odd" and too far "out there."

This book features a big old 'creepy' estate, an overgrown 'grief garden,' missing persons, a 'creepy' doll that looks just like one of the missing persons, a mysterious teenage girl who keeps showing up on the property, a 'creepy' automated computer system in a house that monitors your movements and talks to you like Siri, 'super creepy' puppets... You get it. A lot of creepy elements here. In fact, the only creepy things missing from this story were clowns and an old basement. Add those two things in and this short story would have been the stuff of my worst nightmares.

The storyline escalates quickly (I mean, it kinda has to; it's a short story) and the overall creep factor of the book stays prominently featured throughout. I'll be honest, I was glad this was a short story, because I was able to read it fast while it was still light outside. If it would have been a full-length book, I probably would have laid awake half the night, listening to my house making noises and wondering if creepy puppets were coming to get me. Ha!

If you like creepy short stories, you should probably get over to NetGalley and download this one immediately -- it's available as a Read Now selection. If dolls and puppets creep you out, you might wanna sit this one out. 😂 Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Original Stories for the advanced copy of this short story in exchange for my honest review!

#TheDollsHouse #LisaUnger #NetGalley #NetGalleyReviews #ARC #bookreviews #bookrecommendations #shortstoryreviews #thrilleraddict #thrillerlover #thrillerreads #creepythrillers

creepy as heck!! i dont read a lot of spooky books or thrillers but when i do, i just like to get spooked a little and not to find out about the twist. this did just that. short and sweet. just enough to keep you interested