Just in time for spooky season, Lisa Unger contributes to Amazon Original Short Stories with a creepfest involving a doll (it’s always vintage dolls, never any horror tales about fluffy stuffies to my knowledge). Unger’s offering is a young widow, Jules, with a sullen grieving teenage daughter, Scout, who surprises both of them by falling in love with an artist and puppet-maker, Kirin. Jules and Scout have been Manhattan apartment dwellers and Kirin has asked them to move into his large lonely mansion (with lots of requisite empty rooms, plus it’s a “smart” home!) that he’s tried to make “comfortable” for them. Kirin gifts Scout with one of his first doll creations, made in the image of his missing teenage sister, Emma. At this point, you will wonder if you’re reading a thriller, a ghost story or a horror tale. The tension does rise palpably from this point, as Scout vows to find out what really happened to Emma 25 years ago.

Told in the alternating POVs of mother and daughter, it’s a quick read and telling you anything more will spoil your own beating heart experience. Enjoy!

Lisa Unger never disappoints in her clever storytelling, even in a short form story, and she’s worth the Kindle Unlimited subscription for her frequent collaborations with Amazon Original Stories (including the House of Crows, Hush, Dark Corners, and We Could be Heroes series). She’s always the first author I read in these collections. 5 stars for her latest!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): YES Scout has sea-glass green eyes and there’s a fairy queen doll with emerald eyes.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO But there’s a secret garden dedicated to the probably dead girl! Creepy!

Thank you to Amazon Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy!

1.9 "boring, predictable, but may be a crowd pleaser" stars !!!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and Amazon Original Stories for this novella (way too long for a short story or maybe that was the bo....). I am providing an honest review. This will be released September 2024.

I have read Beautiful Lies and that was a very good 3.5 stars but have not read anymore by this author.(Until now muahaha)

This had adequate popular fiction prose of a 2.5 star variety.
The characters were not so believable.
Ms. Unger took almost every trope from popular chicklit and gothic horror and managed to be cliche in almost every circumstance. Way too much nonsense pushed into this....
Predictable and frustrating while also eliciting both eyerolls and yawns.....

I would rename this...The Dull House (a way too long short story)

I am reluctantly placing this on my 2 star shelf and I suspect that this will be a crowd pleaser....

The Doll's House was a short story with great twists. I found it interesting that Jules's late husband, Doug, wrote a story about a puppet maker gone crazy, just like Kirin ended up doing. I found it a little hard to believe that a 17-year-old girl was a fan of dolls, but I just had to look past that part. Overall, for a short story, it had me intrigued, and I read it in one sitting! I would love to see how this story could be lengthened!