I don't know why I have such disdain for recent YA attempts at voodoo novels, but boy howdy, this is not the one to change my mind.

1) The small town in Louisiana has a high wall around the entire town, with a locked gate which you need a key in order to enter. Say what now? Even if you are a young person who has spent their entire lives in Brooklyn, I find it impossible to believe that you would think that was ok/normal. How do people commute outside their community? How do they get supply shipments? Wacky.

2) Eveny is not particularly freaked out at moving across the country on 2 days notice, followed by her aunt bascially completely disappearing from her life. Really?

3) I'm glad Eveny thinks that the other Queen's misuse of power is appalling. I'm appalled that they couldn't come up with something more interesting to do with it than collect fashionable shoes and cars and drink cocktails at lunch.

Just meh. Really, really meh.

Advanced copy provided by Edelweiss. ( )

Magic, queens, deception

This was a fun read. I had some issues with how secretive everyone was with the main character. But overall, I enjoyed the story. I'll be reading the sequel, I need to know what happens. ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: The Dolls started out a creepy, atmospheric read full of suspense. I loved the first half, but after that my interest dwindled and slowly faded.

Opening Sentence: When I open my eyes and blink into the milky morning sunlight, there’s no longer snow on the ground.

The Review:

Eveny just moved back into the town of her birth. But there are strange things going on, keys to the town that one needs to get inside, it’s off the radar way, the always climate controlled center of the town, and it all seems to center around the Dolls. They are a group of the most popular in town. Beautiful, rich, loved by all boys and envied by all girls. And Eveny is being drawn into their group.

At first the book was creepy and atmospheric, easy to lose oneself in. There were many questions I was eager for the answers too, and I couldn’t wait to discover the secrets of the twin that the main character moved into. Then, as the story moved on and the plot unraveled, my interest became less and less. There were some info-dumps that were hard to understand because the sheer amount of stuff the reader is swallowing. Slowly the strong sense of tone for the book wavered and my approval for the main character faded as well. My main problem was the love interest, and my favorite characters were the original dolls and the sometimes funny ways they used magic. Speaking of, the magic in this book was something akin to voodoo but different. I was intrigued by the way it was carried out. Yes, it used little dolls and pins. But there were differences as well, and the book was rich in the history aspect and world building of the place, which was dolled out less concentrated.

The setting of a the town is generally flavorless. Usually Southern towns in Lousiana have swamps, sweltering heat, the works, think Beautiful Creatures. However everything Southern seems to be missing. No swamps whatsoever. The heat, even, is climate controlled in the center of the town where the rich are by magic. I usually love imagining thick humidity and can smell the bayou when I read about Southern places, thanks to a few trips to New Orleans and around. I just wasn’t feeling it here though. Why put it in a Southern area if no ones going to be Southern? There might have been a few y’alls in there, I honestly can’t remember, but I don’t think there were many.

I didn’t like the love interest in this book at all, Caleb. Firstly, it was insta love. Barf. He seemed very uncaring and stoic most of the novel. Even when professing his love, I didn’t get a vibe from him that he was very invested. I didn’t feel attracted to him at all, either, and the tall blue-eyed book guys are the ones I usually fall for right along with the main character. It seemed more like an infatuation than a romance, to be honest. My favorite parts of novels is the love, most of the time, so this knocked the book down a star. Caleb needed work for me to really appreciate him, and emotions. I understand: he is supposed to be this strong, silent, protective force, and he isn’t supposed to be too excited or loving or whatever. But I need more glimses of caring. Another thing that annoyed me bunches was that Caleb was the love interest who, like many other books have done, is supposedly full of chemistry with the main character. Even though many of their conversations are always extremely awkward with pauses and silent stretches. I need to see them joking and laughing together to feel like they really belong as a couple, to feel any chemistry.

However much I complained above, though, I did enjoy this novel to a certain degree, even though I appreciated it more towards the beginning. There was a spark of something good there, but it wasn’t developed enough to become a flame. The characters were shallow and selfish, except the main character and her love interest, but altogether it didn’t bother me as much as some others on Goodreads. Many of their reviews get quite passionate. There were some twists, that’s for sure; twists that I saw coming. Sometimes I would think “Eveny! Come on! It’s right in front of you!” Things I did like were the magic aspect and the beginning of the book, when you’re still very drawn to the town as you so far don’t know what’s going on. I’d encourage lovers of witchcraft/voodoo to give this a try, but not if you want a great love story or amazing Southern atmosphere.

Notable Scene:

And that’s when I see them.

Across the group of mourners, two impossibly beautiful girls are staring right at me. One is a beautiful honey-blonde with perfectly tanned skin, ridiculously long legs, and huge blue eyes. The other, who’s even more stunning, has glistening cocoa skin, a perfect model’s body, and mounds of wildly gorgeous curls that surround her like a halo.

FTC Advisory: Balzar+Bray/HarperTeen provided me with a copy of The Dolls. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )

First posted on bellesbeautifulbooks.blogspot.com

The Short:
I was hoping that I would like this book. The premise was cool, and the cover is gorgeous, but it just wasn't the book for me. It seemed very shallow, and I couldn't really connect with any of the characters. They were all very rash and illogical, and I just don't like characters like that. The story was average, and not something that I was particularly fond of.

The Good:

The magic/ voodoo system was pretty cool. I did appreciate that aspect of the book. It was very intricate, and it seemed to be something that the author spent a ton of time perfecting.
There was a spy in the town, and it was cool that you never knew who it was. I did guess correctly, for it was not that hard to figure out.
The Bad:
I didn't like any of the characters. Quite simply, they were just snotty. All of the queens felt entitled to everything even though it was at the expense of someone else. I couldn't get a feel for the characters and their motives. Not a good aspect of the story.
The story was soooooo slooooooow. It just kept going. I thought that I should be nearing the end, but I would still have 100 pages left. It was a lot of fluff and not a lot of action.
I didnt like the message that this story sent. It was kind of like, "it is okay to take from others as longs you're benefitting". I do not like it.
Going back to the characters: Eveny's narration was like a girl who pretended to be able to be snarky. I hate characters like that. JUST BE YOU! ( )