I rate a lot of books 3 stars, yet my 3 star ratings can mean so many different things. In this case it's that this book was a good debut, but it wasn't fantastic. As a first novel, I commend Morgan on her skill at writing and building characters, but I didn't find that the story blew me away.

This is one of those books that has a different perspective for each chapter, and while Dom occassionally popped up for an odd chapter here and there, for the most part it was between the sisters Corinne and Ashley. And, for the first time in a long time, maybe since Gone Girl, I actually really enjoyed reading both perspectives. As I said before, Morgan was really excellent at building each of her characters, so I felt attached to each sister and their plight.

When Corinne starts to recieve mystery "gifts" that she believes have come from her childhood doll house, she believes there's a sinister message behind them. What unfolds is a kind of slow and drawn out explanation as to where these doll house pieces are coming from. The synopsis of this story would have you believe that this book is only about Corinne, but the plot is much deeper than that and incorporates Ashley and the rest of the family.

I found the plot in this book to be similar of other thrillers on the market, and it didn't astound me. I was much more interested in the characters and their troubled lives than I was with the mystery behind the Doll's House. I thought that a lot of the methods used to try to distract the reader from the real issue were cheap and easy to see, but maybe that's because I'm such an avid thriller reader.

When the twist finally revealed itself, I had worked it out long ago and wasn't thrilled by it. This one started out in my good books, with lots of interesting characters, but, unfortunately, it didn't do much else for me and so I can't give it the 4 stars I originally hoped I would.

I can see Morgan's potential for writing but I can't say this debut was anything special for me. But, let's just also note that I'm like the only person not amazed by this book, so it might just be my cynical mind.

Thanks to Netgalley and HQ Digital for giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

This book had potential but it felt like 100 pages too long. Too much rehashing of the same information. Some of the character's behaviors/reactions were frustrating to the point I wanted to smack them. I enjoyed the ending but too way too long to get there.

Review copy provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I seriously thought I knew what was going to happen and boy was I wrong! This was so good and I couldn't put it down! Immensely entertaining!

Corinne and her boyfriend, Dominic are making their final attempt to start a family with the help of IVF. Having just lost her father less than a year earlier, coupled with all of her longing and uncertainty, Corinne is an emotional wreck.

Corinne's sister, Ashley is a married mother of three. Her life seems pretty ideal, but her husband is home less and less, her children are running her ragged, and she can't help but wish her youngest had been a boy so that she could have named him after her father.
That's when the phone begins ringing with a silent caller on the other end. Ashley starts to wonder if these calls could be connected to her husband's absence.

Corinne keeps a few secrets, one of them being that she flips through the pages of fertility guidebooks. She can't bare what people would think or the look of pity that she would see on their faces if they knew.

When Corrine begins to discover dollhouse miniatures on her porch she finds them reassuring. Maybe this is a sign that she will finally have a child of her own. The miniatures remind her of the dollhouse given to her and her sister by their architect father when they were children, but Corrine soon comes the startling understanding that some unknown person must have found their way inside her home.

The Doll House is a fast-paced thriller that begs to be read in one evening. I love that there is an unknown narrator also weaving their story through that of Corinne and Ashley's. Read this one on Halloween night!

I would like to thank HQ Digital for allowing me to review this book.

Ashley and Corinne live ordinary lives, by most accounts. The daughters of a well-known British architect, their lives have settled into a kind of routine that's familiar to readers- Ashley struggles with a fussy baby, a teenage daughter, and a husband she suspects may be cheating on her. Corinne, younger and more sensitive, simply wishes to get pregnant, undergoing round of IVF after round of IVF. Tensions run high in both their lives, but nothing is too out of the ordinary... until it is.

Ashley begins receiving strange phone calls, no one on the other end. Corinne, meanwhile begins to find bits of what she believes are her childhood dollhouse left on her front doorstep, and most frighteningly enough, within her own apartment that she shares with her partner, Dominic. While Ashley struggles to stow her worries away, Corinne falls prey to them, facing skepticism wherever she turns, attempting to blame it on the hormones she's taking but not sure.

Doubts creep up on both women- could there be something more at work? As they near the one year anniversary of their father's death, strange events seem to escalate, ending in a conclusion that left me unable to put the book down.

The book does an excellent job of establishing that both women may not be entirely in their right minds; Ashley gets almost no sleep between her baby and worries for her husband, while Corinne is under a regimented dose of hormones and plenty of stress from trying to get pregnant. Yet the author also manages to plant doubts in her mind in the figures that revolve around the two women's lives, leaving me questioning every character they interact with, from their co-workers to the woman in the flat next door. The paranoia is easy to fall into, and delicious to indulge in- maybe Ashley and Corinne are right, after all. There's also an air of supernatural gathered about the work, from rabbit's corpses to objects appearing in locked houses that should never be there.

Hurtling towards a breathless conclusion, the book is a perfect fall read for crisp nights, when you're in the mood for something spooky but not necessarily ghostly, for when you want to fall into that mindset where you must solve the mystery, before its too late.

I did have some issues with Corinne. She's overly dependent on Dominic, her partner, seemingly unable or unwilling to take her own career seriously and hysterical to the point where we sympathize with those who doubt her, sometimes making the chapters in her point of view difficult to read.

That said, there's more than enough to keep one reading, including the small snippets from a mystery character that I waited to be revealed with baited breath.

I think its fair to say that while the description of this book enticed me to read it, the crime/fiction genre wouldn't typically be my preferred read.
Considering that, I enjoyed many aspects of the story.
Pros;
Characters were very real, well developed and natural acting. You rooted for the protagonists and really wanted them to succeed.
There was a healthy mix of genuine clues and red herrings throughout the story. It fosters a certain suspicion on the part of the reader that makes these stories quite enjoyable.

Cons;
I felt like it suffered from a common issue, which is dragging around the middle of the story. There were certain scenes I felt like didn't add to the story and simply dragged it out between significant moments.
Somewhat unsatisfying ending.
I wasn't a fan of the ending. I found it very out of character for Erin to corner Corinne in a public place with the intention of basically just attacking her. Up to that point, she seemed so much more clever, more subtle. You would think if she was really committed to hurting her, she would have a better plan than to beat her up in a train station. I think it would have been better in terms of character development if Corinne somehow worked out who it was that was tormenting her despite the fact that everyone else didn't believe her intuitions.
it also felt like that were little/no consequences as a result of all that happend. No one suffered or lost anything.


I think Morgan has some real talent and I look forward to seeing any future books written but i would be hoping for a slightly better developed story toward the end.

From start to finish I found The Doll House hard to put down, it was just so gripping. Full of anxiety and intrigue, this is a book that you want to race through to see what happens next. Dark and compelling, it will keep you riveted to the last page.
A very well written, enjoyable read and I look forward to any future books by this exciting new author.

This is a story told mostly from the point of view of two sisters, with some first person narrative by a third, mysterious person. The book is sometimes disturbing, sometimes a little silly, but always tense and creepy. The novel has moments of brilliance, but it's too uneven. It's too often slow and alternatively over-the-top.

I like both sisters. Corinne is more high strung and is trying to find happiness with her live-in boyfriend with whom she is desperate to start a family. Ashley is more grounded, but is frazzled with the demands of motherhood. Both sisters are grieving the death of their father and each begin to experience strange things happening that has Ashley doubting her husband and Corinne doubting her sanity. Unfortunately, the situations become increasingly farfetched and while the narrative by the "mystery person" is key to the story, some of those passages get monotonous and take away from the building suspense.

The last few chapters of the book are excellent and truly suspenseful. The story remains suspenseful even as the truth starts to come out. I'm not sure if the ambiguous ending is meant to leave the reader unsettled or to set-up a sequel, but it is somewhat abrupt. I would give the book an overall rating of 3.5 stars but it was an entertaining, chilling story.

I received this book from NetGalley through the courtesy of HQ Digital. The book was provided to me in exchange for an honest review.

I am not usually a fan of suspense or thriller novels, I find them boring. They drag on and on trying to set a mood that always falls flat for me. I asked for this book because it seemed more like a horror novel than a thriller. I was wrong, but I still enjoyed the book.

A lot of reviews are saying how they couldn't guess the end and how the twists kept coming, I cam't agree. I figured out the ending pretty early on. Did that ruin the story? No. There were enough twists that even when I knew who the players were and their motivations, I didn't quite know what was going to happen. The ending itself was interesting, but I found it hard to be fulfilled by it because of my view of Corinne. 

Corinne was one of the main characters and often the narrator of the story. She was over dramatic, quick to panic, and had no way of surviving on her own. She completely relied on her boyfriend to do the simplest of tasks, it was a miracle that her job didn't fire her for just not showing up randomly and with no notice. 

Ashley's character was much more enjoyable to me. The plot with her daughter went in a way I never really imagined. That was pretty awesome. If Corinne wasn't a part of this novel then the book would have quite possibly been a five star book. Corinne was such a weak willed character that she seemed too much like a damsel in distress that could only exist if she was babysat the whole time. Perfect victim, but annoying as hell to read. What is it about thrillers and horror media that says that the main female character has to be helpless?

This is a solid thriller. It's nothing out of the ordinary or ground breaking, but the writing is decent, as we're taken through the lives of sisters Corinne and Ashley and a mystery person who holds a grudge against their family.

I found it slow to get going, although it did suck me in as little pieces from a doll house mysteriously appeared to taunt Corinne. Where it lost me was at the end, which struck me as something out of a bad horror movie, and not particularly believable. Less melodrama would have had a whole help more impact.

Nevertheless, I did enjoy this and look forward to more from this author.

I love it when a thriller starts giving you answers around 80% of the way through the book so the plot can build and the ending doesn't come abruptly. This book delivered. If I was reviewing the ending alone, I would give it five stars!!

We are following two adult sisters and the struggles they are having in their own lives. Then one day parts of their childhood doll house start showing up and no one claims to be doing so. Other odd things start to happen that are very disturbing. Who is doing it and how far will they go?

The storyline is slow in the beginning as we learn about each of the characters. However, there was quit a bit of repetition that did not progress the plot. It did make me wonder if it was for foreshadowing purposes. Sometimes it was but other times it wasn't. The first half of the book would get three stars. Averaging the book out to a four star rating.

I would recommend this book. It was a quick and easy read that was really enjoyable and the ending was well planned out.

The Doll House is a unique suspense/mystery book filled with twists and turns that leave you second guessing exactly what you just read.

This book is told I’m 3 different parts:

Corrine- The younger sister who desperately wants a family with her long term boyfriend, Dom.

Ashley- The stay at home mom and wife who is devoted to her family. The older sister.

The child- The one who always looked in but never looked out. The outsider.

I really enjoyed this book. It was fast paced and kept me entertained until the last page. There were times that I found myself skimming some of the pages and that was during Corrine’s narrative. Even though I enjoyed reading about her it seemed like she was extremely dense. Her character was over dramatic and after a couple chapters I couldn’t help but feeling some frustration and wondering how old she was again. Her boyfriend didn’t help matters either. He constantly questioned her and doubted her every word. It made you wonder exactly why she was with him?

Ashley’s narrative was better. There was more going on and her character had a stronger voice. Some things left me questioning her sanity but it also left me more intrigued about her story. I couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen. She may have been a stay at home mom but her life definitely wasn’t boring.

Now the child... That was the glue that held The Doll House together. His/her narrative kept my eyes trained on the page. I couldn’t stop reading because his/her narrative was just that engrossing. I had to know more. I needed to know more. I couldn’t read fast enough. I wished the whole book would’ve been written by that POV. I think it would’ve gave the book a more of a creepy vibe.

I do have to say that I didn’t like the ending. I think I’m in the minority here but I felt unsatisfied by it. I know it was probably written like that for the creepy factor but it just left me feeling frustrated.

The Doll House kept me guessing until the very last page. When I thought I knew who was who and who done what then Ms. Morgan threw another twist in.

WOW! Creepy, un-put-downable, a little crazy, dark but oh so awesome. Loved it!

I felt drawn into this story right away. I developed my own theories as the story progressed. Many of my assumptions were proven wrong. There were many moments where my heart was in my throat. The writing was very descriptive and visceral.

This is one boring book. I could barely make it through the first few chapters without being the least bit interested.

The Doll House was very gripping with some great twists.
I thought I’d sussed out the ending but I was so wrong, fab ending.
Give this great psychological thriller a read.

Thanks to NetGalley and HQ digital for a copy of this book to review.

I read a lot of psychological thrillers and I would say that about three quarters of them do not live up to the tag. Far from being gripping, they are absurd. The Doll House is one of the quarter which delivers what it promises.

Corine and Ashley are sisters in their thirties, They come from a well off family, their mother is still alive, their father, an eminent architect died a year ago and Corine in particular is struggling to deal with his death. Both sisters have issues. Corinne and her partner Dominic have been undergoing IVF unsuccessfully to try to have a baby, Ashley is struggling with her three children, all of whom are behaving out of character, and with a husband who is increasingly absent both physically and emotionally. We go between the points of view of the sisters interspersed with Dom's POV and that of and unknown child from the past which annoyingly is written in italics, a pet hate of mine.

As things go increasingly wrong for the sisters with Corinne especially thinking she is going crazy as parts of a doll's house from her childhood mysteriously appear and disappear, the tension increases and the denouement is satisfactory and compelling. I did work out the twist at the end and also who was responsible but that doesn't matter. Well written, enjoyable novel. My only gripes are the use of italics for the child's point of view. I can see why this is done but I hate it and the very final twist which i thought was unnecessary. Otherwise very good indeed.

Sisters Corinne and Ashley enjoyed an idyllic childhood, symbolised by the dolls' house lovingly built for them by their father - a beautifully furnished, perfect replica of their family home.

In the present day Corinne, now an adult, is under a lot of stress - she's still grieving the recent loss of her beloved father, eminent architect Richard Hawes, and she and partner Dominic are struggling to conceive, undergoing gruelling fertility treatment. Things get worse, though, when Corinne begins finding fragments from her childhood dolls' house - a little door, a piece of fabric - in inexplicable places. It seems like someone is taunting her, but who and why? And what is her mother not telling her?

Meanwhile, elder sister Ashley's life is also taking a strange turn. Husband James is never there (he's always at work - or is he?). Her daughter and son are acting out of character, and something isn't right with baby Holly either.

There's clearly an unseen hand at play, but who does it belong to? In true psychological thriller tradition, there are various candidates both likely and unlikely.

Interspersed with Corinne and Ashley's stories are flashbacks from the point of view of an unnamed child narrator with an apparent connection to their family, albeit very much on the outside....

Although I'd heard good things about this book, I was slightly sceptical, as the cover looked a bit sensationalist. And let's face it, not everything that calls itself "A gripping psychological thriller with a killer twist!" (i.e. just about everything nowadays) really is. However, I was pleasantly surprised as The Doll House is genuinely well written, well plotted, tense and unpredictable. Phoebe Morgan does a great job of building a sense of menace and foreboding, culminating in scenes of almost unbearable tension.

It's an impressive debut, and I look forward to reading more from Phoebe Morgan.

Following the lives of sisters, Corinne and Ashley. Corrine is married to Dominic and they are at their last IVF attempt to start their family. She feels as if someone has been inside their home and pieces of her childhood doll house keeps popping up sporadically. Dominic isn't sure this is something to worry about and thinks between the anniversary of her father's death and the fertility drugs that she may just be imagining things. Ashley and James have three children but he's been acting shifty lately and Ashley's beginning to suspect something is going on outside of the home.

Mostly we veer back and forth between the sister's perspectives, every once in a while jumping into Dominic's perspective and the POV of someone unknown to us that travels from past to present. The author does a good job in showing realistic situations - the angst of a woman trying to get pregnant and having a difficult time being around people with kids. The paranoia and suspicions of a wife thinking her husband is having an affair and unable to confront the situation. I wish there had been more of Corinne and Ashley's past to give a more parallel view with the antagonist. To only have the past of one character didn't give me a full feel for everyone. The little twists at the end were a nice touch though I did feel I needed a little bit more as it didn't come together as seamlessly as I would have liked. The best way I can explain it as that I felt there were pieces missing to make it more of a shock for me. For having such realistic characters to then go into a direction that, for me, needed a little more explanation just didn't quite hit home. There seemed to be so much build up that it seemed to drag in certain places and then end rather abruptly.. I think I either needed more from their childhood or more from the antagonist to really understand the entire situation. Due to that I felt like this was more contemporary drama than thriller for my taste.

A solid debut novel effort. I would certainly read more from the author as I can only see better things coming from her in the future.