Review: Doll Bones by Holly BLack

Author: Holly Black
Publsiher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Publication Date: May 2013

Zach, Poppy and Alice have been friends for ever. They love playing with their action figure toys, imagining a magical world of adventure and heroism. But disaster strikes when, without warning, Zach’s father throws out all his toys, declaring he’s too old for them. Zach is furious, confused and embarrassed, deciding that the only way to cope is to stop playing . . . and stop being friends with Poppy and Alice. 

But one night the girls pay Zach a visit, and tell him about a series of mysterious occurrences. Poppy swears that she is now being haunted by a china doll – who claims that it is made from the ground-up bones of a murdered girl. They must return the doll to where the girl lived, and bury it. Otherwise the three children will be cursed for eternity . . .

I went into Doll Bones expecting a good spooky middle grade book.  That was the impression I got when I read the synopsis. Unfortunately, the book did not live up to my expectations.    It had a lot of potential but fell short for me.  The book ended up being more of a coming of age story about a boy and his two childhood friends making the transition from children to teens.  Navigating the time when you put away the dolls and move onto more mature things can be hard for kids to figure out.

The story is told from the perspective of Zach only.  So we never really get to know Poppy and Alice enough to care about them or their reasons for going on their "adventure".  Had we seen what Alice says she saw with the doll through her own perspective, I think the story would have been a lot creepier.  The "quest" they went on because of the doll was interesting, but kind of unrealistic at the same time.  The ending was abrupt and completely unsatisfying.  I would have loved to find out what happened after the kids got home.  

I know that, obviously, I am not the target audience for this book.  However, I still probably wouldn't recommend this one for any of the middle graders that I do know.  There are much better books out there with more exciting spooky stories.

The Coldest Girl in Cold Town by Holly Black

by:  Holly Black
published by:  Little Brown Books for Young Readers
publish date:  September 3, 2013

Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave.

So I thought I was done with vampire books.  I didn't think there was anything thing left that was worth reading in the entirety of the vampire genre.  I'll say I was wrong on that one.  I ended up liking The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, although, I don't like the title.  The title alone put me off reading this book.  It gave it a very immature feel and the book itself was definitely at the older end of the YA spectrum.  The relationship that Tana and Aiden had was a bit racy for YA.  

There are two older vampire characters in this book, Gavriel and Lucien,  that are at odds with each others.  Their relationship to each other kept making me think of the characters Louis and Lestat from Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire.  If you like that sort of vampire novel and a bit of post-apocalyptic mixed in, you'll like this book.

I liked this one as well.  I also agree with Autumn that I would put it at the older end of YA.  I thought a there were some gruesome parts to the book.  These aren't generally nice vampires.  I liked Gavriel.  He was the only vampire that I liked in the book, besides Aiden.  The other thing that I liked about the book was the parts from Tana's sister's point of view.  I don't think a YA book could be more perfect for a lesson in how what you see on TV isn't usually reality.  I think a lot of the characters got that lesson in this story.  Finally, I have to say that I loved the ending.  It was just perfect!

Autumn and I both listened to the audiobook.  The narration was good.  However, there was music sprinkled throughout the book I think in an attempt to give the listener a better listening experience.  The problem was the places that the music was used was inconsistent   It was like someone threw a dart at the book and wherever it landed, they put in music.   It did get annoying after a while.