Pages: 384
Publication: September 2nd 2014 by Balzer + Bray
Series: Dolls #1
Source: Balzer & Bray via Edelweiss
Amazon • TBD • Kobo • Goodreads
Eveny Cheval just moved back to Louisiana after spending her childhood in New York with her aunt Bea. Eveny hasn’t seen her hometown since her mother’s suicide fourteen years ago, and her memories couldn’t have prepared her for what she encounters. Because pristine, perfectly manicured Carrefour has a dark side full of intrigue, betrayal, and lies—and Eveny quickly finds herself at the center of it all.Enter Peregrine Marceau, Chloe St. Pierre, and their group of rich, sexy friends known as the Dolls. From sipping champagne at lunch to hooking up with the hottest boys, Peregrine and Chloe have everything—including an explanation for what’s going on in Carrefour. And Eveny doesn’t trust them one bit.
But after murder strikes and Eveny discovers that everything she believes about herself, her family, and her life is a lie, she must turn to the Dolls for answers. Something’s wrong in paradise, and it’s up to Eveny, Chloe, and Peregrine to save Carrefour and make it right.
The Dolls immediately sparked interest in me solely because of the southern setting, I love books set in the south and they always seem to be the perfect setting for paranormal books so I couldn’t wait to start reading this. So much so that I picked it up a full month before release date, something I haven’t done for a while!
I have never read a book where the main ‘magical’ element is voodoo, or a branch of it before so I was really taken by a pleasant surprise when I realized that’s what this book was featuring! It added a whole different unique storyline than anything I have read in the past, so that alone really held my interest.
I did really like Eveny, despite the fact that she was whiny and extremely moody. Oh, and also count in the fact that she made extraordinarily bad choices all the time. I just couldn’t wrap my head around a lot of the things she did … like if you knew that you were in danger and someone was out to KILL you, would you walk through a cemetery in the woods at night? I’m going to go with probably not right? Wrong, if your Eveny. I wanted to shake her repeatedly throughout the book but despite all that I did really like her. It was clear from the beginning that she was not like the Dolls, and was very far from self-centered. I loved how she wasn’t around to speak her mind to the other girls and also befriend people outside of their circle. The other characters unfortunately didn’t really hold much of a memory in my mind. I liked Caleb well enough but the girls were terrible, and a lot of the characters you seen where they fit into the story and they didn’t have any development or unique qualities about them.
The Dolls were really the main part of the novel that I disliked. They were fake, self-centered and too focused on appearances. I also really, really got quickly irritated with the constant brand references and clothing descriptions. I could see if this was a book that centered around fashion, but it wasn’t and it really could have done without it. The only plus side it did have was that it really drove the point home exactly how self-centered and selfish The Dolls really were. The only other part of the story that I didn’t enjoy was the weird love triangle. Her attraction to Caleb seemed awkward at times, and then throw Drew into the mix … it was all just strange, especially with the way it all plays out in the ending…. awkward! Also there is this random thing with Caleb and that just seems really odd because she only just met him?! The whole thing was just… weird.
The story was rather predictable save a few things that happened but it was so intriguing and mysterious that I couldn’t stop reading. I loved Kiki Sullivan’s writing style and her ability to weave a very intriguing and addicting storyline! There were a few surprises tucked into the ending as well and I’m really looking forward to seeing how they play out into the second book.
The Dolls was definitely a great start to a new and interesting series, and one I will be continuing on with! If you enjoy light paranormal reads, I highly recommend this one, especially because it has a paranormal element not often seen in Young Adult!
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