I received a copy for an honest opinion. I really enjoyed the entire story and the way the author was able to weave the mystery of the house and the dollhouse. I don't want to give any spoilers but would definitely recommend that you read it. This is not my usual genre but the story had me glued to it from the first page.
( )

I was definitely not the target audience for this book, but I think my teen nieces will find it interesting.

The Dollhouse, A Ghost Story, written by Charis Cotter, grabs your interest with the very first page! I requested this book from the Early Reviewers program as it was advertised as a ghost story, and had a mysterious doll house in the attic of a spooky old house. Who can pass that up? It sounded intriguing ! Written in first person, the whole story is told by Alice, a preteen girl, who has settled into the home of an elderly woman who needs nursing care after being injured in a fall. Alice's mom took this job so she could leave her husband, as she is contemplating divorce. Alice is upset, and already on an emotional roller coaster, when she starts having strange dreams where she seems to go back in time, and is in the dollhouse....or is she? She knows she has an overactive imagination, and often has trouble distinguishing what is real from what she has imagined....but are the people she meets ghosts? Or is she the ghost? How can things changed in the dollhouse affect 'real life', and vice versa? Readers will puzzle about this, too, as events unfold and things get more intense, and Alice finds herself in a life threatening situation.
It was intriguing, and puzzling, as I tried to figure out what was actually going on....I could visualize this on the screen with special creepy effects that would have me on the edge of my seat! I actually forgot that it was written for middle school age kids, as it did have some intense scenes. I just wasn't sure how the story was going to end, but I was satisfied with the ending!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I would recommend it to anyone who enjoy mysteries and creepy stories. ( )

2.5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

But I had a bad habit of getting lost in my imagination. Sometimes it got me into trouble.

Alice is twelve years old when her parents have drifted so far apart that her mother decides that her father will never put his family ahead of his work. As a nurse that works on contract, Alice's mother decides to take a job that will have her and Alice staying with an elder lady who has just broken her leg and will take care of her until it heals. Alice already has an overactive imagination, so when the residence they are staying at turns to be a turn of the century Victorian house that comes equipped with secret passages and, possibly, ghosts, she starts to question her reality.

The ghost bed. The ghost girl. Now I was sure. It wasn't a nightmare.

The Dollhouse was a young adult story that started off acknowledging the story's point-of-view was from an unreliable narrator, Alice. Readers are given multiple examples of how Alice spun instances out of control, her mother being late home one night has Alice thinking she died in a car cash and imagining her father dating and marrying a woman who hates Alice. So, when Alice arrives at the Victorian house, readers aren't sure if they should trust how Alice is “seeing” circumstances and events, thus, giving the story a mystery, thriller, and spooky feel without having to give truly scary moments for younger readers.

There was nothing else there except---a dollhouse.

On the way to the house, Alice and her mother take a train and when the train makes an abrupt stop, Alice hits her head hard. She starts to think there was a big train accident and even though her mother tells her she just bumped her head, the question of was there a dangerous accident, floats through the story. Is Alice trying to be a unreliable narrator, is her concussion playing a part in her foggy mind, or is there something supernatural going on that ties into the house they're staying at? Things pick up pretty quick as on the first night Alice stays at the house, she wakes up to a girl in her bed, thinking she is a ghost, she of course freaks out but her mother and the older woman, work to convince her it was a just a dream. A secondary character that plays a big part is the housekeeper's daughter, an intellectual disabled girl named Lily. Lily claims to see the ghost girl too and the two end up playing off each other.

When they discover an exact replica dollhouse of the Victorian home in the attic, things start to feel like they are spinning out of control when they notice that wherever and however they dress the dolls, affects how Alice sees the ghost girl and her sister when she visits them when she falls asleep. The story had a little bit of The Others and Last Night in Soho movies. I thought the addition of Alice's parents divorce felt shoehorned in at times but it had it's moments of playing into the theme of don't keep your emotions locked away; a theme I'm not sure middle-schoolers would completely get. This would be a fun book for a parent to share with their child for the Halloween season and discuss the issues and keep each other guessing if Alice is getting lost to her imagination or if something supernatural is going on. ( )

I received this through Library Thing Early Readers

Alice’s world was falling apart. Instead of being in a summer rental cottage with her parents, she is spending summer in a huge, old house that is kept like a museum under the direction of Mrs. Bishop.

Alice’s parents are getting a divorce, so her mother has taken a nursing job to care for Mrs. Bishop. Her father has had to go out to California on an architectural job for some months. Mary, the housekeeper, and her daughter, Lily, are pretty much the only other people around for Alice to interact with.

The house has many rooms, furnished in the elegant style of 1929. There are also doors that are kept locked, and in the attic is a dollhouse that is an exact replica of the house and its furnishings and the people who lived there. It is also under lock and key and is supposed to be off limits.

Alice has a vivid imagination and when she goes to sleep, she finds herself in the world of the dollhouse, the people who live there and the events of the time. She meets the family, but only the Fizz (one of the daughters) can see or hear Alice.

Things start to change in the dollhouse. There seems to be a direct connection between it and the old house. Alice feels she must find the link and the reason for its existence. Who really are these people and what is their part in the mystery?

As Alice works her way through this mystery, she learns more about herself and the people around her. She also learns about families and how they do and don’t function. There is no “one size fits all.”

The writing drew me in and I felt as if I were there, viewing the scenes in person. I even would have like to meet some of the characters and actually seen the house and dollhouse. ( )