Book Review: The Doll House by Phoebe Morgan

A great Doll House book is my white whale.

You never know who’s watching…

Corinne’s life might look perfect on the outside, but after three failed IVF attempts it’s her last chance to have a baby. And when she finds a tiny part of a doll house outside her flat, it feels as if it’s a sign.

But as more pieces begin to turn up, Corinne realises that they are far too familiar. Someone knows about the miniature rocking horse and the little doll with its red velvet dress. Someone has been inside her house…

How does the stranger know so much about her life? How long have they been watching? And what are they waiting for…?

So this book involves a doll house, was my mystery doll house need finally going to be fulfilled after the disappointment that was The Miniaturist. It did fulfil that need better, but not fully. Firstly, the summary fails to at all mention Corinne's sister Ashley who this book is almost equally about.

This book is told from the two sisters POV with a mystery Then Narrator, which happens to be a trend.

Corinne is desperately asinine for a lot of the book. The police are not called till after major incidents and then are not given all the information for plot reasons.

There's great build up and then falls to the ground, smashing into what the hell are you doing?

Overall, I give this book 3/5 stars for chairs. I'll never find a book that's about creepy doll house that I can fully enjoy. I wrote the majority of this review a year ago and going through books that I meant to write reviews for and deciding how realistically I am to review a book I read two years ago from the library. So not the best review I've ever written, but I did write thoughts so why now share them.

Crossed Posted to Strangeness Books

Read: 9/03/2019-14/03/2019
Reviewed: 14/03/2019-19/07/2020
Medium: Audiobook
Published Date: 4th October 2018
Publisher: HQ Digital
Source: Library
TW: I can't remember (breaking and entering; Stalking;)

Book Review: Remember Me by D.E.White

Ava Cole, wanting to stay in Wales like a adult and not a seventeen year old.

Fifteen years ago Ellen Smith vanished from the woods near her small Welsh village. Never to be seen again.

Eight people were in the woods that night: eight splintered lives, eight people hiding a terrible secret. But who can remember the truth?

Now, Ellen’s best friend, Detective Ava Cole is all grown up back in the village where it all began, and everyone is asking the same question.

What really happened to Ellen?

Filled with shocking discoveries and traumatic memories this fast paced thriller is perfect for fans of Friend Request and Close to Home.

A woman originally from the states, moved to Wales as a kid, had a baby and left him there, went back to the states, the kid's dad is dying so she goes back and deals with the terrible thing they did in the woods. Then plot happens.

Everyone has this shared secret, this secret is also used to threaten Ava Cole by a person who has this secret also, so Ava Cole justifying her shitty behaviour with this was kinda dumb. Maybe if this character was introduced as being more spiteful than sense. The thing is the more you know about this whole situation, the more you're like: "hur, well you really were all the place at 17, Cole". Her actions are explained by having postpartum depression and not having a support group. A much of bad parenting happens in this book.

This book has two narrators, one the antagonist in first person and close follow third person of Ava Cole wandering around Wales, I know it was a specific area of Wales but I have terrible memory, and this was library book I no longer have. This works well, it wasn't frustrating obvious who the unknown narrator was but also you're able figured it out.

The audio book has single voice actor, she does a decent job, especially when she has to do Welsh, American and Southern English because Southern English is obvious the standard narrator voice we all must adopt (okay, I get the choice of using newsreader voice over fun accents for the narrating parts but I will still make unhelpful digs about it).

Overall, I give this book 4/5 stars for Reality TV. This feels like a set up for a series with Ava Cole investigating, but decided to start with the middle book of the series, where MC goes back to their roots after their first big mystery. This does appear to be D.E.White debut, but it's just the debut of the pen name, she writes as Daisy White. Not sure what I think of this if it is a series, maybe I would read the next one if it is the start of a series.

Book Review: The Apple of My Eye by Claire Allan

Probably should question the note flung through your window.

Just how far is a mother willing to go?

When a mysterious note arrives for seven months pregnant nurse Eliana Hughes, she begins to doubt every aspect of her life – from her mixed feelings about motherhood to her marriage to Martin, who has become distant in recent months.

As the person behind the note escalates their campaign to out Eli’s husband as a cheat, she finds herself unable to trust even her own instincts, and as pressure builds, she makes a mistake that jeopardises her entire future.

Elsewhere, someone is watching. Someone who desperately wants a baby to call their own and will go to any lengths to become a mother – and stay a mother…



A lot of this book revolves these notes that just say stuff and Eli takes them as gospel without prove. She pregnant and therefore really vulnerable but she doesn't question them. Maybe if they relationship being in a bad place was established before the letters started arriving. Even with the slight Gaslighting she gets, I think it would worked better if the start of the trouble was dragged out more. This is on the short side for Thrillers, so maybe just little more time might have been better. I guess it's actually minor to the story.

The novel has three POVs first person narration, including the main character Eli and a mystery stalker. This works well for the story, I mean I knew what going going to happened by chapter three. I had doubts along the way that it was a red herring, but I knew it probably wasn't.

The plot worked well. It's a thriller so it's meant to have twists, they work fine. I never know what say about Twists because I always guess them. I'm more here for the execution.

The characters are okay, they their parts okay, it's hard not to get frustrated by Eli sometimes. Mostly never questioning the notes, especially when no one would have motive to send one of the notes if they were fully true.

I listened to this on Audiobook and the Irish accents were delightful in the way ya get sick of English being the standard for British books. Besides personal taste they were fine.

Overall, I gave this 4/5 stars for Baby Bumps. The story was pretty obvious for me, but I enjoy the process.

Book Review: House Swap by Rebecca Fleet

We going to have an accidental theme.

‘No one lives this way unless they want to hide something.’ 

When Caroline and Francis receive an offer to house swap, they jump at the chance for a week away from home. After the difficulties of the past few years, they’ve worked hard to rebuild their marriage for their son’s sake; now they want to reconnect as a couple.

On arrival, they find a house that is stark and sinister in its emptiness – it’s hard to imagine what kind of person lives here. Then, gradually, Caroline begins to uncover some signs of life – signs of her life. The flowers in the bathroom or the music in the CD player might seem innocent to her husband but to her they are anything but. It seems the person they have swapped with is someone she used to know; someone she’s desperate to leave in her past.

But that person is now in her home – and they want to make sure she’ll never forget . . .

This book is sadly not really a thriller, it tries to have a twist but especially doesn't work and with the audiobook production I was more annoyed than anything. It mostly dances around the facts of the story, or things that they no reason to dance around other than laziness and to drag this thing out. The characters are very bland, they work in marketing kinda bland (they might not work in marketing, it just reference to obsession with marketing as a job in film. I don't know what they work as). I think this lacking important thriller elements as well as the characters not having much development. I guess we're meant to feel sorry for them, but I don't know who they're meant to be.  The audiobook performance was fine, not sure why they decided to spend the money on four narrators for this book. Frankly, it would have worked better with just one, with the dumb twist. It's probably OMG moment when the narrators switch but as soon as the POV was introduce it was clearly not going to be who she thinks it is, otherwise they couldn't market this as Thriller.  This book does have Thriller elements, like an obvious mystery that you know will be solved as soon as you know what terrible secret the MC has, so it's not thrilling at all. There's also the Husband's mystery drug problem, that he started because of stress, so it is a prescribed drug. I know it's not antidepressants but imagining it was and his wife was just being an arse about him still taking it, it would really fitted with this book. It's never stated so feels very McGuffin. I guess it's a sleeping pill, he's a therapist, so maybe he's meant to have self-prescribed them but that would be a scandal on it's own.  If this is not a Thriller what genre is it? I guess Drama, or just fiction for what it would be market in bookstore or library. The idea of that's promised on the back is a Thriller, but its more about petty relationships. Most of the relationships were sex scenes: have an affair and it's love because the sex is good. I'm Ace so if this meant to have been some great love story with tragic ending, it's okay if you say so. The one time it goes to back to a thriller, it sways away again. I got really excited that something was going to happen but then it didn't so back to petty nonsense.  Overall, I gave this book 2/5 stars for Dead Hamsters. If want something that's actually a thriller then go for You Let Me In (I will review this book soon, I read it first and probably should have review it that way.). It's actually a thriller and I didn't question not finishing it. It has a similar feature of someone renting their House to someone while they away.