Review : Doll Bones by Holly Black

Title : Doll Bones
Author : Holly Black
Publication date: May 7th 2013 by Margaret K. McElderry Books

I am not really into horror books, frankly. If you check on the post categories in this blog, you'd see only a handful of them. So, I thought, why not read one, well, just in time, I found Doll Bones and I am instantly interested.

I read Black's novels a few years back, (The Spiderwick Chronicles) and I loved it. The story was pretty simple, to be honest, but the ending was just perfect. Not too mention that the books also have many artistic illustration inside which makes the book more appealing, especially for younger readers.

Doll Bones begins with a team of children, Zach, Poppy and Alice who love to make a play with their dolls. Zach's father, out of the blue, threw away Zach's doll, said that he was too old for him, leaving him in rage. Zach decided that the only way to cope was stop playing at once, though his friend disagreed with him. One night, the girls paid him a visit. Poppy swore she had been haunted by a doll and she asked Alice and Zach to help the doll returned to where she belonged.

I still admire Black's writing style. I think she's an expert in creating interesting children's book. Doll Bones has a catchy description : three kids going out for an adventure to help a haunted doll, how cool is that? So, yes, I did have a big expectation for Doll Bones. Since it's a ghost story, I expect it to be creepier. The book does include creepiness, don't get me wrong, but if there's more of it (just a bit, since this is a children book, you don't want your kids to have nightmares), I think it would be really cool.

As for the characters, Zach seems to stand out, maybe because the story is mainly from his point of view (at least from what I saw). He's the maturest of all the kids and he's like a leader to them, even though he refused to come in the beginning. I had hard times telling Poppy and Alice apart if it's not written in the narration. Their dialogues tone are somewhat similar, and to tell you the truth, I definitely think that I don't see any noticeable development on them. 

By the way, here's my favorite quote:

"When I saw you with those figures, I pictured you getting hassled at school. I thought you needed to be tougher. But I've been thinking that protecting somebody by hurting them before someone else gets the chance isn't the kind of protecting that anybody wants"

Overall, the book is not what I expected. The story is not as scary, the characters are just flat, and as for the conflict, it's just too simple, even for younger readers. I don't know if it's my "adult reader" talking, but that's what I feel. Don't blame me, though, Spiderwick Chronicles is a great read, so Black's talent's is not the problem. It's just the idea of this story that is not really potential.

2 ratings for Doll Bones, I wanted to like this book so much, but it's not what I expected. If you want to read something fun, go ahead and grab it, but don't ask for many things as you might not get it. Have children who are beginner readers, I think it's a good book for them since there are cool illustrations within that may help chasing away their boredom.

Your turn, have you read any Black's book? How did you like it?