Book Review: The Dollhouse: a ghost story by Charis Cotter (MG mystery), published by Tundra Books

 As I believe The Dollhouse could have the power to strengthen a relationship between young and old, I highly recommend that children share this book with their grandparents.

Buy this Book

The Dollhouse: a ghost story

Charis Cotte

Tundra Books

time-traveling mystery

2022

346 pages

Winner of the Newfoundland and Labrador Book Awards

It's June 1997 and Alice Felicity Greene's parents are newly separated. Alice's mother Ellie is a nurse and gets a job at Blackwood House in the town of Lockport caring for seventy-eight-year-old Mrs. Fiona Bishop who has broken her leg. Ellie and Alice begin their journey to Lockport by train but when there's an accident they must continue by taxi.

The taxi driver tells them: Blackwood House "'stood empty for nearly seventy years. Something happened to the family and the house was locked up. By all accounts that house has seen more sorrow than most, ever since it was built way back in the 1830s... No good ever comes to people who live in that house.'" (p. 18)

But Ellie tells Alice: Blackwood House "'is not haunted. It's just old. There is no such thing as ghosts and I don't want you starting off your summer letting your imagination get the best of you!'" (p. 21)

At Blackwood House, Alice befriends Lily Barnett.

Lily 'was so pretty, with her dark hair and eyes, and she had the body of a teenager, but she acted and moved more like a six-year-old.' (p. 26)

Together Alice and Lily explore the grand old house. They discover a locked room. In the locked room they discover a...dollhouse.

Author Charis Cotter is a wordsmith who paints vivid pictures, such as...

'I felt like she and I were marooned in a small island of candlelight while the darkness lapped around us like waves against the shore.' (p. 282)

The Dollhouse: a ghost story is a carefully crafted, suspense-filled book that kept me entertained from the first page to the last. 

 

 

On this blog in November...

Sunday, November 6

Book Review: Stray Dog by Rawi Hage, published by Alfred A Knopf Canada

This story collection is short-listed for the 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize

The winner will be announced on Monday, November 7

Sunday, November 13

It All Started Here by Leanne Dyck

What does the wife of a wealthy grain merchant have to do with my birth?

Sunday, November 20

Writing Tips from 18 Guest Authors

My guest authors generously share writing tips and give insights into their own author journey.

Sunday, November 27

Island Invasion (short story) by Leanne Dyck

This short story was inspired by The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King

And...

Book review: Burn by Paula Weston

After reading Shimmer (here's a link to that book review), I waited with eager anticipation for Burn--the fourth and final book in the series. And Paula Weston delivered--a kick-butt female protagonist, sizzling sexual tension, and action-packed battle scenes. Burn has everything that Shimmer offered and more.

The More...

Burn summarizes and provides a satisfying conclusion to the series as well as answers burning questions.

Burning questions like...how did Rafa and Gabe's friendship become a romance?

I've seen Rafa shirtless a thousand times, wrestled with him half-naked on the training mats just as often. I've always known how fit he is, but I've never been distracted by his bare flesh before. (p. 31)

And what happened to spoil it. 
No spoilers here. Just one name--Mya. Enticing, yes?

The Ending...

What if you--like Nathaniel (Gabe's adopted father), like Gabe (kick-butt protagonist)--discovered the mission that gave your life purpose was a lie?

Enter Semyaza (Gabe's birth father).

In fact, Burn was just too good. I'm still hungry. Digging for truffles, I came across this quote...

He knows how much worse the next battle will be. (p. 407)

Doesn't that sound like there'll be more?

Paula Weston answers that question in the Acknowledgments...

I've loved writing this story and these characters--and they've certainly brought an amazing new dimension to my world.

For that, I will always be grateful.

I'm so glad I had an opportunity to read Paula Weston's work as I write my first YA novel--even though I'm not writing a fantasy. Weston has taught me the power of writing in the present tense and the secret of how to get inside a character's mind without using the rusty 'I thought'. 

Paula Weston's author web site

More...

(photo by Leanne Dyck)

Picture Books in Canada


CWILL BC
(Children's Writers & Illustrators of British Columbia Society) 

is a lively group of published writers and illustrators for children. With close to 150 members across British Columbia, we exchange information about creating literary works for young people, we support one another and we help promote our books. Our volunteer, cooperative organization also communicates with other arts groups, schools and libraries in BC and Canada.

learn more:  www.cwill.bc.ca

(photo by Leanne Dyck, taken on Mayne Island, BC, Canada)

Next post:  Sunday, June 19 (published at approximately 5 p.m. PST) Next week  I will attend writing events sponsored by CWILL BC. I look forward to sharing what I learn with you.

(photo by Leanne Dyck)

Sharing my author journey...

In On Writing, Stephen King advises against filling a life with 

Book review: Shimmer by Paula Weston (YA fantasy)

Title:  Shimmer -- book 3 of the Rephaim series

Author:  Paula Weston

Publisher:  Tundra

Date published:  2016

Book blurb:  Gaby thought her life couldn't be more complicated. She was wrong.

She's not the teenage backpacker she thought she was. She is one of the Rephaim, descended from fallen angels. The brother she thought she'd lost is alive. And now Rafa--sexy, infuriating Rafa--is being held, and hurt, by the demons who want to get to her.

Gaby needs the bitterly divided Rephaim to work together; or Rafa has no chance at all. It's a race against time. And it may already be too late.

Author website  

Buy this book

It's a series...
As this is book three and I'm new to the series, I was concerned that I won't be able to break in. But that wasn't a problem because there's a who's-who character list at the front of the book and the prologue offers a review of events. 

I read on and discovered a dense population of characters, a detailed world and a complex plot.

So many names...
Due to this dense population, the plot occasionally bogs down in a swamp of names.

And you are?
With so many characters it's difficult to develop individuals. Weston manages to maintain the individuality of her protagonist--Gabriella--but, unfortunately, many of her minor characters are largely indistinguishable.

Wham bam pow...
Weston is skilled at writing action...

Daisy takes off away from Jones, plants a foot on the second rope, spins and launches at him. He dives out of the way. She curls up and lands in a commando roll. (p. 55)

More, please...
The suspenseful last chapter makes me yearn to read book four Right Now!

Thank you, Paula Weston, for this entertaining read.

Hop on the tour (link)

Next post (March 20th):  Have you ever found a book that answered all your questions--even questions you didn't know you had? That's what happened to me when I read Writing Picture Books by Ann Whitford Paul. It was like taking a highly rated workshop from the comfort of my reading chair. I'll share my notes in my next post.

Sharing my author journey...

Re-writing my novel is going smoothly, now. 

Book review: Every Word (YA/mystery) by Ellie Marney

I took a bite of my breakfast omelet. 

Knock. Knock. Knock. 

I chewed quickly but not quick enough. Bim, our self appointed guard dog, beat me to the door. He barked a greeting that sounded more like a threat. My translation:  Don't bother her; she's eating. 

I reached the door, turned the knob and... 

My husband stood there with a package in his hands. "I was outside cleaning eavestroughs when this was delivered. It feels like a book." 

Days before I'd signed up to participate in the Tundra blog tour for Ellie Marney's new book - Every Word. Could this be her book?

One envelop removed. Then another. Finally... Yes!

Buy this book

James Mycroft has just left for London to investigate a car accident similar to the one that killed his parents without saying good-bye to this partner in crime, Rachel Watts.

Rachel is furious and worried about his strange behavior -- not that Mycroft's ever exactly normal, but London is the scene of so many of his nightmares. Unable to resist, Rachel jumps on a plane to follow him and lands straight in a whole storm of trouble.

The theft of a copy of Shakespeare's First Folio, the possible murder of a rare books conservator and the deaths of Mycroft's parents... Can Watts help Mycroft make sense of these events -- or will she lose him forever?

Bim transformed from guard dog into reading companion. 

Time was I read for entertainment. That all changed when I decided to become a writer. Sure, I still want to be entertained but now I also want to collect how-to tips for my own writing. I want to learn what works and what doesn't. So, now, I always take notes while I read...

The Prologue

There's a theory being passed from new author to new author -- publishing houses don't like prologues. Well, obviously Tundra doesn't mind them. 

Together we take in the crinkling underexposed world that will soon become the day (prologue)

The descriptions are delicately handled and sensory-rich. Marney's bio explains that she writes short stories as well as YA. Did she learn how to craft such fine descriptions by writing those story stories?

The Beginning
I'm immediately plopped into the story with no establishment of setting. I find this jarring. And I wonder why Marney choose to begin these chapters with dialogue. She's already demonstrated her command of description.

The Middle

Marney has found a solution for the saggy middle--action. She writes nail biting scenes very well.

Marney skillfully weaves references to her first book into her second -- not enough to upset me (a newcomer to her work), just enough to make me wish I had read book one. (Hmm, could there be a trip to the bookstore in my future?)

Buy this book

The End
The cliff hanger in the second to last chapter made me devour the final chapter in a single gulp. 
The story ends with a surprising reveal -- it explains a lot and at the same time leads the way for even more mysteries in book three.

The setting
Much of Every Word is set in England -- a country I long to visit and thanks to Marney I feel like I have. The London she describes is like a comfortable old shoe.

The main character (protagonist)
Rachel Watts flies half-way around the world to support the guy who she thinks may still be her boyfriend. Pathetic? Right?
Wrong. 
Rachel is resourceful, compassionate, intelligent and courageous, but never pathetic.

Sure there is a intriguing mystery. But that's not what makes me read on. No, I'm hooked on Rachel and Mycroft's relationship. (This from a reader of mysteries, never hardly ever romance.)

My mind goes on vacation, and my breathing catches, so I'm gasping every time he does simple things -- putting his arm around my shoulders, or touching his lips gently to mine, like now (p. 13)

Favourite quotes
I enjoyed Marney's Australian turn of phrase...
'I pull up my drooping footy socks.' (p. 4)
'I'm so bush-whacked.' (p. 40)

And her prose that reads like poetry...
'[The moon] swims in a halo of golden light, like an egg yolk floating in a pale sway of foam.' (p. 62)
'We sink lower and lower, our eyes closed together, the warmth at each shoulder, and we wait for this ride to end.' (p. 334)

The Author

Ellie Marney was born in the tropical northeast of Australia, and has lived in Indonesia, Singapore and India. Now she writes, teaches, talks about kids' literature and schools, and gardens when she can, while living in a country idyll (actually a very messy wooden house on ten acres with a dog and lots of chickens) near Castlemaine, in north-central Victoria. Even though she often forgets things and lets the housework go, her partner and four sons still lover her. 

Ellie's short stories for adults have won awards and been published in various anthologies. Every Word is her second novel for young adults. 

Visit Ellie Marney's author website. (Link)

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Sharing my author journey...

Quotes from my latest published story...