Published: September 2, 2014 by Balzer + Bray
Series: #1 (Dolls)
Length: 384 pages
Source: Balzer + Bray (ARC)
“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 was an okay book with lots of creepy scenes and interesting plot. What I liked about it is the mystery at the beginning. I say the beginning because the mystery kind of died down towards the middle and the end of the book since it got a bit predictable. I think the world building was pretty good. Eveny’s hometown is divided into two parts – the rich and the poor. The author was very creative on explaining how the town became like that.
I enjoyed it for the most part, but the whole clique thing a.k.a. ‘the dolls’ and boys chasing them was just too cliché for me. What I liked about the characters though is that some were easy to differentiate because they had different personalities. Though they were easy to differentiate, I don’t think they’ll fall under the category of ‘memorable characters’. There were also some inconsistencies throughout the book like Eveny’s aunt telling her that it is not safe in their hometown yet they move there…UM OKAY?
Overall it was a good book with some inconsistencies and cliché characters. I would recommend you reading it but I wouldn’t put it on top of my to-be read pile.