Bad Dolls
Ratings11
Average rating3.5
In this stunning new collection of four horror stories, award-winning author Rachel Harrison explores themes of body image, complicated female friendship, heartbreak, and hauntings. In “Reply Hazy, Try Again,” an indecisive young woman finds a mysterious Magic 8 Ball that might just have the answers she’s been looking for...or might lead her down a path of self-destruction. In “Bachelorette,” a bridesmaid attends her childhood best friend’s bachelorette weekend, only to discover the itinerary may demand more than she’s willing to sacrifice. In “Goblin,” an unusually brutal dieting app wreaks havoc on the life of an insecure woman preparing to attend her ex’s wedding. In “Bad Dolls,” after a death in the family, a wayward young woman comes into possession of a strange porcelain doll that could offer a connection to her lost sister. These dark tales navigate the complexities of modern life with humor, insight, and the occasional blood sacrifice…
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Popular Reviews
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Shorts
3.5 stars. Modern stories, complicated feelings, complex relationships. If you like Rachel, you'll most likely like these stories. I always read her, so I guess I like her.
Merged review:
Shorts
3.5 stars. Modern stories, complicated feelings, complex relationships. If you like Rachel, you'll most likely like these stories. I always read her, so I guess I like her.
I was in the middle of reading something I can barely remember now when I got a notification from Libby that my hold on Bad Dolls was finally available. As I instructed Libby to send the book directly to my Kindle do not pass go do not collect 200 dollars, it started pouring rain after an otherwise perfectly sunny and unseasonably warm day. Nice.
Mood serendipitously set, I got right to it. Four excellent short and spooky stories about body image, hard choices, friendship, and loss later, I can now say I have read everything Rachel Harrison has published. I can't pick just one so here are my favorites (in no particular order): all of them.
My favorite of the short stories in Bad Dolls though, was Bridesmaid. A woman heads to a remote cabin for her childhood friend's bachelor party and finds that she doesn't quite fit in with her old friend's new friends. That's okay, she grew up with her friend, they know everything about each other, they're like sisters, right? Or does she no longer fit in with her childhood friend either?
While my childhood friendships didn't end in horror, this story hit hard for me. We'll just say my I highlighted lines about friendship I related to so often the ink might have run out if it wasn't on a Kindle. Excellent story, just like the rest, but one that really spoke to me.
Of course I recommend Bad Dolls, just like the rest of Rachel Harrison's books, to anyone who likes to get a bit emotionally invested in their horror. So good. SO GOOD.
3.5 stars, actually.
I quite enjoyed this selection of stories but I didn't feel they could be really considered horror.
That being said, I could identify with the women portrayed in the stories; her struggles and fears felt real and relatable. Obviously, they were taken to extremes, where some of the creepy and unsettling factor peeked through.
I enjoyed the writing style and the narrative voices so I will probably give this author another try.
