As if the wives of Stepford went to the Valley of the Dolls.
Joining an elite entertainment company might rocket you to stardom—or it might destroy you, as two young women discover in this deliciously sensational thriller.
In 1998, Ivy Gordon is the luckiest woman in the world. Star of the hit TV show In the Dollhouse and known for her numerous award-winning albums, she’s the face of Dahlen Entertainment, a secretive powerhouse run by the mysterious Genevieve Spalding. But Ivy also knows Dahlen’s secrets, and she’s writing them down in her diary. Ivy’s story is intercut with that of narrator Ramona and her best friend, Grace, two young actresses who are invited to join Dahlen’s elite “Dollhouse Academy,” a breeding ground for up-and-coming stars. The culture reveals itself, unsurprisingly, to be cutthroat and intense in every way. Grace is handpicked early on by Genevieve to be the next superstar, with a spinoff show and music tour of her own, but Ramona struggles in her classes and keeps getting passed over for auditions; plus, she’s kind of creeped out by the pills and medical appointments being foisted on her. Maybe whoever is leaving anonymous, threatening notes in her mailbox is actually trying to warn her away from dangers at the heart of Dahlen, like Project Understudy. No one seems to know what it is, but it’s enough to cause one student to have a breakdown, and Genevieve to threaten Ramona with instant expulsion if she ever mentions it. Maybe handsome Mason, Genevieve’s assistant, can help Ramona uncover the truth. He certainly seems to show up whenever she needs a shoulder to cry on. Montimore’s characters would be chewing on the scenery if they could; everyone is dialed up to 11, extreme versions of their character archetypes, but what could be more fun?
As if the wives of Stepford went to the Valley of the Dolls.Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2025
ISBN: 9781250320650
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A pulpy throwback that shines a light on abuses even magic can’t erase.
Hung out to dry by the elders who betrayed them, a squad of pregnant teens fights back with old magic.
Hendrix has a flair for applying inventive hooks to horror, and this book has a good one, chock-full with shades of V.C. Andrews, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Foxfire, to name a few. Our narrator, Neva Craven, is 15 and pregnant, a fate worse than death in the American South circa 1970. She’s taken by force to Wellwood House in Florida, a secretive home for unwed mothers where she’s given the name Fern. She’ll have the baby secretly and give it up for adoption, whether she likes it or not. Under the thumb of the house’s cruel mistress, Miss Wellwood, and complicit Dr. Vincent, Neva forges cautious alliance with her fellow captives—a new friend, Zinnia; budding revolutionary Rose; and young Holly, raped and impregnated by the very family minister slated to adopt her child. All seems lost until the arrival of a mysterious bookmobile and its librarian, Miss Parcae, who gives the girls an actual book of spells titled How To Be a Groovy Witch. There’s glee in seeing the powerless granted some well-deserved payback, but Hendrix never forgets his sweet spot, lacing the story with body horror and unspeakable cruelties that threaten to overwhelm every little victory. In truth, it’s not the paranormal elements that make this blast from the past so terrifying—although one character evolves into a suitably scary antagonist near the end—but the unspeakable, everyday atrocities leveled at children like these. As the girls lose their babies one by one, they soon devote themselves to secreting away Holly and her child. They get some help late in the game but for the most part they’re on their own, trapped between forces of darkness and society’s merciless judgement.
A pulpy throwback that shines a light on abuses even magic can’t erase.Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2025
ISBN: 9780593548981
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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