Broken Dolls

Malinenko, Ally. Broken Dolls
September 1, 2025 by HarperCollins
E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Kaye Prescott has struggled since the death of her beloved grandfather, and her stress has manifested itself in arithromomania (needing to count objects) as well as some selective mutism. Her mother Deena takes Kaye and her younger sister Holly to spend the summer in the grandfather’s house, which is now owned by her Uncle Stan. He and his new boyfriend David are glad to have the girls there, and even take them to a local Cheese Festival in their town of Monroe, New York. There, Holly plays a game and wins an antique porcelain doll from the Poppet Maker. The doll looks eerily similar to Holly, and she even calls it “Holly-doll”. Their grandfather apparently collected dolls, so when Holly is insistent that they dig up the yard looking for “treasure”, it’s creepy but not surprising that they find two doll heads that Holly named Tamzin and Eudora. There is a neighbor girl, Joey, who befriends Kaye, and is patient with her quiet ways. She had a friend who lived in the house, and who said creepy things went on there; she had a breakdown and moved away with her family. As Holly finds more dolls, and as those dolls get stranger and stranger, Kaye becomes concerned and starts investigating. She finds a journal that belonged to Joey’s friend, and it talks about the dolls “taking over”. Kaye’s mother and uncle don’t seem to notice the growing number of dolls, or Holly’s odd behavior. Uncle Stan is doing renovations on the house, and they turn up a secret room, where there is a picture of the Poppet Maker… from the early 1900s! Kaye is alarmed to learn the history of the Poppet Maker, but it does explain why her sister seems to be turning into a doll. Kaye, who still thinks about her grandfather and can’t get over his loss, wants her sister to live forever, but has this wish been misinterpreted? Is it too late to save Holly?
Strengths: The Poppet Maker had an interesting historical background that gave a lot of depth to this story, which had plenty of horrific moments as well. Tying in the 1919 flu epidemic with Kaye’s fear of death was rather brilliant. Being at her grandfather’s house probably made dealing with his death more difficult, but she was seeing a therapist virtually, and Dr. Shante helps her process some of her emotions and reactions. Holly’s obsession with dolls is laughed off by the adults, who claim that it’s perfectly normal behavior for a six year old to have a fantasy world surrounding her dolls, so of course Kaye is the only one who can save her sister. I was glad to see that Kaye was able to befriend Joey, and the two could work together on the mystery.
Weaknesses: Malinenko’s lyrical writing often combines creepiness with allegory and mental health issues, and my students seem to prefer straight, cheesy horror like the works of K.R. Alexander or Chris Krovatin. Creepy dolls are something people either like or will absolutely not touch, so decide what is best for your library collection. I won't be buying this one. 
What I really think: There have been so many books about creepy dolls since Hahn’s 1989 The Doll in the Garden that I was surprised the book description didn’t reference a newer title. Readers who are fond of this author’s work will want to pick up this title, and add it to a “creepy doll” story collection that includes Sutherland’s Night of the Living Dolls, Mott’s Hush-a-Bye, Ford’s The Headless Doll, Alexander’s Speak for Me, Cohen’s The Doll’s Eye, and Bell’s Frozen Charlotte.