  | Book Details Title: Hollow Dolls |
Book DescriptionReview “Connolly… introduces new characters and a gripping plot with a twist-all sure to captivate readers.” – Booklist“[An] entertaining start to a new series…Simone’s attempt to unravel the secrets of her past is relatable.” – Publishers Weekly“Fans of the original duology will delight…new readers will also find plenty to digest here.” – The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books“This fantasy covers a lot of ground-suspense, friendship, bravery, family, and magic. Plot twists will surprise even readers paying close attention…A recommended purchase.” – School Library Journal“Coming-of-age themes and issues will resonate with readers and perhaps offer some insight into how to deal with the complexities of this often difficult time of life. Students in this age group will relate well to Simone’s unwavering loyalty to a friend and her determination to face hard truths no matter how difficult the journey. ” – School Library Connection Read more About the Author MarcyKate Connolly is a New York Times bestselling children’s book author and nonprofit administrator who lives in New England with her family and a grumble of pugs. She graduated from Hampshire College (a magical place where they don’t give you grades) where she wrote an opera sequel to Hamlet as the equivalent of senior thesis. It was also there that she first fell in love with plotting and has been dreaming up new ways to make life difficult for her characters ever since. She is also the author of the Shadow Weaver series and The Star Shepherd. You can visit her online at marcykate.com. Read more Customers Review: Reading books by MarcyKate is always all kinds of fun. Hollow Dolls was no different. It was a stunning story. This book was a three star for me. Adorable, but not perfect. Which makes me a little sad. But I still enjoyed it so very much. And I cannot wait to read even more books by MarcyKate. I truly love all her worlds.This one is somewhat a sequel to the Shadow Weaver duology. It tells the story of Simone, a girl that we got to know then. And so this story is from a different point of view. But still set at the same time in the same world. Which I liked a whole lot because this world was all kinds of interesting and I loved exploring it all.I had so many thoughts about this book. It was short and easy to read, which I loved. I enjoyed getting to know Simone a little bit more. And her best friend, Sebastian, whom she is staying with. They were both captured by Lady Aisling, kept captive for years and years and used because of powers they had gotten from a comet that passes every twenty five years. Which is all kinds of awesome. But this lady had many different talents in her garden. Talents that stole memories and kept you young for years. And so Simone and Sebastian still look and feel about twelve years old, I think. But they are much older than that, though they dont feel so. Which was so horrible yet fascinating to read about. They had been used for years, which was the worst.What I liked most about this book was simply to read about Simone. She has the talent of being a mind reader. Which was pretty interesting to read about. She tries her best not to read everything she comes across, but it’s not easy to control. She is still affected by being captured for so long, but this was barely mentioned. Hmph. When they were all freed, everyone had family come claim them. But Simone did not. She cannot find any of her family. This is about her going to a huge library to search for their lost village.Which I liked reading about too. I liked reading about the library and all the different people working there. It was interesting to learn different things too. What I adored a whole lot about Simone was that her mind wandered a lot. She got distracted often and did not do what she was supposed to. So adored that about her. And her friendship with Sebastian was adorable too. They were such great friends. I only wish that this book had been even longer. I am excited that there is going to be a second book. I need adventures.The reason for why this book is a three star for me is because I had some issues with the writing. It felt a bit off to me. Sigh. And I felt like the characters were behaving too innocent about everything. They were a bit too pure for me. Ha. Which is so not a bad thing, but it felt weird for me, considering they had been held captive and used for bad things for so so many years. Felt like they should have been affected more, that they should have been a little darker. They felt too young, which they were, but they were not really.I completely love reading books by MarcyKate. And even though I did not fully love Hollow Dolls this was still an excellent book. And I am so pleased that I read it. And I know that I will always read books by this author. Because she is awesome. And I love the different fantasy worlds she creates in her books. I think you should all read every book by MarcyKate Connolly. They are all so good. All are middle grade but she has a young adult book out next year, and I so cannot wait to read that one was well. I’m so very excited.—This review was first posted on my blog, Carina’s Books.
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3 reviews