hailey
This was a super disappointing read for me since I really enjoyed Mique's debut novel, “Them”. Unfortunately, “Broken Dolls” didn't hit for me in the same way as his previous release.
There was very little plot aside from the torture and debasement of the entire cast of characters, excluding only our main villain. If there was stellar character development driving the story, I really wouldn't have an issue with this. However, I feel like I didn't get to know any of the characters in a meaningful way. Overall, this made the novella feel very one note.
Additionally, one of the main features I enjoyed in “Them” was the meaningful commentary, and there was almost none that I could gather from this story. Books are obviously allowed to be “just for fun” and don't always have to have something to say, but that's just what I prefer to read. I also think if there was some kind of commentary, it may have helped me to align with the characters a bit more. But again, this is just personal preference at the end of the day.
I did thoroughly enjoy Mique's descriptive writing and the passion he has for crafting gorey scenes really shines here. There is no doubt that he is a talented writer and has a gift for creating visuals, whether those visuals are beautiful or twisted.
I do want to note that I wasn't the biggest fan of the content in this book. The abuse described was mainly directed at a very young minor and it made me exceedingly uncomfortable throughout, which Mique might argue was the point (valid!) but it was not for me (which is also valid!).
Lastly, the misogyny in this book was also horrifying to me... and I'm not sure that this was an intentional part of the horror created by the novel. It seemed like it stemmed from a lack of awareness and insensitivity towards the female characters, rather than a carefully crafted literary device. This is something I see a lot from male-identifying authors, particularly in the extreme horror community. I hope to see this start to shift sometime soon, but I'm not holding my breath.
Take all of my thoughts with a grain of salt based on personal preference (not every book is for everyone!) and please go support Mique by reading “Them” on KU now!!
Thank you to Mique for providing me with an ARC! I feel extremely privileged to be one of the early readers and I look forward to seeing how future releases grow over time.
& that's all she wrote for this extremely (painfully) honest review! I hope y'all know that you can trust me to be 100% transparent with my literary opinions, even when I'm reviewing the work of someone I know.
i wanted to give this a higher rating but i had issues with the character arcs. both of these ladies need therapy in a BAD way. i'm all for unlikable characters, but the underlying “commentary” that made these characters unlikable just felt plain mean and judgmental. it wasn't fun-unlikable, if that makes sense. it was like we were being told by the author who we should like or who was “right” morally, even though i had a visceral dislike for that character. i did enjoy the storytelling, the campiness, the plot and the way i could see both of the main characters as different influences on modern femininity, but those aspects didn't outweigh the major flaws in the main characters' development.
i loved parts of this (the gore, the setting and the LGBTQIA rep) but the writing style wasn't my favorite and i had to knock off a couple stars for the confused plot. too much going on for not enough book. nothing had the chance to be fleshed out. also... the moms voice in the main characters head was so odd.
this book was genuinely so bad. i LOVE splatterpunk and extreme horror, so it's not the extreme gore, disgust and violence that led to me writing this review. it was the piss poor writing, lazy and confused plot and completely obvious money grab that was this sequel. i enjoyed the first book. the follow up should have been left in the drafts
there were quite a few things i liked about this book (the character background and development, the overall “moral” of the story around greed, the mental health content, the small insertions of quirky humor amongst the gore, and of course the extreme gore and disgust.... this is splatterpunk, people) but there were also quite a few things i didn't enjoy (the writing had an overwritten quality to it that disturbed the fluency of the novella... every SAT word ever is not required lol, the ending (in my opinion) took a great meaningful story and undermined it by going full throttle into ridiculous humor and offensive stereotyping, and the very last sentence so obviously set us up for a sequel that we didn't need). overall, i feel like the good outweighs the bad here and if you're a fan of splatterpunk, you will definitely be entertained!
the format was actually very fun, but the story was lackluster and didn't give me the detail of extreme horror i was promised. it felt like lazy writing and a lot of the language was misogynistic and offensive (the r word, “prostitute”). i'm not sure if this was part of the “offensive” nature of extreme horror, but even so, it was poorly executed and added nothing to the story. this is a book for incels.
ughhhhhhh this last installment in the series dropped the ball for me. i can't decide if i enjoyed the darker themes and twists in this one or not. it was definitely a choice... and not a choice i would've predicted for pip, especially with all of the suspension of disbelief that was involved here... that's soooo not pip's style. & omg the drAMA at the end and the focus on the romance had me rolling my eyes. pip needs to get over herself in this one. i can't deny that the story was engrossing though. and the twists were shocking as always.
