I requested this through netgalley because the premise sounded awesome, hole quotes, Sylvia Plath, virgin suicides comparison. What's not to like.
Well it turns out quite a lot. I'm not sure Sadie had a character outside of being a bit wet and sleeping with her dead friends husband. The plot was just long and the ending a bit like the conclusion of a Channel 5 melodrama.
I really wanted to love this and basically started and stopped reading it several times so it actually took weeks to read. Of the positives, it wasn't badly written, the characters quite defined and clear. And probably has a really good appeal to other women of my age (who started adulthood the same time as Nikki and Sadie). Thank you again for the chance to read it but it really wasn't for me.

I loved this book, every time I put it down I was itching to open it back up again so I could understanding what was happening! Loved it, reminded me of coco mellor writing a bit in the way of writing about women I dunno I just really enjoyed it

I have to be honest and say I very nearly DNF this book.

Boy am I glad I carried on reading! The small intricacies of the characters and the gentle discovery of the mystery behind the tragedy of The Sylvia Club became more intriguing as the story progressed. The flawed dual narrative was well considered and the consideration for some difficult topics was well voiced.

📚Book Review📚
@pennyzang has written her first novel Doll Parts and it’s for lovers of Sylvia Plath, gothic writing and life in the 90s. I won’t lie but this was a 5⭐️ read for me from the first page. I loved the characters, the setting and the whole vibe of this book. Thanks to @netgalley and @bookmarked for the proof - I’ll be purchasing a physical copy once it’s published at the end of this month.

If Virgin Suicides was in the viewpoint of the girls, I feel this book would be close to that. If you enjoy mysteries, dark academia & ghost stories, I highly recommend this.

I was excited to pick this up everytime; the writing is so addictive, I loved Zang's descriptions of the settings, especially during the flashback scenes where we're taken through the college. This was so dark & almost dream-like, it didn't feel like a typical mystery book, it felt a lot deeper than that which I loved. This is one of those books I read where I'm just in awe of the writing all the way through & wish I could write as well as that.

I really enjoyed the narrative on grief & female friendships this seemed to have, especially in the last couple chapters which were actually more emotional than I'd anticipated. It felt like the writer really bonded with Nikki & Sadie in the process of creating this which in turn made them such interesting characters & easy to attach to as a reader. I know dual timelines can be a little hit or miss for some but I thought it was done well in this book, I can't recall any moment where I was left feeling confused or needing to double check which timeline I was in & I especially loved the final Nikki chapter. This also had a bigger supernatural vibe to it than I'd expected first going in but I loved that, it made the entire book more eerie & haunting & just clicked with the overall story well.

I also loved how twisty turny this book was, more so toward the end. For parts of the book, it seems quite sad girl literary-esque (not a bad thing!) until you're smacked with a twist that you don't see coming & it's back to being a grungy mystery where you just want to get to the revelation. I personally have never read Sylvia Plath so a lot of the big nods to her life & work throughout this may have gone over my head slightly but this still didn't stop me enjoying it, if anything it's just made me want to learn more about her now.

I can't think of a single thing I disliked about this which makes it an obvious five star read for me. I can't wait to see what Penny brings out in the future with this being her debut!

Thank you Sourcebooks UK & Netgalley for the free eARC!

I found this a rather confusing read. I was never quite sure if I was reading about Nikki or Sadie without checking back. It was all rather far fetched with the haunting presence of Nikki.

The suspense in the book is amazing......... The friendships even better!!!!!

I loved all the references to the dead girls, ouija boards and the twists most definitely kept me guessing.

Such a well thought out plot line that will definitely have me recommending this book to others xxxxx

A disappointing read.

Whilst initially an interesting read, Doll Parts quickly fell apart for me.

The friendship between Nikki and Sadie was realistic and well written and I enjoyed that the story was written from different perspectives and throughout different time periods.

However, I found the plot to be a rambling mess. Unnecessary characters, bad pacing and ridiculous twists made this a chore to read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks UK | Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC.

I wanted to love this but it didn't quite have as much oomph as I was looking for. I enjoyed following Sadie at the beginning and the conflict she felt between herself and the rest of the community that she lived in. However I found the second half became more about the supernatural elements which didn't gel for me and I feel like I would have almost enjoyed it more if the reader was left questioning if Nikki was "there" or questioning Sadie sanity.

wow what a thoughtful and thought provoking chilling and brilliant book. i was completely taken in by this story and couldn't wait to get stuck in and then where it would lead me.
we are given a dual timelines to this book. we follow Sadie and Nikki who were once the best of friends. but those years were followed around by an undercurrent of something sinister with suspicious deaths on their campus.
Nikki was always obsessed with this 'club' but now in the present Nikki is sadly dead. but their is something surrounding that death that also feels off. is she the last victim of the club?
somehow(well sex after a funeral and a pregnancy might do that) now Sadie finds herself taken into the role of her old friend. shes living in the footsteps of her house, her husband but there also feels something more going on. there is a presence still with Sadie. is Nikki chasing her or trying to get her to chase something? or is this grief plane and simple horrible and awful grief.
this books capture the relationships of those young girls perfectly. and wow it felt raw at times and then nostalgic at others. if anyone is young and feeling raw to this right now and thinks "will it always feels like this" about certain things. i can tell you it wont. because boy does it all feel so different and can you view it different when you are 'older' or out of that time in life.
this is a story about friendships with a side dish of mystery in both timelines that weaves itself around and weaves itself through the whole thing. there is layers and depths to unpack and moments of reflection.
this book felt new to me, it held it unique own and i really enjoyed that.

I enjoyed this dual timeline mystery thriller, especially the Sylvia Plath references, and was eager to learn the truth along with protagonist Sadie. I was a little disappointed by the crescendo but would still recommend nonetheless.

I am clearly in the minority with my opinion here but this book made me so angry. It started so well, and I loved the friendship between Nikki and Sadie (this is pretty much the only reason I gave it 2 stars instead of 1).

While I enjoyed the switch between the characters perspectives and the chapters moving between then and now, I really struggled to remember who was who (I think this was a me problem - the characters are so close that they merge into one a lot which seems intentional but just made me feel confused).

The second half of the book was just a mess. New storylines just appeared for no reason, characters were inconsistent and though I thought some of the twists were obvious, others were just ridiculous. The pacing was all over the place too - as nice as it was to see how much the two main characters cared about each other, it was hard to slog through pages and pages of them talking about it.

The most frustrating thing about the whole book was the lack of motive. I still don't understand why everything happened!

3.75/4⭐️

Thank you to Sourcebooks UK and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I found this really intriguing. What first caught my attention was the cover. It’s so striking and atmospheric, I couldn’t help but be curious. Once I read the blurb, I knew I had to request it. While it took me a little while to get fully into the story, I ended up really enjoying it. The dual timeline was well done and added depth to the mystery, and I loved how it was told from the perspectives of two best friends. The dark academia and slightly eerie tone throughout also gave the book a compelling edge.

It did take some time to get my head around the premise. As we know from the blurb Nikki has now died and Sadie is now pregnant by her late friend’s husband. That element definitely made me pause, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it at first. Especially as Harrison Nikki‘s husband was still grieving for her and he into the space despite moving her into the home that Nikki had created it was all very weird and just added to the mystery of it. But as the story went on and the flashbacks began to fill in the blanks, everything started to make more sense. I was fascinated by the way the past and present slowly wove together, revealing secrets and connections I hadn’t anticipated.

The ending wasn’t exactly what I expected, and there were a few moments that felt a little unresolved for me, but overall it kept me engaged and eager to see how everything would come together.

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc I was really excited to dive into this book and add it to my year book count but the write up didn’t turn out to be what I expected. I found the storyline a little over the top and the supernatural element to the book wasn’t something I enjoyed. I stuck with it even though towards the middle it felt like it was dragging but overall for me it wasn’t a hit. That’s not to say the book wasn’t well written with a good storyline and excellent characters it just wasn’t my kind of read.
The story flowed well with excellent descriptions and scene setting and generally well written. For that reason I’m going to give 4 stars as the book itself wasn’t the problem!

Thanks to Sourcebooks UK and NetGalley for an advanced copy of Doll Parts by Penny Zang.

An almost supernatural thriller that had elements of ‘If We Were Villains’ running through it.

This was mysterious, dark and full of literary references to Silvia Plath and explored female rage, sadness and the messiness of youth.

Told in two timelines, this had me itching for answers and all was revealed in dramatic fashion at the end.

This supernatural thriller is told from the perspective of Sadie in the present day and Nikki in the past. Nikki has committed suicide however before she died, she was working on a piece of research involving the school Loch Raven. A school she attended with Sadie. During their time there Nikki outlines how she was haunted by young girls who committed suicide while at the school. One in particular stands out as she wasn’t depressed. Could their deaths be linked to the novelist and poet Sylvia Plath as each were forced to study her by their professor Weedler

Fast forward, Sadie and Nikki have not spoken for over twenty years but are reunited in Nikki's suicide. Sadie and Harrison, Nikki’s husband have fallen in love and now have a baby. She has moved into his home and becomes haunted by the ghost of Nikki who is trying to lead her to piece together the mystery of the dead girls.

As a fan of Sylvia Plath and Prince, the novel was certainly entertaining. I quickly devoured the first half and despite it slowing down in the middle, I am glad I persevered as the ending delivered.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ahead of publication.

Told throughout two time periods, Doll Parts explores a series of deaths, that are all labelled as suicides. But is it really that clear cut?

As a thriller it's okay. The story can't really hold up against the weight of itself, and the page numbers. It starts to sag a little around the middle, as the present timeline is not really going at any speed and the past is heading towards a very obvious ending. the present does pick up a little as you get further in, but it can't quite stick the landing for me.

As an exploration of grief, of female rage, female friendships and the way in which emotional scars travel across the generations however, it is fantastic. The hint of supernatural elements are perfectly played, and its never really treated as ghosts, but rather grief bursting out of the mind, refusing to be contained. All the characters in this book are screaming in pain, even when silent. There is so much agony, so much lost.

The two main characters are fun enough, engaging and sympathetic even when they make terrible, cruel and sometimes selfish choices. Nikki is perhaps a little unbelievable at times, at least with her foresight, which for the sake of the plot, is always just that tiny bit too good.

A good exploration of 'sad girls' and the things that drive them, entertaining and tragic.

College days some are now memorable than others like life, for Sadie and Nikki well let's hope no let's read,

Set in the present after Nikki died far too young but dipping into the past, Sadie is now living in her friends home and investigating the events of the past (college) plus the now and did she really end it herself????? The neighbours are interesting to put it mildly whose the good guys and who isn't ? Well that's the fun of this book we get to guess try to work it out, as week as follow the plot as new clues and twists emerge. What's Harrisons role the strange man whose in both their lives.

It's such a great read I can't do anything but give it 5 stars, i confess if i don't like a book i don't finish it so to give a 3 star or lower is rare as I wouldn't rate them at all. But I read every page of this because i loved it all and got to the end of what was definitely a 5 star read.

I expected to really enjoy this book, with all it's literary references, but for some reason, it fell short for me.
I found the writing a bit OTT and pretentious. The character sand plotlines were rather chaotic, and the final straw for me was the fantasy / supernatural element.
There were one or two good parts, but overall disappointing.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC in return for an honest review..

College was supposed to be good for Nikki and Sadie.

But there was the Sylvia Club - a group of Sylvia Plath fans whose deaths were all put down to suicide.

Nikki starts digging...

Sadie hasn't seen Nikki for almost twenty years. And now Nikki is dead...