REVIEW: Doll Bones by Holly Black

Title:                       Doll Bones
Author:                   Holly Black 
Release Date:      May 7/2013
Genre:                Middle Grade Paranormal

Publisher:           Margaret K. McElderry

Page Count:        256

Acquired:            NetGalley

Format:              Ebook

Read From:         March 20/2013

Goodreads:         ADD

Purchase:           Amazon/Indigo/The Book Depository

Zach, Poppy and Alice have been friends for ever. They love playing with their action figure toys, imagining a magical world of adventure and heroism. But disaster strikes when, without warning, Zach’s father throws out all his toys, declaring he’s too old for them. Zach is furious, confused and embarrassed, deciding that the only way to cope is to stop playing . . . and stop being friends with Poppy and Alice.

But one night the girls pay Zach a visit, and tell him about a series of mysterious occurrences. Poppy swears that she is now being haunted by a china doll – who claims that it is made from the ground-up bones of a murdered girl. They must return the doll to where the girl lived, and bury it. Otherwise the three children will be cursed for eternity...

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Okay, before I even start, can we all please take a few minutes to STARE at the cover of this book!?Because, REALLY, have you ever bared witness to such fantastic-ness!? I've said it before, and I'll say it a million times more: Middle Grade covers are a constant WIN. The genre is a magnet to SO many talented artists, I just..I can't even. The artist that designed the cover for Doll Bones, illustrator/author Elize Wheeler, can be found here. PLEASE check her out!

I'm gonna go ahead an say it: I've never read a Holly Black book before this. UGH, I KNOW. There was always the intention to get to the Spiderwick Chronicles, and I WILL, I promise. Add to that the extra guilt I feel because I use to work at a bookstore, and had the ability to buy/borrow them whenever I want. *SIGH* I have no excuses. But yes, Doll Bones. Let me discuss the many ways this book made me grin like a crazy person, and dizzy with nostalgia. 

The book opening: EPIC. The three main characters are submersed in a role-playing game involving mermaids and pirates. Enough said. I was already hooked. Zach, Poppy and Alice have been best friends since childhood, but we meet them as they are about to enter the delicate transitional period from child to young teen. The story unfolds through the perspective of Zach, as he struggles to find a balance between growing up, and staying loyal to his friends, and the world that they've built through playing their adventure game. The "Queen" of this world happens to be a bone-china doll that sits untouched, and locked behind a display cabinet in Alice's house. After an unfortunate, and interesting turn of events that has them questioning the solidity of their friendship, the trio embark on an adventure fueled by the "fact" that the china doll is actually made up of the crushed up bones of a young girl murdered by her father. A young girl who now, thanks to a special appearance in Alice's dreams, wants her bones/the doll to be buried in her grave a few towns over.

Doll Bones is the epitome of Middle Grade fiction, and THEN some. The "then some" being the added touch of spook/creepiness that I've read that Miss Black is famous for.The characters were dynamic, and realistic and could have very well been me at 14 years old. I loved the conflict caused by such innocence and inevitability-the confusion of wanting to grow up and do "cool" things, but not being quite ready to turn off your childhood imagination. It was possibly the most perfect age/period to write these characters at. They were conflicted on the inside, but also outwardly, at each other. Throughout the entire story, there were moments of interaction and dialogue where Zach, Poppy or Alice questions the others thoughts/motives, or expresses disbelief at how much the other is "changing who they use to be." Doll Bones is essentially a story about growing up, and the fear that you might be doing it faster or slower than everyone else around you. It was comforting, and it was familiar. I wanted to keep every line of this book inside of my head forever.

The story line was spectacularly written, and I was surprised at how I literally got chills from the creepy parts. So much of it was written subtly, but the possibility of it made me shudder in the best ways. The AMAZING artwork inside was an added bonus. I think I spent MINUTES just staring at every detail of the lines, the shadows, in complete awe and appreciation. I'm SO glad I finally read something by Holly Black, and cannot WAIT to get my hands on ANYTHING else she's ever written.

Recommended for fans of: Goosebumps (books & tv show), Are You Afraid of the Dark, paranormal, coming of age, and EPIC Middle Grade fiction.