Frightville Book 1: 'Don't Let The Doll In' by Mike Ford

Hi guys! It's Didi here and the book that I will be reviewing is 'Don't Let The Doll In' by Mike Ford.

Summary

This book is told from the third person. When Mara hears about a new store called Frightville, she can't wait to check it out. On its shelves are peculiar and unusual items of all forms. It's there that she comes across Charlotte, a small doll of a friendly-looking girl. Mara immediately feels that Charlotte is supposed to live with her. But once Charlotte is in the dollhouse, bizarre things start to happen. There are odd things happening in the night, and objects from Mara's room start to go missing. Is Mara imagining things, or is this doll cursed?

Likes

The cover was amazing and spooky! I enjoyed the fact that the ending also spooked me a bit. I found Mara to be a kind and sweet girl. She is a 5th grader who is young at heart. Her little brother was also very adorable and was a classic 7 year old. Charlotte was a doll that I wanted when I heard the description of her.

Dislikes

This book wasn't as scary as the cover depicted it to be. I was looking for something to scare me a lot, but sadly, this was not it. I also felt that they made the grade 5 students seem younger than they actually are. Their favorite TV show was about sparkly ponies, which, in my personal opinion, is not what most 5th graders would watch! It also had some unreal things in it. Like, a parent letting a 10 and a 7 year old go into a spooky shop called 'Frightville' by themselves! It is literally called FRIGHTVILLE, people. No sensible parent would let their young kids into a store called that by themselves. Also, why did Mara expect to find a cute, normal doll at Frightville? If someone told you that they had bought a bunch of creepy action figures from a store called Frightville, would you go there looking for a cute and normal doll!

Overall

I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. I would have to rate this book a 6/10. I would recommend this book to people who like books that are only a little scary. I would NOT recommend this book to someone who is looking for a very scary book.

Thank you for reading and in the comments please recommend some books for ages 14 and below. Who knows; your book just might appear here! I hope to see you again soon! Bye!