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    Doll Bones
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    Doll Bones
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    Doll Bones
    Audiobook5 hours

    Doll Bones

    Written by Holly Black

    Narrated by Nick Podehl

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    A doll that may be haunted leads three friends on a thrilling adventure in this delightfully creepy novel from the New York Times bestselling cocreator of the Spiderwick Chronicles.

    Zach, Poppy, and Alice have been friends forever. And for almost as long, they've been playing one continuous, ever-changing game of pirates and thieves, mermaids and warriors. Ruling over all is the Great Queen, a bone-china doll cursing those who displease her. But they are in middle school now. Zach's father pushes him to give up make-believe, and Zach quits the game. Their friendship might be over, until Poppy declares she's been having dreams about the Queen-and the ghost of a girl who will not rest until the bone-china doll is buried in her empty grave.

    Zach and Alice and Poppy set off on one last adventure to lay the Queen's ghost to rest. But nothing goes according to plan, and as their adventure turns into an epic journey, creepy things begin to happen. Is the doll just a doll or something more sinister? And if there really is a ghost, will it let them go now that it has them in its clutches?
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateMay 7, 2013
    ISBN9780804122917
    Author

    Holly Black

    Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling and award-winning author of speculative and fantasy novels, short stories, and comics. She has been a finalist for an Eisner and a Lodestar Award, and the recipient of the Mythopoeic and Nebula Awards and a Newbery Honor. She has sold over twenty-six million books worldwide, and her work has been translated into over thirty languages and adapted for film. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret library. Visit her at BlackHolly.com.

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    Reviews for Doll Bones

    4/5

    446 ratings76 reviews

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    • 4/5
      See full review at The Indigo Quill

      How deliciously creepy is the cover of this book?? Oh my goodness, I kept passing it at the book store and finally decided to buy it! It also helped that it had a "Newbery Honor" sticker on the front, too. And the part where it says "New York Times best-selling author and co-creator of The Spiderwick Chronicles."Basically, the entire cover worked in Holly Black's favor. Well played, Miss Black, and kudos to your talented illustrator, Eliza Wheeler.

      Doll Bones is an adorably sinister book with just the perfect mixture of creepy and innocence to keep a reader hanging on for the ride. It isn't necessarily a children's horror book, but more so a story of friends who are making the transition from adolescence to young adulthood.

      I don't want to give the wrong idea by saying "horror" because this book isn't scary, but rather creepy [at times]. I was actually hoping for a little more creepiness, but for the young mind who likes mystery and perhaps has a weak tolerance for things that may give them nightmares, this is a good selection. The doll in this book is sinister and ghostly, but the "scary" factor is fairly minimal. Just don't let your kid read it in the dark.

      The main character, Zach, was more developed than the two girls as the book is written from his point of view. And although people said it was difficult to tell Poppy and Alice apart, I digress. Poppy was more of a tomboy with an unfettered creative spirit, while Alice was much more genteel, feminine, and way less adventurous (I often questioned if she was at all). For the most part, the characters were believable with their dispositions and angst and their interactions reminded me of all the make-believe I used to play with my friends during my childhood.

      The only other thing I would complain about is that there were a couple spelling errors I had caught. Minimal, but they were still there. This seems to be more common these days, and with all the technology and editors we have out there, it really shouldn't be.

      I enjoyed this book, not necessarily for richness of content, but for the sentimentality of watching the characters grow. The Queen played her part well, too, but I definitely don't want her visiting my dreams!
    • 4/5
      Poppy, Alice, and Zach are in that tricky stage in between being a kid and being a teenager. Their favorite thing to do each afternoon is to play with figurines they've created “characters” for, with long elaborate histories. The Queen, a really old doll in Poppy’s mom’s china cabinet, is in charge of all the characters even though she can’t be touched (or Poppy’s mom would kill them). When Zach's father decides he's too old to be playing with toys and gets rid of the precious figurines, Zach is furious. He's so upset that he tells Alice and Poppy he doesn’t want to play with them anymore, and that he's outgrown their games. When Poppy and Alice wake Zach up one night to show him The Queen and tell him how she came to Poppy as a ghost named Eleanor, it's terrifying. Although he's scared, Zach knows he must go on the quest to bury her bones. They sneak out and take the bus to the cemetery to bury the bones of a girl who was never put to rest properly. On their quest they have ups and downs; there are hurdles that they could not imagine, and people who are just as creepy as the ghostly girl haunting their dreams. Will they make it back home by dinnertime? Will they ever find the place to bury Eleanor? Is Poppy telling the truth or has she made up the whole story about the ghost? You will have to read this adventure about growing up to find out how everything turns out!


      After I saw the picture on the cover, I was nervous to read Doll Bones by Holly Black. I have always found certain dolls to be a little creepy and scary. I liked that the characters in the book enjoyed using their imaginations and that they had such a good friendship, even though they were each so unique and different. When Zach's toys got thrown away my heart went out to him, and I kept wishing he would tell his friends why he didn't want to play with them anymore. Throughout the quest I kept wondering what was going to happen next, and if they would make it home safely. I think the characters did some things that are a little dangerous, and I know if I sneaked out in the middle of the night my parents would probably kill me! Still, I think this is a book that a lot of kids can relate to as they struggle between wanting to stay kids and needing to grow up. Because the book has its creepy, spooky moments, I would recommend it to kids in fourth grade and up who like ghost stories.
    • 3/5
      I think this can be a strong contender for The Newbery, but I didn't particularly enjoy it. I think middle school girls will.
    • 4/5
      Zach, Poppy and Alice have been friends since elementary school. They play a role playing game that they make up as they go. Pirates, thieves, mermaids and other creatures live in an imaginary world created by the trio. The Great Queen is the ruler of all. She is a china doll that resides in Poppy’s mothers glass cabinet that she cannot escape from.The kids are now in middle school and things are changing. Zach plays on the basketball team, and his father has come back into his life. His father doesn’t understand his son playing this game, using dolls as the figures. He wants his son to grow up and quit the make-believe play. When his father throws out all of Zach’s figures to force the issue, Zach doesn’t know how to tell the others that he can’t play the game any longer. He just tells Poppy and Alice that he is quitting the game without any reason.Zach’s quitting seems like it may break up the friendship of the group, but Poppy tells them that she is having strange dreams about the Queen. It is about the ghost of a girl who is telling Poppy she won’t rest till the Queen is buried in her own grave.The three decide to take on this quest as the Last Quest. They leave their homes in the dark of the night, telling no one where they are going. They have plans but the plans to play out and they have to become resourceful to see the quest through. During this adventure they discover things about themselves. Their strengths and weaknesses, fears and hopes, and the fact that their friendship is valuable to each other.I took my time on this and it felt like I was enjoying a long and complicated adventure, even though it is only a 244 page book. Another good read for kids and adults. I think that both could read it together and have something to talk about!
    • 3/5
      This was a creepy, well-done middle grade read. It surrounds three friends who have created an elaborate world of play with their imaginations, but one begins to pull away when his father and teammates tease him. But when a possible ghost enters their lives, the three friends must go on one more quest together.
    • 4/5
      The ending...all that good up for that ending?!
    • 3/5
      One of the many things that creep me out is dolls. So, when I read the synopsis of Doll Bones, I thought this would be the perfect semi-scary story for me to read during my favorite spooky month. While there were some creepy moments, the story was lacking something necessary for any horror story to scare me. It lacked sense.

      As an example, without any spoilers, there is a scene in which something horrible happens and the children think the doll, haunted by the spirit of a little girl, did it. However, why would the doll be the culprit when the doll/spirit wants the kids to help her? I kept waiting for a more plausible explanation. Wouldn't it make more sense if it had been someone or something trying to stop the kids from helping the doll? I thought I was going to get that explanation when the kids come in contact with a woman later on in the story. One of the kids, Zach, thinks there seems to be something a bit off about this woman, somehow. However, nothing else happens with her and the story moves on to the next part. That didn't make any sense either. Why bring it up, through Zach's thoughts, and then not do anything with it? I won't go into detail about what I thought was going to happen or who the woman was because that would include spoilers, but suffice it to say I was a little disappointed.

      My other reason for choosing Doll Bones is because I've only ever heard great things about the author, Holly Black. As I said, the book does have its creepy moments, so it wasn't a total dud, but I would have enjoyed it a lot more if those moments made sense in relation to the overall plot. Perhaps the average Middle-grade reader wouldn't notice the plot holes and would instead just enjoy a creepy "Goosebumps"-style story. When it comes to getting kids to read more, this book is still worth a shot, especially if you can find a copy at the library.
    • 4/5
      Zachary, Alice, and Poppy are three best friends that have created The Game together, an immersive fantasy story where their various toys are actually characters in an elaborate and ever-evolving story. Their game does not involve a playing board or set of dice, but is all a product of their imaginations, which means it can be done anywhere and at any time. However, the trio are getting older, and playing epic quests with toys is starting to become more difficult. Hormones are starting to come into play, and they might be worrying about what their other friends would say if they find out, and that doesn't even take into account the possibility of romantic interference. To make things worse, Zachary's dad has recently moved back in with the family, and is trying to reconnect by asserting himself as a father figure. This results in his one day throwing out all of Zach's toys, deeming them too babyish and likely to get him teased. Some of those figurines, though, were the characters that Zach played with as his main characters in The Game. Torn by a whirlwind of conflicting emotions - rage at his father, embarrassment when wondering what his basketball friends would say, and a suspicion that maybe he was being too childish after all - Zach doesn't know what to do. Rather than have to explain all of this, and bring in his problematic relationship with father, he decides not to tell Poppy and Alice what actually happened. Instead, he tells them that he thinks The Game is a silly game that he has outgrown, and he doesn't want to play any more.Needless to say, both girls are incredibly hurt. Not only do they want Zach to continue playing with them, but they take it as an indirect insult against them, that they are playing childish games, and think that he might just be saying it because he no longer wants to be their friend. Alice backs off because of her injured feelings, but Poppy, following her aggressive nature, keeps picking at it, pushing Zach to act colder and meaner than he intended. When it seems that the trio are heading to certain break up, Poppy approaches Zach with an odd story: she thinks her doll is possessed by a ghost named Eleanor and is communicating with her. At first, Zach ignores Poppy's story. He thinks she is making one last, far-fetched attempt to get him back into The Game. Because the doll is an integral part of their fantasy world; she is the Great Queen, the ruler who runs all of the activities in the made-up land they created. The doll actually belongs to Poppy's mom, and is a delicate, antique toy that is kept secure behind glass. The kids don't physically involve the doll in their games, but do bring their other toy characters to see her. She is like the supreme being of their world. It is not surprising, then, that Zack thinks Poppy is just employing her typical dramatic flair to affect a reconciliation. However, when quiet and more serious Alice tells him that she is on board, too, Zach agrees to Poppy's plan. Which is that the three of them take the doll to find Eleanor's grave, so that she can finally be at peace. Of course, the grave isn't in their city, so the three preteen children will have to sneak out, disobey their parents, and steal the doll to make it happen. Considering that all three of them have some unresolved issues with their families - Zach is still mad at his dad and not willing to let him back into his life, Alice is bridling under the strict and overprotective care of her grandmother, and Poppy isn't too happy with her parents hardly being around and leaving their large gang of children to fend for themselves - so more issues than the dolls haunting are at stake. They take a bus out of their town in the middle of the night, and experience plenty of strange and sometimes unsettling events to make them feel that they are on a real-life adventure: the strange man on the bus that talks about aliens changing people's faces, the night their campsite is trashed and it seems that only Eleanor (the doll) could have done it, the strange dreams that Zach and Poppy keep having that seem to be about Eleanor's past life, the day they borrow a boat to try to travel more quickly, to name just a few. Eventually they do make it to their desired location, only to realize that resolving Eleanor's problem isn't their only mission on this quest - they also need to make some decisions about their families and lives, too.
    • 4/5
      The concept of this book sets it up for a good paranormal / horror story, and the writing is solid enough to keep you reading. Poppy, Zach, and Alice set out on an adventure to return the spirit of a young girl, who was murdered and turned into a bone china doll by her insane father, to her grave. The doll possesses their thoughts and dreams, forcing them to continue on their quest despite the test of their friendship. This is a good suspense and somewhat scary story for a young reader.... the audience to which it is aimed. Recommended read for the aged 9 to 12 group.
    • 5/5
      This J fiction title has won many awards including being a Newbery Honor book, and they are all deserved. It is a wonderful tale of small close knit group of friends (12 year olds) who have created a complex imaginary game that overlaps into the real world. It has action, suspense, a little bit of a creepy backstory, and great resolution.
    • 5/5
      Doll bones is a book about three friends, Zach, Alice, and Poppy, who play a magical game. They play with action figures and pretend they go on adventures. One day everything changes when Zach's dad throws Zach's action figures away and ruins the game. Zach doesn't tell his friends and acts like he doesn't want to play anymore. There is a doll in their came that is the Queen. Poppy claims to have dreams of this doll, and the doll says to bury her or they will suffer the consequences. As time goes by they all get to know what the past of the doll was like. It ended up being there was a girl that died because she was murdered by her aunt and her dad not knowing who did it, crushed up her bones and put it in a doll. Poppy makes everybody go on an adventure to bury the doll where Elenore, the doll, told them to bury her. There many events that happened that made them wonder if this was all real or not. Some things things that happened include sleeping the forest, sailing a boat across the Ohio river, and escaping from a creepy library. After all of this happens they end up finding out that Poppy made up the whole thing because that was their last game together. They buried the doll and Zach finally told them why he couldn't play. They ended up playing the game again after.I think this book deserved a four and a half. It was really good. At the end of the chapters I always was in suspense wondering what was going to happen next. I liked how eventful it was. I kept wondering if the whole thing was real or not, or if it was a joke. There were many things that proved both that it was and wasn't a game. It got to be really creepy to me when it was describing how the doll was blinking and how it magically moved a long way into the forest. I liked how it was a little creepy so I think it deserves four and a half stars.
    • 3/5
      I really enjoyed this book! I haven't had much luck with other Holly Black books in the past, so this one surprised me. It's a book that I would have loooooved as kid. I was super into spooky stories. I really liked both the characters and the writing. I just wish there'd been a little more ghost activity. The story felt like it was missing something for me. But, overall, I thought this was really cute and I had a lot of fun reading it.
    • 4/5
      children's middlegrade fiction; ghost story/adventure (unaccompanied excursion across state lines to a cemetery to appease the spirit of a creepy doll). There is actually enough pirate action and creepiness in here to keep boys (and girls) interested, and it's a pretty good story to boot. Another victory for Holly Black.
    • 4/5
      Three 12-year-old friends with an elaborate fantasy life go on a risky journey to bury a doll that one of them is convinced contains the bones and ash of a murdered girl. The story is really about the strains on their relationship as pressures of gender and sexuality come from inside and outside of them; Black is also very interested in not-good-enough parenting. Fantasy elements are present, but on the edge of “maybe imaginary.”
    • 3/5
      There's some creepiness here, but the level of scare is really left up to the reader (which I like). I really like the story, but there's something insubstantial about it. I don't know if it is the relationship between the kids, or if it is the ghost story that feels underdeveloped. Maybe it's both. Still, a neat little story.
    • 5/5
      YA, but really well done. The characters are distincly drawn personalities dealing with real emotions.
    • 3/5
      I was kind of hoping for the doll part to be creepier, but of course, I'm an adult. :) The last few chapters were the best part...this may be the one book that I kept with even when I wanted to put it down, so I'm glad that delivered. The ruminations on the end of childhood were pretty great, if quite Stand-by-Me-ish. I would recommend not listening to the audio--it did nothing to endear me to the characters.
    • 3/5
      Well written, with believable characters. Since I love fantasy, I was not that much of a fan of the "is it magic or not" question, which was never really resolved. I suppose that's what they mean these days by "magical realism." I did skim a lot. Not much new seemed to be added after the first half of the book. I'm not really surprised that it's gotten such mixed reviews.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed the twists of this particular book, as well as the uncertainty about ghosts. Is the doll haunted? Is it just a coincidence, designed to keep drifting friends together? Even at the end, there is some question. I also love the depiction of the librarian in this book: it's good to have librarians who are not fresh out of school and who are also simultaneously kind and hip. Well written and fun.
    • 5/5
      THIS is a book worthy of a major award. It has everything: childhood friendships on the cusp of adolescence, a creepy doll, a ghost, and the kind of magic you can believe exists in our world. It honors the power of stories and using imagination to create our own reality. I'm not usually one for scary stories, and I found this to be pleasantly creepy without ever bordering on nightmare material. (I really am a horrible wimp when it comes to these things.)
    • 3/5
      This book has just the right amount of scary, along with themes of friendship, and coming of age. Holly Blacks dialogue rings true and made me reminisce a bit about my own childhood. My only complaint is that after great character development early in the story and a great start to the friends' adventure,the end moves too fast and ends too abruptly.
    • 4/5
      Creepy Good read!
    • 2/5
      the folks in the Mock Newbery Group say this isn't very creepy, really, and voted it to be an Honor book...

      Finally got talked into reading it, because a member of GMGR emphasised her enjoyment of the secondary story, that of young friends growing up and looking at each other (and themselves) in a new light.

      So. I read it. Found it not creepy or engaging at all - but then, I've never appreciated 'ghost' stories. However, that's just my subjective opinion.

      More objectively, there are a lot of implausibilities. For example, I still don't understand why Zach didn't tell the girls what his father did.

      Also, I disagree with the author (assuming it's her attitude/ belief that Zach is channeling), and I definitely disagree that this should be professed in a children's book:

      ... maybe the world was big enough to have magic in it. And if there was magic -- even bad magic, and Zach knew it was more likely that there was bad magic than any good kind..."

      Sheesh."
    • 5/5
      Three friends embark on a journey to bury a strange doll that is said to have been made from the crushed bones of a little girl that was murdered ages ago. These friends must come to reckoning with more than just the arduous journey at hand, but with the tumultuous tide of growing into oneself as a young adult.
    • 4/5
      Short quick read. Very spooky! I thought this would be a fun book to read as I get ready for October and it sure did set the mood. Well written with some light humor and enjoyable characters. I would recommend this title to elementary kids and parents wanting to read a good book with their child.
    • 4/5
      A trio of tweens has an imaginative doll game they love to immerse themselves in, but their families view their continued interest in the game askance. Just when the trio looks like it might tear itself apart under these stresses, something strange starts happening with the old china doll they used as their dolls' "queen." The trio embarks on a quest to put the doll to rest.

      This is, in so many ways, exactly the book I have always wanted, and Holly Black is exactly the author who could deliver it. The way the characters think about their dolls and the games they play, how they're so desperate for magic and so scared of growing up and changing, the way they relate to each other--it all felt completely real and immediately recognizable. Plus, the haunted doll is creepy as hell.
    • 3/5
      Doll Bones is an eclectic combination of ghost story, adventure and coming of age tale. I listened to the audio version of the book and Nick Podehl has a great reading voice and did a nice job of bringing the characters to life. Zack, Poppy and Alice have been best friends forever and their role playing game has been a big part of the friendship. Now that the friends are in middle school they seem to be changing and Poppy worries that their friendship may be ending. When Poppy begins having dreams of her bone china doll, affectionately known as the Queen by the three friends, indicating that the doll is inhabited by a restless spirit the friends set off on an epic quest. The journey is plagued by mishaps and it seems they will never complete their quest. The book was well written and it was headed for 4 stars but the ending was a bit abrupt and I thought there could have been more creepy details added to the story.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book. This is exactly the kind of book I was always looking for as a kid and rarely found. It had a bit of reality, just enough to make you think these are real kids. It had a lot of fantasy, make-believe, adventure and friendship. The illustrations are fabulous. Poppy, Alice and Zach have been playing fantasy games together since they were kids, with a antique china doll, kept in the china cabinet, as the Queen. With them turning 12, most people think they are too old for this and should move on. The trouble this causes between the 3 friends tears their game and friendship apart.Just when they think their game is over, the Queen makes it clear she needs them to complete a quest for them. What is more perfect for fantasy lovers than a quest? The three friends take it on and embark on the quest. I feel that the book was a great portrayal of what happens when people are in the difficult transition from being kids to being teenagers. It affects friendships in many ways and it feels like leaving one is leaving some great things behind without really knowing what comes next. This book reminded me of the books by Edward Eager and E. Nesbit that I loved as a kid. I'll be saving it to read to my granddaughters when they are the proper age for it.I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.
    • 4/5
      Mini Book Review: A delightfully dark and creepy tale, perfect for the more sophisticated middle grader. As an adult reading it reminded me of that time in your life where you are still a child but things are becoming more complicated as you move into the teenage years. I was hooked into this one right away and didn't want to put it down. I hate to invoke the term "coming of age" but it really is the heart of the story. In fact coming of age -- meets creepy china doll (ok creepy and china doll - same thing - man those toys always creep the hell out of me) really sums it up. All of the characters are realistic and I really enjoyed the fact that the parents were not caricatures. A nice quick read that will hook the right kid.. A truly imaginative and adventurous story of friendship, growing up all wrapped up with a mysterious ghost story involving a china doll. Man wish there were more of these types of stories when I was that age. Also, Black really has a gift when it comes to setting a mood - felt like I was living the adventure with Zach, Poppy and Alice. One last thing -- excellent Librarian character who was also not a caricature. Favorite Quote"There was a kind of quiet that hung over the world in the middle of the night, as though there was no one else awake anywhere. It felt ripe with magic and endless possiblitiy." 4 Dewey's Jenn H sent this to me from OLA
    • 3/5
      I read the Spiderwicke Chronicles when i was younger and was really excited to discover doll bones as id really enjoyed the other books by Holly Black. I was however slightly disappointed. The book should have felt really nostalgic, the characters reminded me of myself, not wanting to grow up and still trying to play games that really i was too old for but it just didn't. The plot is good and there's times where its exciting but it never really gripped me as not much actually really happened with the doll. I can see that the man story line was about the fact they were having to grow up and deal with their relationships with their parents etc but that part of it wasn't load and clear enough. Its a nice simple read, very much so more for children than YA's. Im glad i read it, just for old times sake but i probably wont pursue any more of her books just because i felt just a bit too old to be reading it. It would be a good read for children between 9-12yrs i think