First published 2024
Fourteen-year-old Layla takes her little sister Emily to Ms. Mabel's Doll Emporium to buy a custom doll. The shop creates dolls that mirror their owners down to the smallest details. At the store, Layla spots something shocking on a dusty shelf: the doll that belonged to her former best friend Quinn, who moved away months ago. Overcome by old feelings of loss and jealousy, Layla steals the Quinn doll while Emily picks out her new toy. Back home, strange things begin happening immediately. Layla hears whispers from her closet where she hides the stolen doll. Her cat Anne Boleyn acts possessed. Emily's new doll seems to grow sharper teeth each day. When Emily falls sick and Layla's joints start stiffening unnaturally, she realizes the dolls are taking something from their owners. The dolls want more than just to sit on shelves. They demand pieces of the girls themselves, and they will not stop until they get what they need. Layla must discover what happened to Quinn and find a way to break the dolls' hold before she and Emily vanish completely.
Genres: mystery, horror, thriller, young-adult
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful
Tropes: creepy-dolls, supernatural-elements
Setting: Ms. Mabel's Doll Emporium
320 pages · Hardcover · Harry N. Abrams
Content warnings: body-horror