Review: Shattered Dolls by Tyrolin Puxty

SHATTERED GIRLS

Broken Dolls, Book 2

by Tyrolin Puxty

Curiosity Quills Press

Upper Middle Grade Fantasy

255 pages

Ella’s decision to return to her doll form has caused more trouble than she ever thought possible.

Gabby’s a moody teen. The professor is gone. And people are going missing at alarming rates; including Gabby’s parents.

Robotic dolls – eerily similar to Ella – are popping up across the globe and nobody seems too concerned about it. Nobody except for Ella and Gabby.

With only the crazed Sianne left to help them, the girls must fight to find the truth behind the epidemic and the robotic dolls.

Only Ella doesn’t think they’re robotic at all…

MY TIDBITS

After reading book one in this series, Broken Dolls, I was looking forward to diving into this one and seeing what happens to the wonderful Ella and her friend Gabby next.

Ella is back in doll state and sticks to Gabby like glue. Gabby, who now is back to regular teenage life, totes Ella along in her book bag to school, although no one is to know that Ella is there. Of course, things don't run smoothly and Ella is soon found out. From there, things get complicated as kids disappear and more amazing 'robots' like Ella pop up everywhere.

Where book one had a wonderfully creepy, gothic feel to it, this one takes on more of an adventure/thriller atmosphere without those lovely shivers from before. The book starts off with school scenes, allowing the difficult relationship between Gabby and Ella to take center stage. The problems are understandable enough as Gabby tries (as a preteen) to wiggle back into school's social life. Ella, on the other hand, is her opinionated self, and tends to stumble into trouble.

It takes a bit for the mysterious disappearances to get going, but when they do, the pace of the book picks up and doesn't let go until the last page. There's a delicious amount of intrigue as a whole new level of 'evil' steps in. Gabby and Ella are up against a huge foe, something which makes for super-sized adventure with all sorts of edge-of-the-seat moments. To round it off, there's a couple of important messages woven in, which are well placed for the intended audience.

Summed up, this is an adventurous read with lots of tension, twists and turns. The atmosphere isn't like book one, but this one still hold heaps of action and excitement. Middle grade readers who love strong heroines, world threats, and a fast pace that doesn't let up, will enjoy this one.