Dollface

Part commentary on mental health and patriarchal beauty standards, part suburban horror, and all slasher novel, Dollface by Lindy Ryan is a fun read anytime but perfect for March and Women in Horror Month.

Horror author Jill can work from anywhere so when her husband’s job promotion sends them and their 8/9? -how old is third grade?-year-old son across the country to New Jersey, she finds herself living next door to perfect wife and mother and PTA President Darla who immediately takes her under her wing/recruits her for the PTA/decides she is her new best friend.

As if that’s not horrific enough, before she even has her boxes unpacked, the other PTA moms start getting attacked by a masked killer seemingly straight out of a slasher. Ignoring calls from her agent, her sister, and the boxes waiting to be unpacked, Jill devotes all her energy and her knowledge of slasher tropes to try to uncover the culprit.

You all know I love a snarky protagonist, and, with Jill, Lindy Ryan gives us that. Dollface is overall funny - sometimes in a very dark way, and keeps us guessing the killer’s identity right to the end, as we use the same tactics as Jill does to work it out  (and sometimes make the same wrong guesses).

I listened to the audiobook of this, and, as usual, Macmillan Audio and Stephanie Németh-Parker knocked it out of the park. She understands what she’s reading and why it’s funny or scary or disgusting at any given moment, and her narration leans into it at the right time and in the right way.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for the advance copies for my honest review.