REVIEW for Doll Hearts by Colleen Clayton

TITLE:                   Doll Hearts

AUTHOR:             Colleen Clayton

GENRE:                 YA

RATING:                3.5 stars


I am on the fence about this book.  I ultimately rated it a 4 star, but honestly, this should be a 3.5 star book.  

The good:  I love this author's writing style.  So down to earth, great dialogue and just enough detail to make the reader feel as though they are right there in the story.

I also like how the author, for the most part, knows the YA world - she created characters that were completely believable and knows how to develop them - mostly.

The actual plot was also interesting and on point.  Hoarding has become a huge issue and the addiction side of it has not been written enough about, so kudos to the author for tackling this difficult subject.

The not so great:  I HATED almost every character in this book, with the exception of Lolo!  I know I was supposed to feel empathy for Julianne, but wow!  she loves to make her life difficult for NOTHING.  I don't know how many times I wanted to scream at her "get out of denial".  She gets a job, tries to get overtime and basically works like a maniac because, somehow, she is going to save the day by making enough $ to save her house from bankruptcy.  Ditto how she kept "missing" her mother - the same mother who didn't return her calls, the same mother who chose her dolls over her own daughter. 

It amazed me that nobody actually tried to deal with this situation head on, they just let the mother rot in her addiction.  Julienne thinks paying off the back mortgage will fix her mother and her father runs away from the situation (again) .  In short, her  mother was written almost as an afterthought of sheer patheticness (I know, its not a word but it works here) who basically abandons her kid.

The Brandon angle was also annoying.  What was he doing?  Playing both ends against the middle?  I know the author wanted me to like him, but he came across as a player.

I did like the friendship angle in this story.  Both Dana and Lindsay were great friends and I liked that.

Finally - the diabetes thing.  I have several friends who have it and manage to live just fine with it.  Why was Julianne always passing out? it got to be a bit ridiculous.  One of my friends also has a pump and honestly, didn't make a big deal out of it - again, what was Julianne's problem?

Having said ALL of this,  in the end, I enjoyed the whole, rather than the parts, if this makes any sense.