The Fifth Doll

De: Charlie N. Holmberg

Narrado por: Angela Dawe

The bestselling author of The Paper Magician Series transports listeners to a darkly whimsical new world where strange magic threatens a quiet village that only a desperate woman can save.

Matrona lives in an isolated village, where her life is centered on pleasing her parents. She's diligent in her chores and has agreed to marry a man of their choosing. But a visit to Slava, the local tradesman, threatens to upend her entire life.

Entering his empty house, Matrona discovers a strange collection of painted nesting dolls - one for every villager. Fascinated, she can't resist the urge to open the doll with her father's face. But when her father begins acting strangely, she realizes Slava's dolls are much more than they seem.

When he learns what she's done, Slava seizes the opportunity to give Matrona stewardship over the dolls - whether she wants it or not. Forced to open one of her own dolls every three days, she falls deeper into the grim power of Slava's creations. But nothing can prepare her for the profound secret hiding inside the fifth doll.

©2017 Charlie N. Holmberg. (P)2017 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

I regret buying this

Deeply boring. While it has intriguing bones, instead of building a conflict that adds to the story, it's just another story where everything goes wrong and is made much worse by two people not talking for no reason. Instead the whole thing felt pointless. I spent more time than I'd like wishing that the characters would think for half a second and they only do when it's too late. at some point it stops being tragic and is just stupid.

It was ok

The story was very gripping till the end, when it became confusing and, to me, with a disappointing ending. I felt bad for Slava and not much sympathy for Matrona... The narrator, though, was fantastic.

interesting take

It was a good read for sure, but maybe sometimes a little repetitive? The main character is often at odds with her teacher and her arguments are always the same. That being said though it was an interesting concept. I enjoyed hearing where the story went. kinda ended abruptly though.

Wow what a story

I started recommending this book to my friends way before I finished. This book was well written and entertaining.

Something very different!

I feel an overwhelming need to purchase Russian nesting dolls! This was a very original story. I haven’t read anything like it, which in itself makes it interesting. I feel as though this may be a young adult novel, but great nonetheless. The narrator did a wonderful job with various voices, but sometimes it was hard to understand. However, I wouldn’t have wanted it read any different. I would recommend this story to anyone interested in experiencing something a little different.