Book Review–Baby Doll by Hollie Overton

Hey all! I know I was supposed to post a book review yesterday but I didn’t. So sorry! I was hooked into the Korean Drama that I completely forgot about the blog 😦 Anyway, I am going to be doing a book review on a psychological thriller, Baby Doll, written by Hollie Overton.

You’ve been held captive in one room.

You’ve been mentally and physically abused every day since you were sixteen years old.

Then, one night, you realise your captor has left the door to your cell unlocked.

For the first time in eight years you’re free.

This is what happens next.

Bestselling author Hollie Overton is a television writer who has written for ABC Family, CBS and Lifetime.

Overton’s father was a member of the notorious Overton gang in Austin, Texas, and spent several years in prison for manslaughter.

Raised by her single mother, Hollie an identical twin herself, draws on her unique childhood experiences to lend realism and compassion to her depictions of violence and complicated family dynamics.

I read this book back when I first bought in 2017 (I think) and I decided to re-read this book again so I can write a proper book review on this book. So here it is!

The story begins with a girl named Lily Riser, who has been held captive in one room for eight years, since she was sixteen years old. Then one day, due to sheer luck, her captor had forgotten to unlock the room and so Lily takes this as a golden opportunity to escape with her daughter Sky. She reunites with her estranged family. The story basically tells us what happens after Lily escape, how she is dealing with her new environment, about her relationship with her mother Eve and her twin sister, Abby and how she copes with the media frenzy, following her escape and her mental issues.

So as usual, let’s begin with the ones I like about the book.

• This is the debut book of Hollie Overton so I think, the author did a good job on keeping the reader hooked into the story. Writing wasn’t bad as well and is understandable.
• The story sounds somewhat realistic, especially about the part how Lily deals with all the media frenzy, how she deals with her mother and twin sister as well as her emotions after she has escaped from the ordeal.
• The story is told from the perspectives of four characters–Lily, Abby (Lily’s twin sister), Eve (Lily’s mother) and Rick (Lily’s abductor and former English teacher). So it’s kind of interesting to know, what and how each of these characters are dealing with after Lily’s escape. The author has written this in third person’s perspectives instead of first person. Also I like this way rather than the usual chapter wise story.
• It’s also interesting to read about Lily’s relationship with Sky, her daughter.

Now let’s start with the ones I didn’t like in the book.

• The book was a bit slow and some parts of the book was boring as well.
• I feel that there were some unnecessary parts in the book as well. Like for example in Abby’s and Eve’s parts, there were really unnecessary that is not even related to the story.
• As I said earlier, the book is told from the perspectives of four characters. I wish the author had used first person narrative instead of the third person narrative so that it would have made the story more interesting and intriguing and we can actually would have a chance to read their thoughts.
• Though this book was labelled as the next Gone Girl and The Girl on The Train, I have to say, this book is not like Gone Girl or The Girl on the Train at all. It didn’t have the twists like the other two books did or those unexpected moments like the other two books did. It was kind of straight.

Overall, I would say that this is a good thriller, though not the Gone Girl material type. I rate this book as four stars!