Creepy dolls, murders, mean mum PTA, horror, what's not to like ? A dark, twisted but humorous whodunit mystery. Jill and her family move to a new neighbourhood, and Jill immediately gets roped into joining the PTA group by her over friendly neighbour Darla. Jill is an author looking for inspiration for her next horror novel. Little does she realise that her real life will take a horrific turn, when members of the PTA group get savagely attacked, and Jill ends up fearing for her life. The last few chapters had me on the edge of my seat, and the twists at the end were just great. Didn't see them coming !! Packed full of pop culture and horror reference Dollface is a story with bite ! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc copy in exchange for my honest review.

If you're a mother looking for a reason to avoid joining the PTA, read this novel! A killer targets a group of PTA mums in a New Jersey suburb, right after horror novelist and mother Jill moves to the neighbourhood with her son and husband. I loved the premise, the mums' community and especially the slasher chapters where the kills and assaults are described in detail (this is not for the faint-hearted!). Unusually for a slasher not all the attacks result in murder. Jill starts trying to figure out who the killer is and as a reader I was drawn into considering whether or not I agreed with her. I liked the suburban school mums atmosphere with the novel centred around school PTA events. This felt realistic and relatable as a setting, though some elements were very American and this British reader had to look a few things up. I'd never heard of a kaiju or Snopes before, and I thought it was odd that children were always described as having "fuzzy duckling" hair. The phrase "stop fiddle-farting around" was new to me (though I love it!), as was the term "tap back" in an online chat. Overall a brilliant book if you enjoy slashers and you like slightly older protagonists. If you're a slasher-loving mother this is a must-read! Thanks to Netgalley and Solaris for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of Dollface.

Ooh, Lindy Ryan's back and she's brought new friends! Write what you know, they say, and Ryan does but with more added thrills and horror than real life, obvs. A beautifully constructed slasher — equal parts horror and thriller, as well as PTA/suburban hell — like Valley Of The Dolls crossed with Scream (the OG), which, although you think you know EXACTLY who the killer is, you'll still be blindsided by the eleventh hour twist. Although I can't see how you could make a sequel from this without ruining the surprise, I'd love to spend more time with Jill and her family, especially her sister...

3.5 stars rounded up. I absolutely love Lindy Ryan's Bless Your Heart series, and jumped at the chance to read her new book. However, this one for me fell a bit flat. Full of horror tropes and references, MLMs and PTA drama, I missed the real horror element of a 'slasher' story until the very end. I wanted more mystery from the book overall, even though the third act finale was brilliantly done and I didn't see it coming, I'd figured out the other secrets pretty much from the start. I'll still read more from this author in future, but this one hasn't been a favourite.

Ryan captures the glossy yet ominous atmosphere of suburbia by fusing dark humour with fast-paced horror, quick dialogue, and vivid descriptions and the tone strikes the ideal balance between sharp social satire and campy slasher intensity, which helps to make this a quick read. The attacks were given enough detail without overkill but the sex scenes distracted me from the slasher atmosphere. Don't get me wrong, I love a good sex scene, but here I didn't see any connection. Unless, of course, this was also a spoof of a slasher movie, as people typically make the error of having sex right before they are killed. Even though the other women kind of ran together for me, and I easily identified the killer early on, I thought the story as a whole was quite amusing, and I loved Jill's passion for horror. If you're searching for a quick fix serial killer story and don't mind putting up with some mean girl mums, this might be worth a shot. Thank you to Rebellion and Netgalley for an opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for an honest review