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Title details for The Dollhouse Academy by Margarita Montimore - Wait list

The Dollhouse Academy

A Novel

by Margarita Montimore
ebook
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From the NATIONAL BESTSELLING author of GMA Book Club Pick OONA OUT OF ORDER, a novel about two best friends and aspiring actresses who join the Dollhouse Academy, where stars are made and dangerous secrets are hidden
"Deliciously sensational...What could be more fun? As if the wives of Stepford went to the Valley of the Dolls." —Kirkus
Ivy Gordon is living on borrowed time. For the past eighteen years, she has been the most famous star at the Dollhouse Academy, the elite boarding school and talent incubator that every aspiring performer dreams of attending. But now, at age thirty-four, she is tired of pretending everything is fine. In secret diary entries, Ivy begins to reveal the truth of her life at the Dollhouse: strange medical exams, mysterious supplements, and something unspeakable that's left Ivy terrified and feeling like a prisoner.
Ramona Halloway and her best friend, Grace Ludlow, grew up idolizing Ivy. Now both twenty-two, neither has made much headway in showbiz until a lucky break grants them entry to the Dollhouse. They're enchanted by the picturesque campus and the chance to perform alongside their idols. When Ramona begins to receive threatening anonymous messages, it's easy to dismiss them as a prank from a rival. Her bigger concern is Grace's skyrocketing success, while Ramona struggles to keep up with the fierce competition. As the messages grow more unsettling, so does life at the Dollhouse. Can Ramona overcome her jealousy and resentment to figure out what's really going on? Will Ivy finally find her voice, before another young performer follows her catastrophic path?
With dark academia twists and enormous heart, The Dollhouse Academy is a novel about the complexities of friendship, our desire to be seen and understood, and the true cost of making our dreams a reality.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    February 11, 2025

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9781250320667

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9781250320667
      • File size: 3527 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Library Journal

      September 1, 2024

      Montimore (Oona Out of Order, a GMA Book Club pick) writes a dark academia-tinged title set at the Dollhouse Academy, an elite boarding school that turns out star performers. When best friends and aspiring actors Ramona and Grace join the Dollhouse, Ramona finds it unexpectedly unsettling and begins to wonder what is really going on. With a 100K-copy first printing. Prepub Alert.

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 18, 2024
      Ambitious 20-somethings learn the price of fame in this frothy, 1990s-set thriller from Montimore (Acts of Violet). The elite and secretive Dollhouse Academy in the Catskills is known for producing platinum talent for Dahlen Entertainment’s hit music, film, and television offerings. Dollhouse attendance is the surest path to stardom, so when founder and pharmaceutical heir Genevieve Spalding invites 22-year-old best friends Ramona Holloway and Grace Ludlow to enroll, they can’t believe their luck. Grace becomes Genevieve’s protégé and lands a role on a top prime-time drama, while a bitterly jealous Ramona receives remedial training, is fired from her first TV gig, and gets anonymous notes urging her to leave Dollhouse. Ramona initially suspects a rival student is trying to scare her, but as Dollhouse’s required medical exams and treatments grow stranger and more invasive, encompassing frequent blood work and psych evaluations, she begins to fear for her and Grace’s safety. Terrified diary entries from Dollhouse’s first and biggest star, which punctuate Ramona’s increasingly anxious first-person narration, effectively ratchet up the suspense. Though the plot occasionally slides into soapy melodrama, readers won’t mind amid all the twisted fun. It’s a darkly enjoyable takedown of the entertainment industry. Agent: Philippa Sitters, David Godwin Assoc.

    • Booklist

      December 1, 2024
      Nothing makes Ramona happier than escaping into a character. Performing preshow skits at a local movie theater, Ramona and her best friend, Grace, feed off the energy of the crowd. Their talent catches the attention of the prestigious Dahlen Entertainment company after a local news interview, after which Ramona and Grace are invited to the Dollhouse, Dahlen's boarding school for aspiring performers. Ramona knows the chances of breaking into professional show business as an adult are slim, but she also knows she won't be happy unless she tries. When she and Grace arrive at the Dollhouse, though, they learn that the sacrifices to reach the upper echelons of celebrity go far beyond what they ever imagined. Blending elements of various familiar stories like Fame, The Stepford Wives, Valley of The Dolls, and Stranger Things, Montimore (Acts of Violet, 2022) explores the tensions between celebrity and privacy, performance and reality, memory and inspiration. Fans of Emily Layden's Once More from the Top (2024) will appreciate this book's intrigue and ripped-from-the-headlines feel.

      COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Kirkus

      January 1, 2025
      Joining an elite entertainment company might rocket you to stardom--or it might destroy you, as two young women discover in this deliciously sensational thriller. In 1998, Ivy Gordon is the luckiest woman in the world. Star of the hit TV showIn the Dollhouse and known for her numerous award-winning albums, she's the face of Dahlen Entertainment, a secretive powerhouse run by the mysterious Genevieve Spalding. But Ivy also knows Dahlen's secrets, and she's writing them down in her diary. Ivy's story is intercut with that of narrator Ramona and her best friend, Grace, two young actresses who are invited to join Dahlen's elite "Dollhouse Academy," a breeding ground for up-and-coming stars. The culture reveals itself, unsurprisingly, to be cutthroat and intense in every way. Grace is handpicked early on by Genevieve to be the next superstar, with a spinoff show and music tour of her own, but Ramona struggles in her classes and keeps getting passed over for auditions; plus, she's kind of creeped out by the pills and medical appointments being foisted on her. Maybe whoever is leaving anonymous, threatening notes in her mailbox is actually trying to warn her away from dangers at the heart of Dahlen, like Project Understudy. No one seems to know what it is, but it's enough to cause one student to have a breakdown, and Genevieve to threaten Ramona with instant expulsion if she ever mentions it. Maybe handsome Mason, Genevieve's assistant, can help Ramona uncover the truth. He certainly seems to show up whenever she needs a shoulder to cry on. Montimore's characters would be chewing on the scenery if they could; everyone is dialed up to 11, extreme versions of their character archetypes, but what could be more fun? As if the wives of Stepford went to the Valley of the Dolls.

      COPYRIGHT(2025) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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