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The Fifth Doll

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The Fifth Doll

By: Charlie N. Holmberg
Narrated by: Angela Dawe
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About this listen

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. Fantasy Fiction Historical Romance Village Paranormal Magic Users

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Matrona finds a paintbrush on a path one day and assuming it belongs to a tradesmen nearby she decides to return it. When she arrives at his house there's no answer to her knocks, only some mysterious bangs. Thinking the elderly tradesmen is in trouble she enters his home. No-one is there, but in one room she finds an angry bird tethered to a perch and a table full of nesting dolls who resemble her friends and neighbours. No good deed goes unpunished, as the saying goes. When the tradesmen discovers Matrona's intrusion he attempts to persuade her to join his ominous cause.

Definitely one of the more creative Russian-based tales I've read. It's a concoction of magical elements, soft horror vibes, and a dystopian world; and the author clearly got her inspiration from matryoshka dolls and Russian history.

All in all, another enjoyable story from Charlie N. Holmberg. I didn't love it as much The Will and the Wilds or The Paper Magician series, but still really good. She has a wonderful way with words when describing thoughts and feelings as well as  scenery. I'm left feeling a little bit unsettled because the story was so haunting and poignant and didn't really come to a conclusive end. But then again you don't necessarily get happy endings with this author, but rather realistic ones.

Russian Inspired Soft Horror

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Another brilliant Charlie N Holmberg! Well written entertaining story. Well rounded characters. With great narration….. Excellent

Loved this book!!!

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Unexpected twist, story flows well with believable characters. Made me want to know more about the fifth doll world

The fifth doll

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I love Charlie N. Holmburg. And the actual story is quiet good, only in places a bit to long dragged out.

It's not bad

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This is very different to Charlie N. Holmbergs Paper Magician series, which I loved. Nothing against this book, but its really not my type of thing. If you like darker magical fiction in a realistic yet slightly historic setting, then this book is for you.

Not What I Was Expecting

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I am not sure if the story was any good as the way it was read distracted me too much. the book was read as a series of short sentences all with the same entonation and cadence as if the narrator was reading through a pile of cards each with one short sentence

can not deal with the reading.

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I didn't enjoy this. The tone is bleak throughout. There were some interesting concepts though: dolls representing people, revelations, alternative realities... It was like a crescendo towards the end of the book with more happening. There are some moral overtones to the book about being your true self. 

A bit bleak

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