Zach, Poppy and Alice have been friends for ever. They love playing with their action figure toys, imagining a magical world of adventure and heroism. But disaster strikes when, without warning, Zach’s father throws out all his toys, declaring he’s too old for them. Zach is furious, confused and embarrassed, deciding that the only way to cope is to stop playing . . . and stop being friends with Poppy and Alice.
But one night the girls pay Zach a visit and tell him about a series of mysterious occurrences. Poppy swears that she is now being haunted by a china doll which claims to be made from the ground-up bones of a murdered girl. They must return the doll to where the girl lived, and bury it. Otherwise the three children will be cursed for eternity . . .
Holly Black is a good author, I have enjoyed her previous tithe series, and she does not let us down with this book. About three children, Zach, Poppy and Alice, friends since small, and all about to hit adolescence, Zach is feeling mixed emotions about his father’s decision to throw away his young toys, something he was not quite ready for.
The spooky china doll, part of their games becomes part of Poppy’s dreams and she tells the others they have to bury it, because of what she is told by a ghost of a girl murdered.
This is one creepy tale, that keeps you reading right to the end, it is a story of growing up, of changing emotions and feeling between the girls and Zach, and it is a ghost story intertwined with horror.
Loved the characters and the story.