The Collected

The Collector #2

by K.R. Alexander

It's been five years since Josie squared off against the evil Beryl and her killer haunted dolls. She hasn't talked about it since and likes to pretend it didn’t happen. Too bad she didn't tell her younger sister, Anna. Because Anna is now the one being drawn in to the evil - and the evil has some new tricks this time.

Genres: Horror, Middle Grade, Childrens, Paranormal, Young Adult, Fantasy, Mystery

Audible Audio

First published January 1, 2020

About the author

K.R. Alexander is the pseudonym for fantasy author Alex R. Kahler. Under this guise, K.R. writes creepy middle grade horror, perfect for young readers looking for a scare! His first book, The Collector, debuted from Scholastic in the Fall of '18.

Reviews

[Amber J (Thereadingwitch) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. The whole house in the woods combined with the creepy doll setting really makes this a spooky read. While not as good as the first book The Collector, it was still great to go back to this world and get more from it.


How I choose my rating:
1* Didn't like it at all. These are rare as I usually just don't finish any book I dislike this much.
2** Didn't like it. Again usually DNF if I dislike it this much, but occasionally I feel it still has potential and I try to stick with it to the end.
3*** I liked it. It wasn't great but it was enjoyable enough. It is unlikely I'll ever reread it but I might finish the series if it is a part of one.
4**** I really liked this book. Maybe not a work of genius, but highly entertaining. I might reread this at some point, and I will almost always finish the series if part of one.
5***** I loved this book. I found little to no issues with it at all. I will probably reread this and possibly more than once. I will definitely finish the series if it's part of one.

[Mercedes Yardley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Collected is a spooky Middlegrade book about dolls that scrabble around the hallway at night. It's deliciously spooky for little ones without being truly scary, although I read it with my daughter during the daylight hours only. I'd suggest this to anyone who loved the book Wait Til Helen Comes.

[Robbie Myles · Rating 4 out of 5]

The follow up to The Collector did not disappoint!

This sequel follows the events that transpired in The Collector and is told from the perspective of Josie's sister, Anna. In a whirlwind, Anna has seemingly forgotten all that took place with the evil spirit, Beryl. The dolls, the house in the woods, all of it remains a blur to Anna. Slowly, she starts uncovering the heinous events that went down at the creepy house in the woods. Anna becomes increasingly alarmed, but at the same time has to push back her own inner hunger for power. Her own desire to be something else entirely, something she's never been before. Anna is faced with personal anguish throughout the book and eventually has to battle her own inner demons in order to save her family and the world.

Just like the first book, K.R. Alexander does an EXCELLENT job of creating the spooky vibes in this series. I had a ton of fun with this Scholastic darling and will totally be reading more from the author.

[Tay Orton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not nearly as great as the first one. Hoping my students like it a lot more than I did.

[Reneethereader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shouldn't have made a second one

[Max Collins · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like this book as much as the first one. It feels like they were forcing another book instead of letting the first one be the only book.

[Kelly Starnes · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really didn’t care for this book. According to my 5th grade students, however, it’s a 4.5 star book. It’s not nearly as “scary” as the cover would make you think. I did not care for the writing style or the plot of the whole book, really. But middle school-aged students think it’s a hit.

[Kacey Laine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This sequel is just as creepy as the first book!

[Jonathan Pongratz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't have quite as much fun with this one as the first, but it was still a fun and fantastical journey.

This time around Anna is our MC, Josie's little sister. Some time has passed since the events of the first book, and the family finds themselves back in the small town after Grandma Jeannie passes away. Anna can't seem to remember what happened in this strange town, but as she tries to sort out her missing memories it sets her on a collision course with the same evil force they defeated with disastrous consequences.

This book had more of a fantasy element to it. Grandma Jeannie's magic is explored in more detail, and though I would've preferred more time in that vein, it was really exciting.

Anna is different from Josie in her spiritual sensitivities, and she may have some of Jeannie's magic coursing through her. I liked the theme of trauma that was explored. It felt real and gave Anna some depth. It also helped explain her curiosity about the town and how things start up again. Josie was much more abrasive, maybe a little bit too much. She berates Anna at every turn, but given what they'd already been through together I would've thought she would be more understanding.

The creepy tone in this book is just as thrilling as the first. Each chapter was ominous and spooky, and the action and adventure didn't let up for a second. Overall, this is another great middle grade adventure, so if you liked the first book you should definitely give this one a try too!

[Richard K. Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

As much as you all know that I LOVE K.R. Alexander and his writings of ghost stories.....this was NOT as great as the first book; "The Collector"

Check out my video review here on Nightmares, Anyone?
https://youtu.be/QiUfp6OShF0

As the first audio version of it's predessor, this narrator is SO awesome at reading the book.
While this story picks up right where the first book ended, I did not like this outing as well. Yes, the dolls are STILL very disturbing and creepy as hell, this ending did not jell with me. It reminded me too much of the ending of the original 'Poltergeist' movie from the 80's.

Now, this is still a great ghost story for any teenager and adult who likes a great ghost story, but does not want to have nightmares, and I would still recommend this one. BUT this did not creep me out as much as the fist one did.

4 👻👻👻👻

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

This had better twists than the first one, but all in all I didn't really like this duology.

[BookishBibliophile · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

[Jana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can see what all the hype is about this author a very good YA thriller me and my daughter will definitely be reading more by him!

[Gabe]

Apparently being a children's author means that you can be inconsistent with the plot and no one will care. Seriously, why are the dolls back? In the first book, Josie set free all of the dolls. Yet, they apparently still exist in this book because it's convenient for Beryl to have some little porcelain soldiers to do her bidding.
Ngl tho, i'd read another one of this author's books. I'm that starved for horror books.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, Great work! The only thing I didn't like was that there was so many short chapters and it kinda messed up the point. I loved the plot and I am now officially scared of dolls so thank you for that. Highly recommenced. Good job!

[Owen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the intensity and suspension that I got from reading this book.
It was also an easy read! Chapters were short and it was easy to understand.
It can sometimes be kind off hard starting a book but this book was different, it grabbed my attention from the beginning. Personally for me, this book wasn’t really scary, it was more of an intense and a bit shocking read.
I would recommend this book to probably 9-12 year olds.
It had some plot holes that’s why I gave it a 3/5 but overall I think this book was a great read!
Thanks to this book I can’t look at a doll normally ever again😅

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF AT 50%.
LOVE The Collector and KR Alexander, but this sequel is disappointing. Josie is just mean to her sister for no reason?? Aggravating!! And also the main character is so whiny and unlikeable compared to book one, it’s annoying. This was just a doozy, I know KR’s other books will be better!

[Cindy (leavemetomybooks) · Rating 1 out of 5]

Basically the same plot as The Collector but with the younger sister Anna as the main character and now the grandma is dead. The witch is back and is going to turn everyone into dolls again but Anna has powers and is going to fight back and blah blah magic necklace.

I can’t recommend these books to kids at my work library - they’re just not good.

[Mosley · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first book in the series was predictable but just enough creepy factor that my daughter enjoyed it when reading it to her. This one was really reaching for a plot line and I felt it contradicted some things in the first one.

[Phoenix · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay first thing’s first: I am approximately 20 years older than this book’s target demographic and I literally read this whole thing in a day. It is well below my age and skill levels. I picked it up from a free little library because I was curious and wanted to see if I could read it in a day. I will be taking it seriously because I am a firm believer in the idea that children deserve good, well-written stories. Kids aren’t stupid, they are our future, and we shouldn’t be as content with feeding them slop as we are. All that being said, I tried to meet this book on its level.

Good things first: Alexander is a good storyteller. There is some vivid description and imagery on display here. The opening is gripping and the story is peppered with beautiful descriptions, such as a line in which memory scratches the narrator’s mind like the trees on the windows outside. I actually had to pause and take time to appreciate that line. The protagonist can be clever and in general could serve as a good role model for kids, being brave in the face of terror and working to fix her mistakes. All of the characters in the book are women or girls, and you could count on one hand the number of times the pronouns he or him are used. Until we live in a world where people don’t pitch a fit over media with all or mostly female casts existing, we will need stories following female characters, especially for our kids.

Bad things: Anna screws up in ways that make her feel malicious. There are three rules she’s supposed to follow, three rules she knows well enough. We know she knows these rules. And yet she breaks them. The first time is foolish, but somewhat understandable. She explains to the reader that she’s done being pushed around by her sister and thinks that by doing what she’s doing, she can finally win respect. We can understand this to a degree. What I can’t understand is why, after this goes horribly awry, she chooses - knowingly chooses - to break another rule, which ends up setting the events of the climax into motion. It bothered me so much I wound up ragequitting for a time. Yes, kids do foolish things and they can act selfishly, but this is just plain idiotic. The protagonist isn’t stupid. We see her acting cleverly just a few chapters later. I know she’s beginning to question her sanity at this point in time, but it still feels like such a boneheaded move. I know this rule needed to be broken to let the story progress, but was there really not a more natural way for that to happen that didn’t make the protagonist look like a total idiot? Why couldn’t the window have, say, been broken by a tree branch, or maybe the protagonist opens the window during the day and forgets about it? Yeah the latter is still careless but it at least doesn’t make her look maliciously incompetent.
My other big issue with this book is how a good 95% of it wouldn’t have happened if the protagonist’s family had been honest with her from the beginning. Her sister is your typical moody older sibling and, spoiler, may or may not be cursed by their grandmother to be physically unable of discussing what had happened, à la Pearl from Steven Universe. That being said, surely there was some kind of workaround? Perhaps she could have said, "Listen, terrible things will happen if you break the rules, so don't do anything stupid." I understand they don't want her to be traumatized and want her to have some semblance of a normal childhood, but surely there was a way to do a little bit of both? I know the plot requires the protagonist to not have the full picture, but we can do both, we can have the family try to warn her but she still slips up or something happens beyond their control. We never have a moment where the sister says, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you more, I was literally cursed," so as far as we know she was intentionally withholding information. It honestly makes for such a frustrating read.

On the whole, this book was fine but frustrating. I've not read the rest of this author's work, so I can't comment on if this is typical for him, but based on what I have read, I know he has talent and I know he can do better. It's part of why I'm so harsh in this review. Children deserve good stories, and this author can do better. I'd be interested in checking out more of his stuff after this, especially his stuff more geared towards my age. If you have kids who are interested in horror, this, I think, would be a good place for them to start.

[Red · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I knew little place this old, this abandoned, should smell like must and moss and decay."

Author doesn't know how to spell musk the entire book and I giggled at it.

Written very much like a Goosebumps book this also suffers from the goosebump plot problems. For one we have Josie who is the sister who spends the entire book being mean, her whole thing is she knows something but she won't share that something, so she blames her sister and is a mean jerk about it the entire book. Josie has no redeeming traits to her. Like she yells at her sister Anna constantly, blames her every time something goes wrong, and suspects her so much that she can't have a normal conversation with her. All while refusing to tell her why she's upset and basically causing the problem.

The book is written like we should blame Anna for causing the problem but if Josie spoke up at any moment we would have the problem fixed because Anna would know what was erased from her memories. But Josie just can't have a civil conversation with her sister at all.

So in the vein of Goosebumps the main character blames themselves for what the secondary character causes. Likewise, and the vein of Goosebumps there is no reason to care about Josie besides Anna's cares about her.

There are me and young kids but this is a advanced level of cruelty, Josie never displays any kindness and even calls and a monster and basically goads her into causing all the problems.

The mom is the only parent in this situation but she's barely there. She's an obstacle at best and somehow siding with Josie every time that Josie has a complaint or problem to the point that she takes the other daughter's toys away at worst.

There's a dissonance between this family that is too big for me to believe, somehow the mother is oblivious to all of the magical elements yet they're all scattered about and obvious for her to see and read, but also she has been so busy that she has missed her child having magical powers and all of the incidents with her friends. Did nobody tell this mother? This book gave me more questions than answers and it's a one-off. I would like to know how the mother was never called but because these kids couldn't sleep after being turned into dolls. Or maybe how she handled the grandmother telling her anything? Or even if Josie snitched on her? Josie can't just say she doesn't want dolls and the mother not ask her why she doesn't want dolls in the house? They had to have had a conversation but nothing came from it?

Naturally by the end everything is resolved and somehow everyone is okay even though Anna is still isolated and alone save her family. The magic doesn't leave but it has an almost cliffhanger but we know it's a one-off so it's just an open-ended story.

I personally don't hate this book I find it interesting but it didn't bring anything new, dolls alone cannot save it. It made dolls creepy in a lot of ways and it touched on something that's lesser used but it just didn't bring new enough material to save it in my review. If it didn't have the boring Goosebumps problem with a character who's just an asshole the entire time and a character who's the protagonist being guilted all the time, it could have been a four-star book. But it's sadly falters and becomes nobody believes her and the people who do believe her won't communicate with her. An isolation and causation mess.

2.5 stars.
It's a Goosebumps book by another name and author.

[Kelsie W. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book “The Collected” by K.R Alexander is a mysterious, adventurous and horrifying book I read this past summer. It’s a story about a single mom, a girl (Anna) and her sister (Josie). Anna, the main character, has always had a weird fascination with dolls. They stood out to her, they even spoke to her… literally. During the book, it includes the tragic death of Anna’s grandmother. When the family returns to their grandmother’s home everything turns into chaos…
I really enjoyed this book I read this summer! The very first chapter hooked me in, my eyes wanted more and more of this story! The book has about 64 chapters along the way but very quick; the shortest was about 2 pages. It helped improve my reading experience throughout the book. I always get tired of reading long chapters so this was the perfect book to read in my free time. I have read other books from this author in the past: “The Undrowned”. I adore the way the author puts in a lot of effort and detail into his stories. From flashbacks to in-the-moment specific details through a fighting or frightening scene.
I wouldn’t say this book is my favorite of all time but it was definitely an intriguing book to read in my free time. It keeps you on edge while drama continues throughout the chapters. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone from middle school through high school. I look forward to his upcoming books in the future!

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

My daughter brought this home from the book fair. She made sure to comment what slim pickens (she may have used "cooler" words here) there were this time around.

While I don't usually read middle grade books, I had shamelessly enjoyed Follow Me by K.R. Alexander and thought I'd skim through this one.

Ugh.

This was not nearly as creepy as I had hoped. I mean, it's about DOLLS. There are few things creepier than creepy dolls. I hadn't even read the first book in The Collector series, so everything should have been a deliciously creepy surprise. This is where it fell flat. It was just...all over the place. Super repetitive. Anna is annoying and makes really stupid decisions. It was hard to root for her to survive. Am I allowed to say that about a young girl in a middle grade book? There were some good atmospheric descriptions, but it wasn't enough to save the story.

Will my daughter like it? Maybe.
Did I think it compared to Follow Me? No.

1.5 Stars but rounding to 2 because I'm a grown woman rating a book for 10 to 12-year-olds

[Amber Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Collected takes place 5 years after the events of The Collector and is told from Anna's point of view as opposed to her sister Josie's in the first. While not as fast paced as it's predecessor it was decent. Anna has no real memories of what happened to them at their grandmother's house all those years ago but Josie never forgot and is constantly on edge. While she doesn't understand what is going on with her sister she knows there is something she should be remembering but can't. That is until strange laughter is heard from the woods all over again. Beryl is back and this time it's Anna's turn to save the people she loves. Much more like her grandmother then she would ever know, only she has the power to stop the evil in the woods. I didn't find this to be as well written, and there was an overuse of the term "once and for all", but I am glad Alexander wrote a follow up. Beryl was written in such a descriptive way that she creeped me out and cemented the fact that my life long hate for porcelain dolls is there for good reason.

[Susan Belman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Creepy Doll book! What am I doing to myself LOL. I didn’t realize The Collected was the 2nd book in a series, but honestly, it didn’t take away from my enjoyment. I probably would’ve appreciated it more if I’d read the first book (The Collector), but even without that, this middle-grade horror story was an eerie and fun read. The book centers around the death of a family member, cleaning out their house, creepy dolls, a mysterious house deep in the woods, and a sister who’s struggling with missing memories. The atmosphere is thick with tension and unease, and there are some seriously disturbing moments that will stick with you. It’s the kind of book that draws you in with its dark mystery and doesn’t let go until the very end. If you like spooky, suspense-filled stories with creepy vibes and a touch of the supernatural, this one’s definitely worth checking out.

[William Crosby · Rating 4 out of 5]

The narrator unwittingly enlivens dolls which can then attack. Anna misses her grandmother who used to comfort her and knew what Anna could do. She struggles with reality and wonders if there is an evil doll-witch or if she is mentally ill. Neither her mother nor sister will explain certain mysteries. A doll keeps appearing and disappearing.

A manipulative witch looks to have Anna free her from her prison by using deceit, persuasion, force, and wish-fulfillment promises.

Dolls creep me out. Would you be terrified if hundreds of dolls ran after and were grasping for you? How would you feel if your mom and sister were turned into porcelain, breakable dolls?

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

When my parents saw the cover of this book, they were a little iffy, about whether or not it was appropriate for my age. Even if I am in eighth grade. Even so I was able to convince them, and was able to read the book. THE BOOK WAS AMAZINGGGG. It is quite interesting how Ana can tell dolls play back when she is around, but when Beryl appeared I was so shocked because I though she was dead since that's what the first book had stated. In conclusion, great read for children, and a very gripping book.

[Sara Edwards · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am reading this with my 10 year old in the spirit of encouraging reading - so I want to add a bit more to my review.

Overall, the story is entertaining. My complaints really lie with the fact it took a long time to move forward in the story and there was a lot of repetition. Further, we get very little information about Anna, Josie, the mother....any of the characters in terms of their personalities.

I think that is a good book for its intended age group, but I would have liked some changes in pacing as well as some additional details that would have further tied us to the family.

[Jen]

My 9 year old found another of this author's books at a book fair, so I read this one, wanting to see how scary it was. While the story is interesting and the doll coming to life chilling, the fact that the main character is a witch is, frankly, a disappointment. Anna, the main character, is marginalized by her mother and verbally abused by her older sister. This is definitely not a book I would pick for my 9 year old to read.

[Devon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't enjoy this one as much as the first--maybe because I didn't like Anna much as a narrator. Her narration came off as much younger than Josie's even though it's apparently been 5 years (??) since the last book. Granted, I'm an adult and this book is for children so that may not be a gripe most readers will have. It does seem like more of the horror elements were focused on dolls, which I normally would love, but knowing the backstory made it less scary.