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Worry Doll
On an ordinary day, two women meet on a train.
Heloise – the older woman – lives with her boyfriend in Melbourne.
Lacey – the other woman – is from Aotearoa and studies the clouds.
What follows is anything but ordinary, a passionate affair that will consume them both in mismatched and maddening ways.
Heloise – the older woman – lives with her boyfriend in Melbourne.
Lacey – the other woman – is from Aotearoa and studies the clouds.
What follows is anything but ordinary, a passionate affair that will consume them both in mismatched and maddening ways.
Audible Audio
Published July 1, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 144 reviews
June 12, 2026
I finished this book and immediately found myself asking whether I actually liked any part of it.
The answer is… not really.
The first half is told from Heloise’s perspective, and I found her absolutely exhausting to spend time with. Not in a fascinating train wreck kind of way. Not in a morally messy but compelling kind of way. I just genuinely disliked being in her head. Every interaction made me cringe, and I spent most of Part One wishing I was reading a different book.
Things improved somewhat when the story shifted to Lacey’s perspective, mostly because I found her more tolerable, but I still wouldn’t say I enjoyed reading it. By that point, I wasn’t invested in the relationship, and I wasn’t particularly interested in where the story was heading.
The ending didn’t help. Between the conflicting versions of events, the strange sexual encounter, the knife fantasy, and the baby tooth, I finished the book more confused than satisfied. Not confused in an intriguing way that made me want to think about it for days afterward. Confused in a “what was the point of all that?” kind of way.
I know this book will work for some readers, especially those who enjoy ambiguous literary fiction and deeply uncomfortable character studies. Unfortunately, I spent most of my time either irritated, uncomfortable, or bored.
This one was not for me.
The answer is… not really.
The first half is told from Heloise’s perspective, and I found her absolutely exhausting to spend time with. Not in a fascinating train wreck kind of way. Not in a morally messy but compelling kind of way. I just genuinely disliked being in her head. Every interaction made me cringe, and I spent most of Part One wishing I was reading a different book.
Things improved somewhat when the story shifted to Lacey’s perspective, mostly because I found her more tolerable, but I still wouldn’t say I enjoyed reading it. By that point, I wasn’t invested in the relationship, and I wasn’t particularly interested in where the story was heading.
The ending didn’t help. Between the conflicting versions of events, the strange sexual encounter, the knife fantasy, and the baby tooth, I finished the book more confused than satisfied. Not confused in an intriguing way that made me want to think about it for days afterward. Confused in a “what was the point of all that?” kind of way.
I know this book will work for some readers, especially those who enjoy ambiguous literary fiction and deeply uncomfortable character studies. Unfortunately, I spent most of my time either irritated, uncomfortable, or bored.
This one was not for me.
June 6, 2026
What an odd little book. Did some binge reading and devoured this in a day!! Following the two sides of a sapphic affair this dabbled with ideas of self perception, fidelity, relationships, and most importantly obsession. I found this very easy to read- almost too easy in the sense that i did find the narrator monotonous- but it did hook me especially in regard to its genre. It’s more so fascinating to see the perspective shift from this relationship, almost like your eyes open but as the reader we still remain suspicious of reliability… A fun freaky read to kick off June happy pride!!!!
July 1, 2026
I can’t articulate my feelings as I read these meaty, hefty, layered and overwhelmingly raw reads. They hit as they are designed. It reads as purely women.
I think of these: *The Knowing Madeleine Ryan. *How to Love The World Ilka Tampke. *Consider Yourself Kissed Jessica Stanley. They just know how to do it.
These female protagonists know their bodies, even if completely enmeshed, entangled and complicated. Confused, overwrought and unstable.
A completely consuming tale of, I can’t even say obsession, I’ll defer to the blurb and mention these two adjectives, mismatched and maddening. The narrative took a bend toward a woman I wasn’t expecting to hear from, and her back story. Continually full on.
Sometimes these stories confuse me a little, then I reflect that when I was the authors age we just didn’t know ourselves like this (I shouldn’t generalise), but reading creates my own looking back, to ponder and learn. This is what it’s about.
Smart and expectedly graphic, I also like that Laura knows how to write sex like she’s not even trying, I guess you could say this writing is unapologetically real.
I don’t think an average Goodreads rating counts with titles like this. The stories push boundaries and I believe they are nor compelled to fit the mould and nor they should.
Thank you, Scribe, for always holding us in the upper echelon of the arts with work such as this.
I think of these: *The Knowing Madeleine Ryan. *How to Love The World Ilka Tampke. *Consider Yourself Kissed Jessica Stanley. They just know how to do it.
These female protagonists know their bodies, even if completely enmeshed, entangled and complicated. Confused, overwrought and unstable.
A completely consuming tale of, I can’t even say obsession, I’ll defer to the blurb and mention these two adjectives, mismatched and maddening. The narrative took a bend toward a woman I wasn’t expecting to hear from, and her back story. Continually full on.
Sometimes these stories confuse me a little, then I reflect that when I was the authors age we just didn’t know ourselves like this (I shouldn’t generalise), but reading creates my own looking back, to ponder and learn. This is what it’s about.
Smart and expectedly graphic, I also like that Laura knows how to write sex like she’s not even trying, I guess you could say this writing is unapologetically real.
I don’t think an average Goodreads rating counts with titles like this. The stories push boundaries and I believe they are nor compelled to fit the mould and nor they should.
Thank you, Scribe, for always holding us in the upper echelon of the arts with work such as this.
April 28, 2026
give me a book about queer obsession with an unreliable narrator and i am so there. i went into this relatively blind, my only understanding of the plot being that it follows the affair between two women who meet by chance on a train in melbourne. i don’t often pay too much attention to epigraphs in books, but the choice to have a quote from beverly farmer’s ‘alone’ really struck me having only read that book two or three months ago. it feels incredibly fitting for a novel that similarly follows a woman’s slow spiral as the result of a lesbian relationship. the second half of the book, written from the perspective of the younger, less involved woman in the dynamic really changed my understanding of the ‘truth’ of the other woman’s perspective, which is the first one we are given.
June 24, 2026
Review to come but I really don’t understand the 2.95 rating.
THE WHOLE BOOK IS ABOUT YEARNING AND MEMORY AND HOW DANGEROUS OTHER PEOLPE CAN FEEL!
DAMMIT PEOPLE IT’S A MASTERPIECE! I’m crashing out.
THE WHOLE BOOK IS ABOUT YEARNING AND MEMORY AND HOW DANGEROUS OTHER PEOLPE CAN FEEL!
DAMMIT PEOPLE IT’S A MASTERPIECE! I’m crashing out.
June 28, 2026
Respectfully wtf
June 12, 2026
sapphic weird girl lit with EXTREMELY unreliable narrators. perfect pride month read imo
June 16, 2026
i am obsessed with this book. two unreliable narrators who are both intriguing and off-putting. brilliantly crafted metaphors. a general vibe that is somehow both calming and chaotic. gay. truly no idea what the ending is supposed to mean but i am here for it
June 7, 2026
when this book showed up on my doorstep, i couldn’t stop myself from instantly picking it up. i am forever grateful that book of the month had this as a june selection, so i could read this book before its release.
this novel is heartbreaking, mind-bending, and beautifully poetic. this is “lesbian weird girl lit fic” at its finest. i am enamored with this story and the author’s style.
i love how we see both sides of the story, and how drastically different they are. it is angering and completely understandable at the same time.
the cover really enticed me, and this book beyond lived up to my expectations.
this novel is heartbreaking, mind-bending, and beautifully poetic. this is “lesbian weird girl lit fic” at its finest. i am enamored with this story and the author’s style.
i love how we see both sides of the story, and how drastically different they are. it is angering and completely understandable at the same time.
the cover really enticed me, and this book beyond lived up to my expectations.
Review of advance copy
Genuinely don’t know what to rate this. This took me so long to get through, and it was such a short book! It was really slow at times and just sadly not the most interesting. When it would get pretty good the chapter would wrap up and then something new would start up.
I liked the second part better but then it lost me 😭 I wanted to like this, the description seemed good but it just fell short.
I liked the second part better but then it lost me 😭 I wanted to like this, the description seemed good but it just fell short.
Read
July 4, 2026Book of the Month Pick:
This book is a bit of a “slow burn” which is to say that it’s kinda boring. It’s about two women who hook up and leave with differing versions of events, and just as importantly, differing levels of patheticness. I think this has some interesting things to say about sex and the body, but I really struggle to come away with anything about fidelity or monogamy or identity that is interesting or novel. It takes chapters to establish what Tyler, The Creator said in like 3 minutes. There are a lot of these sort of “fake deep” lines. Like a good number of paragraphs here end like: “The saltine cracker fell on the floor. And in a way, that was life: it could break into a million pieces with just a little force.” I was entertained for a lot of this but then it just ends. Just like this here review
This book is a bit of a “slow burn” which is to say that it’s kinda boring. It’s about two women who hook up and leave with differing versions of events, and just as importantly, differing levels of patheticness. I think this has some interesting things to say about sex and the body, but I really struggle to come away with anything about fidelity or monogamy or identity that is interesting or novel. It takes chapters to establish what Tyler, The Creator said in like 3 minutes. There are a lot of these sort of “fake deep” lines. Like a good number of paragraphs here end like: “The saltine cracker fell on the floor. And in a way, that was life: it could break into a million pieces with just a little force.” I was entertained for a lot of this but then it just ends. Just like this here review
Read
June 28, 2026erm....... i got so bored i read an entire fantasy book in the middle of this.... i thought the first part was ok, kind of like the 10-year affair but less good, i like that the protagonist didn't care to have all the answers, she was in this questioning space, trying to understand herself, her feelings, etc. obviously she's unlikeable and the relationship w/ Lacey seems really fishy to start with. i wasn't loving it but it was okay. then the second part lost me. lacey's mind was so annoying........ i love a lost person and a plotless book as much as the next girl but this was next level. and then it just got weird and creepy, but not in a way i found interesting. it was just a bit too boring for me. no stakes. also didn't love the writing.
July 3, 2026
I am so bummed because the first part of the book was actually so good, but the second part was very confusing and the ending!? Even more confusing.
June 24, 2026
How completely and utterly bizarre!!! i love it!!
June 16, 2026
I devoured this entire audiobook in a single day. I loved the writing style, and the chapter structure worked especially well in audio format. Heloise's sections were my favourite.
It took me a few chapters to really get invested in Lacey's side of the story, but I was so intrigued to see how Heloise fit into her life that I kept listening.
I finished this book feeling confused, but I had a great time with it. A great sapphic weird girl literary fiction novel to add to the collection!
It took me a few chapters to really get invested in Lacey's side of the story, but I was so intrigued to see how Heloise fit into her life that I kept listening.
I finished this book feeling confused, but I had a great time with it. A great sapphic weird girl literary fiction novel to add to the collection!
July 6, 2026
This was surreal and vivid and deeply unsettling. I loved it! (Also, my favorite cover of the year so far.)
This is my honest take on the ending, because a lot of people on here seem to think it's nonsensical or unnecessarily weird. Obviously, I don't think this is the only way to read it, but I *would* argue that there is meaning behind it, contrary to what some reviews are saying:
Heloise gifting Lacey a baby tooth is obviously disturbing, considering everything that's led up to it, but then you think about the mother-child dynamics present throughout the narrative – Heloise's mom and Heloise, Sally and Lacey, Heloise and her cat, Lacey and her cat, Georgia and her fetus, Dale's mom and Dale, and I'm sure there are more that I can't think of off the top of my head – and it gets ten times more horrifying. In the previous sequence of events (in Lacey's mind, at least), Heloise has oscillated between childlike and too-old. She is pitiful, immature, and prone to crying, then suddenly Lacey remembers her age and becomes uncomfortably aware of the fact that Heloise is much older than her. She views her like a child, then she views her like her elder. Even Heloise's nightgown-style dress that she wears towards the end is ambiguous. To the reader, does it infantilize or age her? Both?
A line on the penultimate page that stuck with me: "'Lacey, I just wanted to give you back your noose,'" Heloise says. Her face is beatific, or at least softer than it has been" (209). At first glance, I thought, oh, this is obvious – in her mind, Lacey is her mother, who hung herself, despite the fact that Lacey is more than a decade younger than her. By giving her this gift, in her mind, she is helping the mother she never met, even if what she is helping her to do will ruin her life. But the way she says it feels matronly and comforting, like a mother, and of course she is almost old enough to be Lacey's mom (albeit a young mom, but still).
When Lacey opens the package and finds the baby tooth, she plays the role of both mother and child. Heloise, seeing herself as a young child, "gives" her baby tooth to the mother she never had; Heloise, seeing herself as a mother, gives her child one of her baby teeth after she has grown, even as she nears menopause and her odds of having a child grow slimmer. Lacey becomes both Heloise's impossible mother and soon-to-be-impossible child, and Heloise becomes both Lacey's mother and child, as the lines between past, present, future, and never are blurred, and both narrators lose their grip on memory, reality, and their shared history.
This is my honest take on the ending, because a lot of people on here seem to think it's nonsensical or unnecessarily weird. Obviously, I don't think this is the only way to read it, but I *would* argue that there is meaning behind it, contrary to what some reviews are saying:
Heloise gifting Lacey a baby tooth is obviously disturbing, considering everything that's led up to it, but then you think about the mother-child dynamics present throughout the narrative – Heloise's mom and Heloise, Sally and Lacey, Heloise and her cat, Lacey and her cat, Georgia and her fetus, Dale's mom and Dale, and I'm sure there are more that I can't think of off the top of my head – and it gets ten times more horrifying. In the previous sequence of events (in Lacey's mind, at least), Heloise has oscillated between childlike and too-old. She is pitiful, immature, and prone to crying, then suddenly Lacey remembers her age and becomes uncomfortably aware of the fact that Heloise is much older than her. She views her like a child, then she views her like her elder. Even Heloise's nightgown-style dress that she wears towards the end is ambiguous. To the reader, does it infantilize or age her? Both?
A line on the penultimate page that stuck with me: "'Lacey, I just wanted to give you back your noose,'" Heloise says. Her face is beatific, or at least softer than it has been" (209). At first glance, I thought, oh, this is obvious – in her mind, Lacey is her mother, who hung herself, despite the fact that Lacey is more than a decade younger than her. By giving her this gift, in her mind, she is helping the mother she never met, even if what she is helping her to do will ruin her life. But the way she says it feels matronly and comforting, like a mother, and of course she is almost old enough to be Lacey's mom (albeit a young mom, but still).
When Lacey opens the package and finds the baby tooth, she plays the role of both mother and child. Heloise, seeing herself as a young child, "gives" her baby tooth to the mother she never had; Heloise, seeing herself as a mother, gives her child one of her baby teeth after she has grown, even as she nears menopause and her odds of having a child grow slimmer. Lacey becomes both Heloise's impossible mother and soon-to-be-impossible child, and Heloise becomes both Lacey's mother and child, as the lines between past, present, future, and never are blurred, and both narrators lose their grip on memory, reality, and their shared history.
July 2, 2026
Like reviews before me this book is odd. That's the only way I can put it.
Drawn by promises of maddening obsession, I dove in. What McPhee-Browne does here is really impressive for a shorter novel, I could feel exactly what Heloise and Lacey were feeling throughout the novel. And while neither are likable characters, in fact they're wildly horrible people, their feelings, worries, obsessions, are relatable. I've felt some version of those emotions expressed before.
I don't necessarily buy the obsession in this book. It doesn't feel all-consuming. While it does feel one-sided, that's the extent of it. As the novel progresses, I found myself struggling with the point of the novel and why it was written. I think that's a common sentiment among reviewers.
What I will say is toward the end of the novel, I understood what I thought the point was. With obsession, we tend to think the very best of another person. We aren't privy to their flaws or we simply choose to ignore them. It also tends to skew our perceptions. Two people can have totally different experiences. And two people can be wildly flawed in a way that is still difficult to see with the rose colored glasses of infatuation.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Drawn by promises of maddening obsession, I dove in. What McPhee-Browne does here is really impressive for a shorter novel, I could feel exactly what Heloise and Lacey were feeling throughout the novel. And while neither are likable characters, in fact they're wildly horrible people, their feelings, worries, obsessions, are relatable. I've felt some version of those emotions expressed before.
I don't necessarily buy the obsession in this book. It doesn't feel all-consuming. While it does feel one-sided, that's the extent of it. As the novel progresses, I found myself struggling with the point of the novel and why it was written. I think that's a common sentiment among reviewers.
What I will say is toward the end of the novel, I understood what I thought the point was. With obsession, we tend to think the very best of another person. We aren't privy to their flaws or we simply choose to ignore them. It also tends to skew our perceptions. Two people can have totally different experiences. And two people can be wildly flawed in a way that is still difficult to see with the rose colored glasses of infatuation.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
June 15, 2026
I really tried to think about if I enjoyed even a small section of this book and I really don’t think I did. There was never a moment where this story hooked me. Despite only being 200 pages in length it felt like such a slog. The story never really seems to have any progress and even at the end I’m very unsure of why any of the events that occurred did or if I could say there even really were events. It was mostly just reading a very long form laundry list of daily activities and just really was a chore to read. Definitely disappointing.
Kudos to whoever designed the cover though, really solid art.
Kudos to whoever designed the cover though, really solid art.
July 5, 2026
A gripping tale of two who share a moment (or two), but have vastly different interpretations of their meeting and connection. Heloise is a rather insufferable character, and wtf was that ending??
I do like how this is a written however, and I’m always a sucker for a non-American author.
But I’m still on about that damn ending. Possibly a little creeped out too.
I do like how this is a written however, and I’m always a sucker for a non-American author.
But I’m still on about that damn ending. Possibly a little creeped out too.
June 29, 2026
I really enjoyed the first half and our unreliable narrator, but the pivot to the new perspective halfway through lost me until the two were woven together again later. I liked knowing who she was too but it was not nearly as compelling as the first half. Still enjoyed reading this!
June 23, 2026
Super boring story, super boring characters. Bummer
June 30, 2026
4.75 rounded up.
I loved the two povs of Lacey and Heloise. Though I do think I liked Lacey's pov a bit better as she was easier to relate to for me. Their story while confusing at times was also really well written and in the end I'm left with questions about what parts were real and what parts were maybe made up and just which one has the more reliable pov of the two.
I loved the two povs of Lacey and Heloise. Though I do think I liked Lacey's pov a bit better as she was easier to relate to for me. Their story while confusing at times was also really well written and in the end I'm left with questions about what parts were real and what parts were maybe made up and just which one has the more reliable pov of the two.
July 3, 2026
TFW the head game is so good you loose a tooth 💕
June 30, 2026
Like 2.5 stars? Sort of confusing and lost me at times
July 4, 2026
What. I know this was supposed to be off kilter and different, but I was utterly confused the entire time. I wanted so badly to like it but I didn’t. I feel bad saying it but it was not for me.
June 11, 2026
THIS BOOK IS AWFUL! How does something this bad get published? ! I kept reading thinking it had to get better. Hey maybe the ending would make it worth the read. From the first page to the last page it was utter garbage. The ending made no sense. What a waste of a book. I read 100+ books a year and even the few on my DNF list beat this book by far.
Review of advance copy
To say I was disappointed was an understatement. I got this book from Book of the Month, and it was marketed to me as a weird-girl sapphic literary novel with an unreliable narrator. Sapphic? Yes. Weird girl lit? Not really. And unreliable narrator? Not if we are going by the fundamental principles of what an unreliable narrator is supposed to be and how that operates as a literary device.
Weird girl lit fic is a genre I respect and am often interested in, even when the book is a miss for me. It is supposed to serve as a way for female characters to break the molds of what has been prescribed for them in the literary canon and often make a comment on the portrayal of women in the media landscape. A standard affair novel is not what I, personally, would describe as weird girl lit. There are ways to do it, but this felt more like a straightforward affair story.
What really drew me in was the unreliable narrator marketing point. Unreliable narrators have created some of my favorite characters and books to date- The Secret History, The Great Gatsby, and Gone Girl, to name a few. The unreliable narrator is a challenging literary device; it is meant to constantly bait and keep the reader guessing about what is fact and fiction while being presented primarily from the narrator's perspective. It is much harder to have an unreliable third-person perspective, and I think that is where it fell short in this book. I think both Heloise and Lacy would have benefited more from a first-person perspective, especially if Heloise is supposed to serve as our unreliable narrator. There weren't any points during her section that made me question whether she was reliable or not, because we didn't see her interactions with others that caused the logic to fracture. So when we shift to Lacy, we learn that many things were false in Heloise's perspective, but rather than confirming any doubts, we were just given information to fill in the blanks we didn't know existed.
I think if we played up the stalkerish aspect that started from the very end, it would have led more toward the unreliable narrator and weird girl lit that was in the book's marketing, at least from BOTM's perspective. And I think it would have shown us more into Heloise’s mindset and seen who she was. If we had her doing more than just texting in her narrative before we switched to Lacy, it would have raised readers' concerns about her and her memories and reality. That part was very interesting and would have added an extra layer to the standard affair story.
One other thing about the book that is a criticism I have a these types of weird girl lit books and maybe is more of a pet peeve or personal issue I have because I've not seen many critqiue it, but I find some of the ways they describe the female autonomy to be off putting at times as if they are trying to make it sound strange, for lack of better words, to make the book sound weirder and more out there. It just doesn't sit right with me with some of the ways the female body and automoy is described a couple of times in this book.
Weird girl lit fic is a genre I respect and am often interested in, even when the book is a miss for me. It is supposed to serve as a way for female characters to break the molds of what has been prescribed for them in the literary canon and often make a comment on the portrayal of women in the media landscape. A standard affair novel is not what I, personally, would describe as weird girl lit. There are ways to do it, but this felt more like a straightforward affair story.
What really drew me in was the unreliable narrator marketing point. Unreliable narrators have created some of my favorite characters and books to date- The Secret History, The Great Gatsby, and Gone Girl, to name a few. The unreliable narrator is a challenging literary device; it is meant to constantly bait and keep the reader guessing about what is fact and fiction while being presented primarily from the narrator's perspective. It is much harder to have an unreliable third-person perspective, and I think that is where it fell short in this book. I think both Heloise and Lacy would have benefited more from a first-person perspective, especially if Heloise is supposed to serve as our unreliable narrator. There weren't any points during her section that made me question whether she was reliable or not, because we didn't see her interactions with others that caused the logic to fracture. So when we shift to Lacy, we learn that many things were false in Heloise's perspective, but rather than confirming any doubts, we were just given information to fill in the blanks we didn't know existed.
I think if we played up the stalkerish aspect that started from the very end, it would have led more toward the unreliable narrator and weird girl lit that was in the book's marketing, at least from BOTM's perspective. And I think it would have shown us more into Heloise’s mindset and seen who she was. If we had her doing more than just texting in her narrative before we switched to Lacy, it would have raised readers' concerns about her and her memories and reality. That part was very interesting and would have added an extra layer to the standard affair story.
One other thing about the book that is a criticism I have a these types of weird girl lit books and maybe is more of a pet peeve or personal issue I have because I've not seen many critqiue it, but I find some of the ways they describe the female autonomy to be off putting at times as if they are trying to make it sound strange, for lack of better words, to make the book sound weirder and more out there. It just doesn't sit right with me with some of the ways the female body and automoy is described a couple of times in this book.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Love is like a sin for the one who wants it the most. Two women, two timelines, two stories. When Heloise's and Lacey's lives collide, both take what they need from the other.
Worry Doll is told in two halves, from two points of view. The publisher calls it kaleidoscopic, and the word earns its place. The story refracts and reflects. Part of the appeal of this book is wondering what you're actually seeing, and what is distortion. I tried my best not to get too dizzy.
Heloise is 36, living with her boyfriend in Melbourne. She begins an affair with Lacey, who is 24 and from Wellington, New Zealand. From the premise, I was expecting the elder woman to be holding the strings. Instead, it's the other way around. Heloise is a classic self-doubting millennial. She's a bit of a train wreck but you also can't help but sympathize with her.
What permeates this novel is ambiguity. A particular kind of hollowness that comes from compulsively suppressing every emotion, and left me feeling a bit sad. Heloise isn't really in touch with her feelings. She experiences the world through bodily sensation instead, through smell and texture and the feeling of clothes on skin. The writing is visceral and atmospheric in a way that sneaks up on you. She's stalking her ex's Instagram. She's sensation-seeking to fill something she won't name. And slowly, the full shape of her obsession with Lacey comes into view.
One of the things this novel does particularly well is celebrate female sexuality. Openly, unapologetically, and with real literary attention. There's a graphic and intimate portrayal of masturbation that feels neither gratuitous nor sanitised. It belongs entirely to Heloise's interiority. "She will prolong the feeling of being entirely in control, and prolong the feeling of being entirely in and beyond her body." The novel understands that desire and self-destruction can occupy exactly the same space.
Then halfway through, the point of view shifts to Lacey. We discover she has her own ghosts, her own power dynamics, her own warped relationship with memory. Both women at some point claim their memory is excellent. Both are proven wrong. Memory and perception are the real subjects of this novel, more than the affair itself.
The audiobook narration really adds to the book. Laura McPhee-Browne narrates Heloise's chapters herself, and Samara Saunders voices Lacey. The contrast is striking and intentional. Melbourne and Wellington feel genuinely different, not just geographically but atmospherically.
Worry Doll is an ambitious portrait, but of what? Of two women, an affair, a generational snapshot? I found that this book starts off strong, but doesn't really end up making a strong point. It occasionally tips into being a little too on the nose, but overall it's an interesting read. The internal psychology of both characters is handled with subtlety and care. If you loved Evenings and Weekends or Conversations with Friends, this belongs on your list.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Advance listening copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
Worry Doll is told in two halves, from two points of view. The publisher calls it kaleidoscopic, and the word earns its place. The story refracts and reflects. Part of the appeal of this book is wondering what you're actually seeing, and what is distortion. I tried my best not to get too dizzy.
Heloise is 36, living with her boyfriend in Melbourne. She begins an affair with Lacey, who is 24 and from Wellington, New Zealand. From the premise, I was expecting the elder woman to be holding the strings. Instead, it's the other way around. Heloise is a classic self-doubting millennial. She's a bit of a train wreck but you also can't help but sympathize with her.
What permeates this novel is ambiguity. A particular kind of hollowness that comes from compulsively suppressing every emotion, and left me feeling a bit sad. Heloise isn't really in touch with her feelings. She experiences the world through bodily sensation instead, through smell and texture and the feeling of clothes on skin. The writing is visceral and atmospheric in a way that sneaks up on you. She's stalking her ex's Instagram. She's sensation-seeking to fill something she won't name. And slowly, the full shape of her obsession with Lacey comes into view.
One of the things this novel does particularly well is celebrate female sexuality. Openly, unapologetically, and with real literary attention. There's a graphic and intimate portrayal of masturbation that feels neither gratuitous nor sanitised. It belongs entirely to Heloise's interiority. "She will prolong the feeling of being entirely in control, and prolong the feeling of being entirely in and beyond her body." The novel understands that desire and self-destruction can occupy exactly the same space.
Then halfway through, the point of view shifts to Lacey. We discover she has her own ghosts, her own power dynamics, her own warped relationship with memory. Both women at some point claim their memory is excellent. Both are proven wrong. Memory and perception are the real subjects of this novel, more than the affair itself.
The audiobook narration really adds to the book. Laura McPhee-Browne narrates Heloise's chapters herself, and Samara Saunders voices Lacey. The contrast is striking and intentional. Melbourne and Wellington feel genuinely different, not just geographically but atmospherically.
Worry Doll is an ambitious portrait, but of what? Of two women, an affair, a generational snapshot? I found that this book starts off strong, but doesn't really end up making a strong point. It occasionally tips into being a little too on the nose, but overall it's an interesting read. The internal psychology of both characters is handled with subtlety and care. If you loved Evenings and Weekends or Conversations with Friends, this belongs on your list.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Advance listening copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This review is in return for an Advanced Listener Copy of the audiobook of Worry Doll by Laura Mc-Phee Browne courtesy of NetGalley and Bolinda Audio. My thoughts are very specific to the audiobook so may be quite different to the experience of reading the print version.
On paper this book is right up my street and I really wanted to enjoy it. A deeply introspective, memoiresque novel it leans into the styles of Catherine Newman and Chiamanda Ngozi Adichie. There are moments of captivation, where the detail-oriented writing style hooks you in and you feel like you can see and even smell the characters!
Two women, Heloise and Lacey, who live in Naam (Melbourne) and Wellington respectively, are connected through a love affair. There’s some pretty erotic sex scenes and it’s firmly NSFW, which was a strong part for me.
What didn’t work for me was the narration. The story is read by the author, Laura McPhee-Browne and Samara Saunders each taking one half of the book to voice Heloise and Lacey. I don’t know which character was voiced by the author.
In both cases the narration was a slow drawl, with a lethargic, sluggish flow. If I had been listening on an app that has nuanced speed control I think this would have been surmountable, a great feature of audiobooks I use a lot but sadly isn’t available on NetGalley’s app. However I did speed it up to 1.25 in Lacey’s half and that did help.
After a false start I tried again after listening to a couple of other books and got into the story. I found myself pulled into the world of Heloise, who is having a long-distance affair with Lacey.
The story feels deeply introspective, which usually I would like and I did enjoy in parts, but the book never quite gets to the point. There’s a twist in the tale as we meet Lacey, but for me this was marred by an even slower narration style.
The desire to write and read fiction that bears witness to the experience of being a woman and specifically a Queer woman is one to be celebrated. But this felt like being dragged through a self indulgent sex dream. Maybe it works better in print but this didn’t work for me as an audiobook.
On paper this book is right up my street and I really wanted to enjoy it. A deeply introspective, memoiresque novel it leans into the styles of Catherine Newman and Chiamanda Ngozi Adichie. There are moments of captivation, where the detail-oriented writing style hooks you in and you feel like you can see and even smell the characters!
Two women, Heloise and Lacey, who live in Naam (Melbourne) and Wellington respectively, are connected through a love affair. There’s some pretty erotic sex scenes and it’s firmly NSFW, which was a strong part for me.
What didn’t work for me was the narration. The story is read by the author, Laura McPhee-Browne and Samara Saunders each taking one half of the book to voice Heloise and Lacey. I don’t know which character was voiced by the author.
In both cases the narration was a slow drawl, with a lethargic, sluggish flow. If I had been listening on an app that has nuanced speed control I think this would have been surmountable, a great feature of audiobooks I use a lot but sadly isn’t available on NetGalley’s app. However I did speed it up to 1.25 in Lacey’s half and that did help.
After a false start I tried again after listening to a couple of other books and got into the story. I found myself pulled into the world of Heloise, who is having a long-distance affair with Lacey.
The story feels deeply introspective, which usually I would like and I did enjoy in parts, but the book never quite gets to the point. There’s a twist in the tale as we meet Lacey, but for me this was marred by an even slower narration style.
The desire to write and read fiction that bears witness to the experience of being a woman and specifically a Queer woman is one to be celebrated. But this felt like being dragged through a self indulgent sex dream. Maybe it works better in print but this didn’t work for me as an audiobook.
July 6, 2026
Wtf did I just read?
I genuinely don’t know what to say.
From the very beginning, I never connected with Heloise. She didn’t come across as yearning or heartbroken to me. She came across as obsessive, delusional, and completely detached from reality. After one brief encounter with Lacey, she builds an entire fantasy relationship in her head. I kept waiting for the story to reveal there was more to it, but…there wasn’t.
Then we switch to Lacey’s perspective, and for several chapters there’s no mention of Heloise at all. I was so confused. When Heloise finally shows up, Lacey doesn’t even remember who she is. That was the moment I realized I hadn’t misunderstood the first half… Heloise really had invented an intimacy that simply didn’t exist for Lacey.
And then things somehow got even more bizarre.
Heloise tracks down Dale at work to tell her that she and Lacey had an affair and that she left her husband because she hopes she and Lacey can be together. Excuse me…what?? That crossed the line from infatuation into genuinely unsettling behavior.
Then Lacey sleeps with Heloise despite barely knowing her, describes her as “rotting,” and they can’t even agree on whether they’d previously made plans to meet. By this point I was questioning everything. Was Heloise an unreliable narrator? Was she imagining parts of their relationship? The book never really commits to an answer.
The final chapter kept piling on more revelations…Heloise’s suicidal thoughts, the parallels between her mother and former client, Lacey imagining stabbing her, and then it all ends with Heloise leaving Lacey…a baby tooth.
A. Baby. Tooth.
I don’t mind literary fiction. I don’t mind ambiguity. I actually love books that trust readers to interpret symbolism. But this never came together for me. It felt like two separate novellas awkwardly stitched together, built around a relationship I never believed in. Instead of feeling emotionally devastated or intellectually challenged, I just kept saying, “Wtf?”
Maybe this one will resonate with readers who enjoy highly abstract, psychologically driven literary fiction. Unfortunately, I wasn’t one of them.
I genuinely don’t know what to say.
From the very beginning, I never connected with Heloise. She didn’t come across as yearning or heartbroken to me. She came across as obsessive, delusional, and completely detached from reality. After one brief encounter with Lacey, she builds an entire fantasy relationship in her head. I kept waiting for the story to reveal there was more to it, but…there wasn’t.
Then we switch to Lacey’s perspective, and for several chapters there’s no mention of Heloise at all. I was so confused. When Heloise finally shows up, Lacey doesn’t even remember who she is. That was the moment I realized I hadn’t misunderstood the first half… Heloise really had invented an intimacy that simply didn’t exist for Lacey.
And then things somehow got even more bizarre.
Heloise tracks down Dale at work to tell her that she and Lacey had an affair and that she left her husband because she hopes she and Lacey can be together. Excuse me…what?? That crossed the line from infatuation into genuinely unsettling behavior.
Then Lacey sleeps with Heloise despite barely knowing her, describes her as “rotting,” and they can’t even agree on whether they’d previously made plans to meet. By this point I was questioning everything. Was Heloise an unreliable narrator? Was she imagining parts of their relationship? The book never really commits to an answer.
The final chapter kept piling on more revelations…Heloise’s suicidal thoughts, the parallels between her mother and former client, Lacey imagining stabbing her, and then it all ends with Heloise leaving Lacey…a baby tooth.
A. Baby. Tooth.
I don’t mind literary fiction. I don’t mind ambiguity. I actually love books that trust readers to interpret symbolism. But this never came together for me. It felt like two separate novellas awkwardly stitched together, built around a relationship I never believed in. Instead of feeling emotionally devastated or intellectually challenged, I just kept saying, “Wtf?”
Maybe this one will resonate with readers who enjoy highly abstract, psychologically driven literary fiction. Unfortunately, I wasn’t one of them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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