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Worry Doll
From the author of the acclaimed Cherry Beach comes a thrilling exploration of love and desire — obsessive, all-consuming, and impossible to look away from.
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.
Propulsive and lyrical, Worry Doll examines desire, memory, and the delusion of love.
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.
Propulsive and lyrical, Worry Doll examines desire, memory, and the delusion of love.
210 pages, Hardcover
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 111 reviews
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!!!!
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.
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 12, 2026
sapphic weird girl lit with EXTREMELY unreliable narrators. perfect pride month read imo
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 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.
June 28, 2026
Respectfully wtf
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!
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.
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.
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 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.
Review of advance copy received from Book of the Month
Well, at least it was short...
I very much liked the premise of this book and was excited to read a new, strange sapphic romance for pride month. On one hand, I enjoyed the story that was trying to be told, but didn't enjoy the writing style AT ALL and thought the book could have been better edited. Many run-on, awkward sentences that required multiple reads to grasp, missing and out of place punctuation, and mispellings. The dialogue was awful. "Hello." "Hello." "Hi." "Hi." is not dialogue between two characters, it's an annoyance.
The story itself, I wanted more from. It felt very surface level, almost an outline of a story that could have benefited from being fleshed out a little more. Both characters seemed to develop juuuuust enough to be plausible but not fully-formed. Again, awful dialogue did nothing to propel the story or form much meaningful connection between characters.
*Spoilers start here*
I wanted the chase between Heloise and Lacey to be longer, more suspenseful, and just generally creepier. Heloise finds Lacey twice, once outside a coffee shop and then again outside a store. Or technically 3 times because they meet on the road, whatever. While Lacey is clearly creeped out, after the first 2 encounters, they just didn't give me the same vibe. I didn't feel like the writing conveyed enough obsessive energy from Heloise and it felt more like a coincidence than what you ultimately find out it is in the last 10 or so pages of the book.
Heloise is clearly a nut by the end, but I don't know... maybe I just wanted more? More sense of danger. The vibe I got from the sex scene between Heloise and Lacey was "sex with homeless person" rather than "sex with obsessed stalker." There was so much opportunity to take this to the next level.
I didn't hate this book but I didn't love it like I thought I would from the synopsis. Maybe I'll read it again some other day.
I very much liked the premise of this book and was excited to read a new, strange sapphic romance for pride month. On one hand, I enjoyed the story that was trying to be told, but didn't enjoy the writing style AT ALL and thought the book could have been better edited. Many run-on, awkward sentences that required multiple reads to grasp, missing and out of place punctuation, and mispellings. The dialogue was awful. "Hello." "Hello." "Hi." "Hi." is not dialogue between two characters, it's an annoyance.
The story itself, I wanted more from. It felt very surface level, almost an outline of a story that could have benefited from being fleshed out a little more. Both characters seemed to develop juuuuust enough to be plausible but not fully-formed. Again, awful dialogue did nothing to propel the story or form much meaningful connection between characters.
*Spoilers start here*
I wanted the chase between Heloise and Lacey to be longer, more suspenseful, and just generally creepier. Heloise finds Lacey twice, once outside a coffee shop and then again outside a store. Or technically 3 times because they meet on the road, whatever. While Lacey is clearly creeped out, after the first 2 encounters, they just didn't give me the same vibe. I didn't feel like the writing conveyed enough obsessive energy from Heloise and it felt more like a coincidence than what you ultimately find out it is in the last 10 or so pages of the book.
Heloise is clearly a nut by the end, but I don't know... maybe I just wanted more? More sense of danger. The vibe I got from the sex scene between Heloise and Lacey was "sex with homeless person" rather than "sex with obsessed stalker." There was so much opportunity to take this to the next level.
I didn't hate this book but I didn't love it like I thought I would from the synopsis. Maybe I'll read it again some other day.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy
I don't know what to think or feel coming to the end of this book. Which can sometimes be the point of stories that remain ambiguous and obscure the meaning and intentions of the plot and the truth of their characters, but the way this story was executed made me feel less like the confusion was meaningful, but rather was just... there.
I liked the first half the most - we follow Heloise, we learn of her current relationship, her infidelity, her guilt and it all feels like it will build to an eventual reconnection or confrontation with Lacey down the line. And it does! But the eventual reconnection feels so blasé? So flippant and nonsensical. And then the continuing interactions just feel stranger and stranger. Lacey's POV overall is okay, but once Heloise is in the picture again several months later she barely remembers Heloise at all, and then in direct contrast she's having significant physiological reactions to being in her presence (negative, she's vomiting a LOT from the anxiety/discomfort). Then she chooses to have sex with her when Heloise doesn't go away just because she's there?? Even though she's kinda scared and creeped out about her being around??
I see the correlations between Heloise and Lacey; they're both women who are obsessed with an ex/past hookup, their recollections of the truth are unreliable, their emotions are unstable. They both have a cat lmao. But I don't understand what deeper meaning (if any) the author was trying to convey. What was the real truth here that was worth exploring? I'm left wanting more from the themes and ideas presented.
Edit to add: I got my copy from BOTM.
I liked the first half the most - we follow Heloise, we learn of her current relationship, her infidelity, her guilt and it all feels like it will build to an eventual reconnection or confrontation with Lacey down the line. And it does! But the eventual reconnection feels so blasé? So flippant and nonsensical. And then the continuing interactions just feel stranger and stranger. Lacey's POV overall is okay, but once Heloise is in the picture again several months later she barely remembers Heloise at all, and then in direct contrast she's having significant physiological reactions to being in her presence (negative, she's vomiting a LOT from the anxiety/discomfort). Then she chooses to have sex with her when Heloise doesn't go away just because she's there?? Even though she's kinda scared and creeped out about her being around??
I see the correlations between Heloise and Lacey; they're both women who are obsessed with an ex/past hookup, their recollections of the truth are unreliable, their emotions are unstable. They both have a cat lmao. But I don't understand what deeper meaning (if any) the author was trying to convey. What was the real truth here that was worth exploring? I'm left wanting more from the themes and ideas presented.
Edit to add: I got my copy from BOTM.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
A book I liked more upon reflection than while I was reading it to be honest. The cover is what initially attracted me to this book with the gorgeous 90's grunge poster vibe it's giving.
This is the story of two women who meet on a train and we get to see both of their perspective on the affair that ensues. We begin with Eloise who is a bit older and has a boyfriend who she likes but is a bit bored with, then with the second half of the book, we get to know Lacey who's studying clouds and trying to find her bearings in life.
I love stories with unreliable narrators, love a saphic book and this has lovely writing too. Even the numerous sex scenes didn't put me off, it didn't read like smut, it was very well done even quite beautiful. However I do find that the author forced the weird girl trope a bit too hard. It's great that we can talk about periods and other female bodily functions now but if it doesn't serve the plot, hearing about the main character's tampon changing every other scenes is not that riveting..
The climax did make it all worth it though and I liked both characters and their odd ways.
As far as the audiobook goes, I found the first part's narrator's voice (the author's?) a bit monotonous, I enjoyed Lacey's part much more! Overall still would recommend even if it didn't blow me away I had a good time with it and would read more from this author in the future with pleasure!
Thank you to Netgalley and Bolinda Audio for providing me with this audiobook!
This is the story of two women who meet on a train and we get to see both of their perspective on the affair that ensues. We begin with Eloise who is a bit older and has a boyfriend who she likes but is a bit bored with, then with the second half of the book, we get to know Lacey who's studying clouds and trying to find her bearings in life.
I love stories with unreliable narrators, love a saphic book and this has lovely writing too. Even the numerous sex scenes didn't put me off, it didn't read like smut, it was very well done even quite beautiful. However I do find that the author forced the weird girl trope a bit too hard. It's great that we can talk about periods and other female bodily functions now but if it doesn't serve the plot, hearing about the main character's tampon changing every other scenes is not that riveting..
The climax did make it all worth it though and I liked both characters and their odd ways.
As far as the audiobook goes, I found the first part's narrator's voice (the author's?) a bit monotonous, I enjoyed Lacey's part much more! Overall still would recommend even if it didn't blow me away I had a good time with it and would read more from this author in the future with pleasure!
Thank you to Netgalley and Bolinda Audio for providing me with this audiobook!
Review of advance copy
I'm still thinking about this book a day after finishing it.
This story explores how we romanticize past relationships and how our memories of those relationships can become warped, with the same events perceived differently depending on the person. It normalizes female desire while also capturing the obsessive tendencies and negative effects that can come from longing for something more.
Both of our main characters, Heloise and Lacey, are flawed and, at times, unlikeable. We experience both of their POVs, which prove to be unreliable and self-centered. The ending leaves readers wondering: whose version of the story do I believe? Or is the answer neither?
The writing style feels deliberately crafted to leave readers in a state of mania and confusion, much like the characters themselves. Short, abrupt sentences, sporadic thoughts, and half-baked ideas create a reading experience that feels intentionally disorienting. I found it incredibly effective.
My only real critiques are: (1) while I appreciate the author's effort to normalize female anatomy and bodily functions such as peeing and menstruation, I felt it was overdone and unnecessary how often it was brought up; and (2) I wish we'd gotten a little more from Heloise's POV toward the end of the book to see her life after the time jump. The ending could have remained ambiguous while still giving us a glimpse into her psyche.
This story explores how we romanticize past relationships and how our memories of those relationships can become warped, with the same events perceived differently depending on the person. It normalizes female desire while also capturing the obsessive tendencies and negative effects that can come from longing for something more.
Both of our main characters, Heloise and Lacey, are flawed and, at times, unlikeable. We experience both of their POVs, which prove to be unreliable and self-centered. The ending leaves readers wondering: whose version of the story do I believe? Or is the answer neither?
The writing style feels deliberately crafted to leave readers in a state of mania and confusion, much like the characters themselves. Short, abrupt sentences, sporadic thoughts, and half-baked ideas create a reading experience that feels intentionally disorienting. I found it incredibly effective.
My only real critiques are: (1) while I appreciate the author's effort to normalize female anatomy and bodily functions such as peeing and menstruation, I felt it was overdone and unnecessary how often it was brought up; and (2) I wish we'd gotten a little more from Heloise's POV toward the end of the book to see her life after the time jump. The ending could have remained ambiguous while still giving us a glimpse into her psyche.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ALC.
This was slow. Really slow. Honestly felt like nothing happened, and while there's plenty litfic where nothing happens, this one was the kind where nothing happens and it leaves you bored, at least for me. Heloise cheats on her bf. Wow. Lacey has an ex she feels weird about. Wow, again. There's a lot of fucking, which honestly, they could've done with fewer explicit fucking scenes on page, because fucking doesn't count as "something happens" either.
The prose itself was fine, very much fitting in with the general litfic vibe, a bit flowery at times, but not in an excessive way. I enjoyed the writing style, I just didn't care at all about either of our main characters, and it's difficult to enjoy a novel like this when you could not care less about what happens to the characters. It felt like a chore to finish it because it really just dragged on and on, but judging from other reviews, and from the general subject matter, as well as the fact that the writing style itself is not bad and I actually liked it, I do think that other readers might enjoy this more than I did. I think the fucking and the cheating threw me off, or maybe I just found both Heloise and Lacey obnoxious, but that's definitely my personal beef and someone else might feel very differently about this. It just wasn't for me.
This was slow. Really slow. Honestly felt like nothing happened, and while there's plenty litfic where nothing happens, this one was the kind where nothing happens and it leaves you bored, at least for me. Heloise cheats on her bf. Wow. Lacey has an ex she feels weird about. Wow, again. There's a lot of fucking, which honestly, they could've done with fewer explicit fucking scenes on page, because fucking doesn't count as "something happens" either.
The prose itself was fine, very much fitting in with the general litfic vibe, a bit flowery at times, but not in an excessive way. I enjoyed the writing style, I just didn't care at all about either of our main characters, and it's difficult to enjoy a novel like this when you could not care less about what happens to the characters. It felt like a chore to finish it because it really just dragged on and on, but judging from other reviews, and from the general subject matter, as well as the fact that the writing style itself is not bad and I actually liked it, I do think that other readers might enjoy this more than I did. I think the fucking and the cheating threw me off, or maybe I just found both Heloise and Lacey obnoxious, but that's definitely my personal beef and someone else might feel very differently about this. It just wasn't for me.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Two women meet in a train -- a moving, unfixable location. This is the backdrop to Laura McPhee Browne's exquisite new novel, Worry Doll, about erotic obsession, delusion, and fragility. This book feels cotemporary, but the dreamlike subjectivities of Heloise and Lacey, the tone and atmosphere and sensibility, at times reminded me of Marguerite Duras's The Lover, or Anais Nin's A Spy in the House of Love. Like those novels, Worry Doll explores desire, fragmentation, inner conflict, and guilt. Heloise is often ravenous, or so full she can feel it in her toes, then starving again, suggesting an emptiness or need that goes beyond the body, into the psyche. Browne has a delightfully sensual turn of phrase, a light touch, effortlessly turning something simple - a breakfast of 'beautiful wet fruit' or the smell of a place, "it is biscuit and bleach and dust and cooked meet. Starched bed linen and dead flowers" into something memorable. The novel becomes increasingly suspenseful as it you begin to suspect things aren't quite as they seem, and I enjoyed the novel's doubling and mirroring, underscored by tiny physical details, and captured by the insanely cool cover you can flaunt in cafés, or on the train...
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Review of advance copy received from Book of the Month
so this was….interesting and i am honestly so torn on how i feel about it. i reaaally enjoyed the writing style. i absolutely loved how it felt repetitive and a bit mundane at times. it contrasted SO well with the inner turmoil/conflict of both the protagonists and really highlighted their own methods of self-sabotage.
now, i definitely enjoyed heloise’s portion more, but i think it did a great job at building and building and building the characters and the emotion and the anticipation until it all came crashing down.
lacey’s portion was ok. definitely weirder but also boring? more of the settling after the storm. but i also keep thinking about it. so idk. do with that what you will.
i do think the book has an interesting take on conflicting realities and perspectives, how both can be true and also not at the same time, how different people focus on different details, how a life changing event to one is just another tuesday to the other, etc.
but, i don’t think it’s a new concept and i feel like i’ve read other books that have done it better?? so 3.5 ⭐️, rounded down.
now, i definitely enjoyed heloise’s portion more, but i think it did a great job at building and building and building the characters and the emotion and the anticipation until it all came crashing down.
lacey’s portion was ok. definitely weirder but also boring? more of the settling after the storm. but i also keep thinking about it. so idk. do with that what you will.
i do think the book has an interesting take on conflicting realities and perspectives, how both can be true and also not at the same time, how different people focus on different details, how a life changing event to one is just another tuesday to the other, etc.
but, i don’t think it’s a new concept and i feel like i’ve read other books that have done it better?? so 3.5 ⭐️, rounded down.
June 29, 2026
Truly do not know what to make of this book. If I could give it 2.5 stars, I would.
The first half of the book is obsessive. Heloise clearly — and I mean clearly — is so mentally ill it isn’t funny. Somehow so aware of her hypocrisy, yet so unmotivated to actually change. Perhaps she was just so frozen in fear she couldn’t; she was metaphorically voiceless despite her incessant need to speak.
Now Lacey? Wake the heck up and actually start paying attention to how your actions affect others. Totally aware of her disaffection for love besides her ONE love, I ended up disliking her more than Heloise. Her volatile personality simply makes her more entitled to affection despite her complete revulsion to such. She was quite literally, voiceless.
The ending was confusing. And quite frankly, just made me angry that the story was only 210 pages. Even though the characters irked me to a degree higher than I thought possible, the story ended too short and I demand more.
I would like to see these mentally ill lesbians have some resolve.
The first half of the book is obsessive. Heloise clearly — and I mean clearly — is so mentally ill it isn’t funny. Somehow so aware of her hypocrisy, yet so unmotivated to actually change. Perhaps she was just so frozen in fear she couldn’t; she was metaphorically voiceless despite her incessant need to speak.
Now Lacey? Wake the heck up and actually start paying attention to how your actions affect others. Totally aware of her disaffection for love besides her ONE love, I ended up disliking her more than Heloise. Her volatile personality simply makes her more entitled to affection despite her complete revulsion to such. She was quite literally, voiceless.
The ending was confusing. And quite frankly, just made me angry that the story was only 210 pages. Even though the characters irked me to a degree higher than I thought possible, the story ended too short and I demand more.
I would like to see these mentally ill lesbians have some resolve.
Review of advance copy received from Book of the Month
I really struggled to enjoy Worry Doll. The main character came across as overwhelmingly negative, self-centered, and difficult to connect with. Instead of growing or becoming more engaging as the story progressed, she spent much of the book dwelling on her problems and frustrations, which became exhausting to read.
The plot itself felt incredibly slow and uneventful. Much of the story revolves around the protagonist's daily routine going to work, going home, and occasionally meeting up with a friend. There was very little excitement, development, or meaningful action to keep me invested. At times, it felt less like reading a novel and more like reading the diary of someone recounting the mundane details of their everyday life.
I kept waiting for the story to pick up or for the characters to become more compelling, but neither really happened. Unfortunately, I found the book boring and struggled to stay interested from beginning to end.
The plot itself felt incredibly slow and uneventful. Much of the story revolves around the protagonist's daily routine going to work, going home, and occasionally meeting up with a friend. There was very little excitement, development, or meaningful action to keep me invested. At times, it felt less like reading a novel and more like reading the diary of someone recounting the mundane details of their everyday life.
I kept waiting for the story to pick up or for the characters to become more compelling, but neither really happened. Unfortunately, I found the book boring and struggled to stay interested from beginning to end.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This book really wowed me! It's messy and challenging and really fascinating.
We start with Heloise, a middle aged woman with a long term partner who becomes obsessed with a woman she briefly hooked up with. There is some serious YEARNING and she is not quite keeping her mental state in check here. She is so unhinged in her desire that I began to question if Lacy was even a real person. I won't say any more about the plot because it was nice to be surprised.
The audio narration was OK. Part is read by the author, and I found it a bit halting at first, but once I was into the story I didn't mind.
This book won't be for everyone. It is very graphic - the sex is more visceral and functional than erotic. The story is non-linear and unclear and doesn't resolve neatly. It is short and not much happens. But there are some serious VIBES! I thought it was very clever and I was gripped throughout.
Thanks netgalley for the ALC.
We start with Heloise, a middle aged woman with a long term partner who becomes obsessed with a woman she briefly hooked up with. There is some serious YEARNING and she is not quite keeping her mental state in check here. She is so unhinged in her desire that I began to question if Lacy was even a real person. I won't say any more about the plot because it was nice to be surprised.
The audio narration was OK. Part is read by the author, and I found it a bit halting at first, but once I was into the story I didn't mind.
This book won't be for everyone. It is very graphic - the sex is more visceral and functional than erotic. The story is non-linear and unclear and doesn't resolve neatly. It is short and not much happens. But there are some serious VIBES! I thought it was very clever and I was gripped throughout.
Thanks netgalley for the ALC.
Review of advance copy received from Book of the Month
3.5, rounded up. Quick, immediate thoughts: I liked it, though I'm confused by it. I love the strangeness of other people's heads (minds) and enjoyed the character study. I am left wondering "what was that all for??" like another reviewer, but I found the book fascinating and it kept my curiosity engaged (unlike the reviewer who gave it 1 star). I love metaphors and exaggerated description, even overwrought writing, and I think this is part of why I enjoyed it whereas some hated it. I wanted to include something mundane from the book that's an example of its abundance of minutiae (which I liked), "She can hear her father breathing. She hasn't heard him breathing in a long time, though she knows he must breathe in and out twenty thousand times each day. It makes her uncomfortable, to remember that she never hears him breathing, and to hear him breathing, and to be on the phone with him" (p. 55, BOTM copy).
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