Worry Doll

by Laura McPhee-Browne

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.

Genres: Fiction, Literary Fiction, Contemporary, LGBT, Queer, Romance, Lesbian

210 pages, Paperback

Published June 30, 2026

Reviews

[BAM who is Beth Anne · Rating 1 out of 5]

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.

[Suz · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Isa · Rating 3 out of 5]

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!!!!

[Jess Theworddegree]

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.

[chloe · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Respectfully wtf

[Kobe · Rating 3 out of 5]

meh

[kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

sapphic weird girl lit with EXTREMELY unreliable narrators. perfect pride month read imo

[Rachael Dockery · Rating 1 out of 5]

I cannot overstate how awful this book is. I would have DNFed it early on and with great relish, except that I lack sufficient self-preservation and/or self-respect to DNF books. And it only got worse as I kept reading, not better.

[Anna Shane · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[Charlize Maeve · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Angelica Hardin · Rating 1 out of 5]

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.

[Jessy Franks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was really hoping we’d find out where she put that damn ice cream

[liv (≧▽≦) · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.75 Stars ----

Hmmmm. I'm not really sure how to rate this, a 3 feels to high but a 2.5 feels to harsh. I think the main problem I have with this is that it really walks the line between normal and weird girl lit. If you are a lover of the weird girl lit genre, this will not be weird enough for you. If you like normal litfic, it is a bit strange, maybe a bit uncomfortable. Unfortunately in this case, I am a weird girl lit LOVER and this just didn't do it for me.

The first character, Eloise, was written far stronger IMO. She was morally questionable, strange, unreliable narrator situation. I would have taken a whole book just from her perspective. I was disappointed when we switched over to Lacy for the rest of the book because I felt she was a bit boring. I don't think her character was written or fleshed out as well as Eloise. Any suspense from Eloise completely dissipated through Lacy's story and its kinda insane to say that considering she was literally getting stalked. It just wasn't written well :( The book would have been a solid 3.5-4 if the whole story had centred around Eloise, not every book needs to do the split perspective thing!!!

[Joshua]

Book 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

[Scott · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the book of the month for a subscription I have and I would hate to have to read anything it beat to be that book.

Worry Dolls is not something I would ever choose to read but I’ve been in this situation and actually really enjoyed being exposed to something different. Not in this case. This story was full of unnecessary words and the words that were necessary were placed in an order that was almost unreadable.

To be frank, I’m not sure what this book was trying to say. If it was a study of the impact of unrequited love on fragile mental health, it missed the mark. By a long way. And the ending was beyond weird. It was ridiculous.

Fingers crossed for next month’s book being a lot better.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Appreciated how Wellington and Melbourne-coded the story was, easy read but bit too delulu for me

[Roxane]

erm....... 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.

[CamiVreadsbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Izzy Cotenoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

How completely and utterly bizarre!!! i love it!!

[Anni · Rating 4 out of 5]

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!

[Peggy · Rating 2 out of 5]

What???

The first half of this book I understood. I came in expecting to not like the main character and to encounter some unhinged and unhealthy obsession. I got that. For the first half of the book (Heloise's POV).

Then the second POV is Lacey. And she's not obsessed or particularly interesting. She doesn't seem to care about anything at all.

Some of the imagery was definitely odd. The choice to describe tampons at several points felt unnecessary.

The second half of this book absolutely dropped my feelings towards it.

[toallthebooksiveread · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It’s difficult for Lacey to access her inner child, because how can you possibly do that, when you have grown through and upon that child, when you have blotted them out?...Lacy finds her little self and leans in.”

Worry Doll follows two interconnected unreliable narrators, who both, at times, cause a sickness to swell in the depths of your stomach stemming from their deplorable thoughts and actions. Both characters are explorations of the dirty, grotesque parts of life, “love,” and lust, each in its own unique and confronting way.

The book follows Heloise and Lacey as they perceive a chance meeting that sparked an affair on a train; what happens from then on, the two cannot agree on. From the torrent of lust, one gains an obsessive and compulsive need for the other; the other only remembers it as a brief encounter—over after a shared moment of desire. However, each views the encounter and aftermath very differently—taking different meanings and twisting the coupling into what they want it to be.

Worry Doll begins with Heloise’s point of view, full of longing and feeling trapped within a stable—if not sheltered relationship with Ernie, her long-time partner—who she is now cheating on with Lacey. Lacey, for Heloise, is exciting, different, insatiable and unpredictable, causing Heloise to fall into excitement. Lacey is also much, much younger than Heloise, which brings on a new youthful, fun glow to Heloise’s life.

The obsession Heloise displays within her interiority is dark, a cycle of thoughts often associated with OCD rumination. Her thoughts are uncontrolled or tamed until quilled by confirmation that she is not alone in this love. Heloise is selfish; while her internal monologue is often self-deprecating, she is aware of her flaws, her damaging behaviour, yet makes no move to change the hurt she creates—all the while feeling guilt and shame but reminiscing in it.
On the other hand, Lacey’s perspective suggests a lack of awareness of her damaging behaviour caused by blotting it out or not caring enough to dwell on it. The lack of care is evident in how Lacey treats the people around them, only wanting surface-level relationships, finding it exhausting to try. Lacy comes across as aloof and brash, often disinterested. Although the behaviour and mindset emit something entirely hidden from Lacey or by Lacey, a more complex answer than just internalisation and lack of interest. The abrupt end of the novel suggests a remembering as if Lacey is coming out of a psychotic break or lapse of mental capacity, as if a fog has lifted. However, on account of both Lacey and Heloise being unreliable even with their own internal dialogue—who or what is right is stuck in your mind by the last word of the book. Was their relationship all just a single casual fling on a train or something that had a spark and grew into encounters beyond the train? Heloise and Lacey each have their own perspective; each sees what they want to see, and each tells themselves and us what they want to—leaving out the rest.

Laura McPhee-Browne captures the complexity and often gritty aspects of life through arresting prose that often left me breathless. Through Laura’s writing, I grasped the depths of her characters, the hints of mental unrest and troubles ignored or unwilling to be processed by the individuals, without Laura ever explicitly stating any conditions. Her writing constructs the nuances in personal interiority, of mental troubles, the inability to think about a problem or emotion, and the compartmentalisation of negative behaviours as you commit them.

Worry Doll is a read unlike any other, a piece of literary fiction that explores the darkest natures of ourselves and will leave you battling confusion as to what really happened and the honesty of understanding because it reflects back exactly how we may act or feel, because these very flawed characters could be us.

[Kara Galvan · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Becs' reads Australia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worry Doll by Laura McPhee-Browne 🇦🇺
⭐️⭐️⭐️
August Aussie Appreciation Month

This was a quick, and at times a graphic read about relationships and an affair between two women living across continents.

These women are in touch with their bodies, their desires and sexuality.

At times poetical and lyrical this is a different book to my normal genre of crime fiction. A short enjoyable read.

"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."

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

the mesmerising prose in this book delivers female desire, the delusions we romanticise to escape mundanity, and two flawed and complicated main characters who have opposing perspectives on the ‘love affair’ they find themselves in.
I enjoyed the first half of the book in Heloise’ pov the most as I felt like we were on track for something and then the switch of pov felt like it did drop off before gradually picking up again.
an open-ended and dreamlike ending to this story felt like there should have been a bit more clarification but I guess that leaves us wanting more.

[Hollie · Rating 1 out of 5]

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.

[Liv Phillips · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Ksenia Dombo · Rating 3 out of 5]

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!

[Alexandra · Rating 1 out of 5]

Super boring story, super boring characters. Bummer