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Reading the Palms of Dolls
Ever since he was a young child, Jesse suffered terribly from an anxiety disorder known as Scopophobia; the fear of being looked at or being seen. He was raised by an emotionally unstable mother who kept him locked in a windowless room for the majority of his childhood due to his debilitating condition. Her only means of contact with her son was from behind a grotesque mask and at a considerable distance.On his sixteenth birthday, Jesse eventually runs away from home and embarks on a surreal and terrifying journey that forces him to face his deepest fears and uncover some of his darkest secrets. Along the way, he meets another teen runaway who calls herself Rabbit, a tattooed, pierced, self-acclaimed 'goth' with a penchant for getting into trouble. Burdened with her own secrets, the pair become allies and are forced to work together in order to survive the bizarre and disturbing events that unfold in October 1994.
- GenresHorror
245 pages, Paperback
Published January 20, 2017
29 people want to read
About the author
Drew Forest
5 books16 followersIf you slice Drew Forest in half, you'll find remnants of old Psychology textbooks, haunted Halloween gumball-machine toys and a chasm of library-loaned horror books. Forest wants you to explore the shuffling noise in your attic and the sightings of the lady in white in the local cemetery. With a strong fascination of the macabre, Forest writes to evoke more than a quick scare from his readers. His characters have depth and implore the reader to dissect their own emotions when faced with difficult choices.
Forest has currently published three full-length titles and several short stories. His most popular work however, is his debut novel, 'The Corpse Rooms' a disturbing cornucopia of horror, madness and mystery. It tells the tale of Theo Randell, a man battling addiction who is forced to find the courage to face fear when unusual activity at an old manor house threatens to turn his world upside down.
For more information and updates on Forest's work, please visit the official website: drewforestwrites.wordpress.com
Follow Drew on Twitter: @D_R_Forest
Forest has currently published three full-length titles and several short stories. His most popular work however, is his debut novel, 'The Corpse Rooms' a disturbing cornucopia of horror, madness and mystery. It tells the tale of Theo Randell, a man battling addiction who is forced to find the courage to face fear when unusual activity at an old manor house threatens to turn his world upside down.
For more information and updates on Forest's work, please visit the official website: drewforestwrites.wordpress.com
Follow Drew on Twitter: @D_R_Forest
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 15, 2019
VIDEO REVIEW TO COME.
Reading the Palms of Dolls by Drew Forest is one obscure book. When the author reached out to me offering a copy in exchange for an honest review, I had no expectations. All I knew was that the cover was spooky, the title was eerie, and the synopsis sounded incredibly unique.
The book takes place in October of 1994 (that alone was enough to catch my attention), and follows Jesse, a young boy who suffers from an anxiety disorder called Scopophobia, the fear of being looked at or seen. His mother keeps him locked away in a bedroom, unbeknownst to the world. The only way she can communicate with her son is from behind a featureless handmade mask, which leads to a fair share of creepy and unnerving scenes. His mother suffers from some kind of mental illness herself, which is clear in the way she treats Jesse. She is rather abusive and has sudden outbursts that terrifies her son. Worried for his safety, Jesse runs away on his sixteenth birthday, wearing a mask of his own to manage his phobia. Along the way, Jesse meets Rabbit, a teenage runaway, and the two join forces as they try to find their place in the world.
I would classify this novel as a dark coming-of-age story with horror elements. There are even some traces of magical-realism throughout, but they are pretty subtle. While reading, I was often reminded of authors like Neil Gaiman and Chad Lutzke. There is a quirky whimsy in these pages that is very similar to Gaiman's style, and the heartfelt coming-of-age aspects stirred up all the emotions I experience while reading one of Lutzke's books.
Reading the Palms of Dolls is truly a beautiful story. It has so much to say about the masks we hide behind, and how all it takes is a handful of special people to help us remove those masks, to live free and uncaged.
Unfortunately, while the story is lovely and dark all at once, and the characters are well-drawn, there are two things that stood in the way of my enjoyment of the story: the lack of proper editing and the formatting of the book. I am in the process of formatting my own book and, let me tell you, it is hard work. Microsoft Word is a devil and makes things more difficult than they need to be. But regardless, formatting your book so that the interior is attractive to your readers is absolutely vital to their overall experience. With a comfortable typeface and font-size, readers are able to read along with ease and are less likely to be distracted. Reading the Palms of Dolls suffers from having a small font-size and a bland typeface. Like I said, it's a beautiful and unique story, so it would benefit from a nice font and even some illustrations or interior design to enhance the atmosphere. Also missing from the book are page numbers, making it hard to gage my reading progress. Now, I haven't seen the ebook edition of this, but it might be better to read it that way. At least you can adjust the font size and you don't have to worry about page numbers. Just a thought!
The book is also littered with typos and clunky passages, making me think this never received a proper edit. Every author needs (and deserves) an editor who knows what they're doing. Every author, whether they are independent or Stephen King himself. It is so important and makes the writing process a lot easier. Now, this isn't to say that Drew Forest's writing isn't good just because of some clunky passages. His writing is great and he knows how to tell a good story. The book just needs another pass of editing. I would absolutely LOVE to see a revised edition of this book, one that is beautifully formatted inside and out. I have never read a story like this before, so I could easily see my rating being five stars if it is given a special "Revised Edition" treatment.
In the end, it is easy for me to recommend this book for its originality, atmosphere, and heart, yet difficult to recommend it due to the errors and poor formatting. If you want to read it, try the Kindle edition as I'm sure that will be less distracting. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a revised edition so that Jesse and Rabbit can be given new life.
Reading the Palms of Dolls by Drew Forest is one obscure book. When the author reached out to me offering a copy in exchange for an honest review, I had no expectations. All I knew was that the cover was spooky, the title was eerie, and the synopsis sounded incredibly unique.
The book takes place in October of 1994 (that alone was enough to catch my attention), and follows Jesse, a young boy who suffers from an anxiety disorder called Scopophobia, the fear of being looked at or seen. His mother keeps him locked away in a bedroom, unbeknownst to the world. The only way she can communicate with her son is from behind a featureless handmade mask, which leads to a fair share of creepy and unnerving scenes. His mother suffers from some kind of mental illness herself, which is clear in the way she treats Jesse. She is rather abusive and has sudden outbursts that terrifies her son. Worried for his safety, Jesse runs away on his sixteenth birthday, wearing a mask of his own to manage his phobia. Along the way, Jesse meets Rabbit, a teenage runaway, and the two join forces as they try to find their place in the world.
I would classify this novel as a dark coming-of-age story with horror elements. There are even some traces of magical-realism throughout, but they are pretty subtle. While reading, I was often reminded of authors like Neil Gaiman and Chad Lutzke. There is a quirky whimsy in these pages that is very similar to Gaiman's style, and the heartfelt coming-of-age aspects stirred up all the emotions I experience while reading one of Lutzke's books.
Reading the Palms of Dolls is truly a beautiful story. It has so much to say about the masks we hide behind, and how all it takes is a handful of special people to help us remove those masks, to live free and uncaged.
Unfortunately, while the story is lovely and dark all at once, and the characters are well-drawn, there are two things that stood in the way of my enjoyment of the story: the lack of proper editing and the formatting of the book. I am in the process of formatting my own book and, let me tell you, it is hard work. Microsoft Word is a devil and makes things more difficult than they need to be. But regardless, formatting your book so that the interior is attractive to your readers is absolutely vital to their overall experience. With a comfortable typeface and font-size, readers are able to read along with ease and are less likely to be distracted. Reading the Palms of Dolls suffers from having a small font-size and a bland typeface. Like I said, it's a beautiful and unique story, so it would benefit from a nice font and even some illustrations or interior design to enhance the atmosphere. Also missing from the book are page numbers, making it hard to gage my reading progress. Now, I haven't seen the ebook edition of this, but it might be better to read it that way. At least you can adjust the font size and you don't have to worry about page numbers. Just a thought!
The book is also littered with typos and clunky passages, making me think this never received a proper edit. Every author needs (and deserves) an editor who knows what they're doing. Every author, whether they are independent or Stephen King himself. It is so important and makes the writing process a lot easier. Now, this isn't to say that Drew Forest's writing isn't good just because of some clunky passages. His writing is great and he knows how to tell a good story. The book just needs another pass of editing. I would absolutely LOVE to see a revised edition of this book, one that is beautifully formatted inside and out. I have never read a story like this before, so I could easily see my rating being five stars if it is given a special "Revised Edition" treatment.
In the end, it is easy for me to recommend this book for its originality, atmosphere, and heart, yet difficult to recommend it due to the errors and poor formatting. If you want to read it, try the Kindle edition as I'm sure that will be less distracting. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a revised edition so that Jesse and Rabbit can be given new life.
August 23, 2017
Shit scaringly epic <3
January 13, 2017
An adventure with many eccentric characters reminding me of 'The one hundred year old man who climbed out of his window and disappeared' the book is split into three parts, which neatly sets the pace of the main characters timeline. Never knowing who to trust and knowing what lies around the next corner kept me gripped and managed to race through it over a weekend. Highly recommend.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews