"The Dollhouse Academy"

Margarita Montimore is the author of The Dollhouse Academy, Asleep from Day, Acts of Violet, and Oona Out of Order, a USA Today bestseller and Good Morning America Book Club pick.

After receiving a BFA in Creative Writing from Emerson College, she worked for over a decade in publishing and social media before focusing on the writing dream full-time. Born in Soviet Ukraine and raised in Brooklyn, she currently lives in New Jersey with her husband and dog.

Montimore applied the Page 69 Test to The Dollhouse Academy and reported the following:

From page 69:

“Everyone keeps warning me about how I shouldn’t get used to things the way they are now, how much harder it’s going to get,” I say. “I’m not scared off that easily.”

“I’m not trying to scare you off, only prepare you. A lot of people think they can handle it but break down after the first few weeks. The commitment it takes, the toll it takes . . . You don’t know until you live through it.”

The excerpt above is from a conversation between Ramona, the main character, and Mason, who’s worked at the Dollhouse Academy for a number of years. It takes place when Ramona is still a new trainee and still dazzled by the opportunity to study performing arts at an exclusive, secretive boarding school that has produced some of the biggest stars in showbiz in recent years. While Ramona is hardworking and determined to succeed, she also has no idea of the darker forces at play in the Dollhouse Academy.

This passage hints at something unsettling on the fringes, and that undercurrent of dark uncertainty runs throughout the story. The exchange between Ramona and Mason also conveys some of the story’s central themes, particularly those of ambition and the cost of making your dreams a reality. Ramona and her best friend Grace enter the Dollhouse Academy unaware of its unorthodox methods and sinister secrets. The two women have no way of being prepared for what will actually be demanded of them and how their friendship will be tested as a result. As they discover what’s really happening behind the scenes, they’ll need to decide how much they’re willing to sacrifice in their pursuit of stardom.

While page 69 of The Dollhouse Academy gives readers a taste of the overall story, it doesn’t necessarily convey that the book evolves into something stranger and a bit more surreal than a more conventional dark academia novel.

Visit Margarita Montimore's website.

The Page 69 Test: Oona Out of Order.

The Page 69 Test: Acts of Violet.

--Marshal Zeringue