Wooden Dolls Game by Ivonne Hoyos – A Haunting Tale of Sisters, Time, and Consequences

Wooden Dolls Game is a dark, emotional family drama with a speculative twist. Instead of grand sci-fi mechanics, it gives us something more intimate: a girl who can rewind time and a family that keeps breaking in different ways no matter how many times she tries to fix it.

We follow Mary Jane (MJ) from childhood to adulthood as she carries the invisible weight of multiple “lives” on her shoulders. The book leans into jealousy between sisters, cultural and family expectations, addiction, grief, and the heartbreaking question: how far would you go to save the people you love, and what happens if it still isn’t enough?

If you enjoy character-driven, emotionally heavy stories that mix family drama with a subtle supernatural element, this book has a lot to offer.

Spoiler-Free Summary

MJ and her twin sister Antonia grew up in a Colombian–American family in California. From the start, they clash: MJ is the people-pleaser, Antonia is volatile and possessive. A neighbor gifts them a handmade dollhouse and wooden dolls, and what begins as a sweet childhood present slowly reveals its darker side.

MJ discovers that when she breaks down holding the dolls, time resets. Arguments disappear, accidents unhappen, and tragedies are averted—but only she remembers the previous timeline. The dolls become her secret reset button, a way to keep her family together and protect the people she loves.

As they grow older, the stakes rise. MJ forms close friendships and romantic bonds; Antonia, meanwhile, spirals into jealousy and self-destructive choices that drag danger into their lives. Each time disaster strikes, MJ faces the same temptation: go back, try again, pay the emotional price later.

By her early twenties, MJ is a young lawyer who has already lived through more grief than most people see in one lifetime—because she remembers all the versions. Every “fix” seems to shift the damage somewhere else. The story builds toward a point where the dolls’ power, her loyalty to her family, and her own sense of self all come to a breaking point, forcing her to finally live with a version of reality she can’t undo.

My Take on Wooden Dolls Game

The biggest strength of Wooden Dolls Game is how tightly the time-loop idea is woven into MJ’s character and her relationship with Antonia. MJ is a very relatable protagonist: she’s kind, overly responsible, and constantly trying to spare others from pain. Antonia, by contrast, feels like a living source of chaos—jealous, impulsive, and often at the center of the worst outcomes. That contrast gives the book its emotional fire.

The tone is intimate and domestic rather than “big concept sci-fi,” which will appeal to readers who enjoy family sagas and psychological tension more than technical worldbuilding.

The time travel itself is deliberately soft. We don’t get detailed rules; instead, we feel the emotional accumulation of MJ’s choices. That works well if you like stories where magic functions as a metaphor. The dolls are essentially an externalized form of survivor’s guilt and control: MJ can’t accept losing people, so she keeps pulling the lever, even when it hurts her.

On the craft side, there are a couple of things some readers might notice. The later parts of the book pack in a lot of tragedy in quick succession, which can feel melodramatic or exhausting if you prefer a slower, more restrained build. The prose also tends to explain emotions and themes very directly, which keeps the story clear and accessible but sometimes leaves less room for subtle interpretation.

Overall, though, the book delivers a memorable, emotionally charged reading experience. It doesn’t offer a neat, cheerful answer; instead, it leans into the painful idea that you can change events, but not always people—and that sooner or later, you have to live with the life you have instead of reaching for one more reset.

Wooden Dolls Game is a dark, emotionally intense, character-focused story with a strong central concept and vivid sister dynamic, best suited for readers who enjoy domestic drama with a supernatural edge and don’t mind a heavy dose of angst and tragedy along the way.

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