Review by R-i-v-e-r -- The Ordinary Doll by Mario Kiefer

[R-i-v-e-r]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Ordinary Doll" by Mario Kiefer.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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The Ordinary Doll story by Mario Kiefer follows the life of a Hispanic girl Luciana from a young age, when she is involved in a serious accident caused by her father Jesus’s infidelity and her superstation and wild imagination. The story focuses on the lives of Luciana’s family members, twelve children and her parents. Luciana’s father Jesus, who starts as an immigrant farm worker and then goes to work at the railroads and then as a janitor at the nearby school. Jesus physically abuses his wife and children and his infidelity leads to a tragic event in the story. Luciana’s mother Fabia, is a house wife and a devoted Christian, who endures all the hardships of her marriage, she however turns to a witch, to help her daughter Luciana. Luciana’s older sister Lucia goes to work for the white farm owner Mr Gareth and marries three times. Luciana’s younger brother Junior is severely injured as a result of his father’s infidelity and the constant physical abuse by his father causes him to run away from home. Gus Luciana’s younger brother is a homosexual and lives a wildlife of drugs and sex which ends his life tragically.


It is a story appealing to readers of almost any age. It is very educational, especially in areas of depression which Luciana suffers from after the accident. It shows how depression can change someone’s future if not detected and managed in time. It teaches about the consequences of physical abuse of women and children, this leads Junior to run away from home and Gus to become addicted to drugs and to engage in risk sexual behaviour. It is very educational in arrears of infidelity and its consequences, which are seen to lead to murder and family, break up in the story. It teaches about Christianity and the role of superstation and its role in social beliefs in the Hispanic society.


I like how the writer links the reality of what is happening in Luciana’s life with what she creates in her imagination. This makes the book have a very unusual ending.
I disliked that some of characters in the book just disappear from the story without the writer saying what happened to them, like Jesus Luciana’s father who plays a major role in the early chapters of the book and the death of Lucia’s mother Fabia, which is mentioned long after it has happened and yet she plays a major role in the story.


I would rate the book 3 out of 4, because it is a very good story to read, well written with an unusual ending showing how wild Luciana’s imagination can run wild and it is very educating as it shows the effects of physical abuse on women and children, infidelity and risky sexual behaviour. I did not rate the story 4 out of 4 because I failed to link the story title The Ordinary Doll to the story itself except that it was a toy Luciana and her siblings shared as children.

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The Ordinary Doll
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