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house of hollow – the review

i read house of hollow on a whim. i’ve wanted to read it for a while, but i didn’t plan on picking it up when i did. and my god, i’m glad i did. house of hollow is such a haunting and dark read. it was amazing.

the good

my favourite thing about house of hollow is, obviously, that it’s so creepy. i loved the use of the flowers and soil coming from inside the characters. i felt disgusted every time they “plucked” a flower out of a wound. it was gross. but i loved it.

so i’ve read only one book by krystal sutherland previously. a semi definitive list of worst nightmares. this book is so different from it, you can’t even compare them on the same scale. the only comparable aspect is the length. both books are fairly short, and i think that’s what makes them so easy to read. (massive books feel like a chore sometimes).

i thoroughly enjoyed the way that hardly anyone was straight, and it wasn’t made into a plot point, it was just there.

as for the characters, i felt iris and vivi were on the same sort of wave length. they were both well developed and likeable. grey, on the other hand, was way more mysterious. she’s obviously done some bad shit, but she does it with good intentions. i do like a good morally grey character. (can we call this a pun?)

as for the parents, i really felt for them. both were portrayed with different mental struggles, although i’m not so sure gabe actually had anything wrong with his mind. gabe was portrayed as the father who went mad after his children disappeared and reappeared (understandably so). his madness is down to the fact that he knew something wasn’t right with his kids. (i always feel bad for children who have parents who won’t accept them, or think there’s something wrong with them).

on the opposite side of the mental health spectrum is cate, the mum. i felt so bad for her, she loses her entire family but still holds it together. she may seem overbearing at times, but she clearly doesn’t want anything else to happen to her family. i like how she knows something’s not right, but she still does everything she can to hold it together.

the bad

nothing. what can i say, it was a good book.

overall

idk if i need an overall statement for this book. just go read it. i do suggest you check out the content warnings for this book as it mentions some heavy stuff. other than that, it’s a fairly short read, so it’s not a mission to finish.

star rating

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whitcoulls | paper plus | mighty ape

20 Comments

  1. avatar

    Nice review! This one is on my TBR list and I’ve heard mostly good things about it. Maybe I’ll read it in the fall when I’m in the mood for creepy books. πŸ™‚

    1. avatar

      i hope you enjoy it when you get around to reading it!!

  2. avatar

    Glad to see how much you ended up enjoying this one and all of its creepiness. πŸ˜€ Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

    1. avatar

      i’m glad too! i was expecting this one to be one of those “too hyped” books that aren’t actually that good, but it was amazing. thank you for stopping by.

  3. avatar
    atakefromtwocities says:

    this sounds so good! I’m definitely here for the body horror. sounds like it has shades of WILDER GIRLS but better. also I can’t believe I didn’t realize this was the author who wrote A SEMI DEFINITIVE LIST OF WORST NIGHTMARES. I read it but stupidly never reviewed it so I don’t even know how I felt about it..

    great review! – H

    1. avatar

      honestly, if i don’t review something, i probably won’t remember even having read it! i’m so bad at the moment. this book is one that’ll stick with me though, i can’t stop thinking about it. i hope you get the chance to give it a read, i promise you won’t regret it!! i haven’t read wilder girls, but i’ll look into it (and likely be adding it to my tbr)

  4. avatar

    β€œplucking” flowers out of a wound -eew! I don’t read many books, which can be classified as creepy, but this does sound like a good one. Great review!

    1. avatar

      the words don’t even sound that bad, but something about plucking flowers from a wound really gives me the creeps. and thank you! if you decide to read it, i hope you enjoy it too.

  5. avatar

    Nice review! I have this on my TBR, but I have no clue when I can get around to reading it.

    1. avatar

      honestly i wasn’t planning on reading it anytime soon, i just picked it up on a whim. i do recommend.

  6. avatar

    This one sounds so good! And I LOVE that cover! Great review πŸ˜ƒ

    1. avatar

      thank you! i hope you enjoy it if you get around to reading it!

  7. avatar

    I loveddd House of Hollow too and I’m so glad you did as well! I feel like this is Krystal’s best book yet and I can’t wait to see what she writes next – this was deliciously creepy and I was SO HERE FOR IT! So good! Great review πŸ™‚

    1. avatar

      honestly!! i was surprised at how creepy it could be! i do like a good thriller but i find they lack the “casual creepiness” of house of hollow. i agree that it’s her best work to date.

  8. avatar

    Lovely review! I impulse pre-ordered a copy of this book but haven’t gotten around to reading it yet. I’ve been itching for spooky and haunting, so it may be the perfect time for me to pick it up.

    1. avatar

      Yess!! i hope you enjoy it when you get around to reading it! it’s definitely very haunting.

  9. avatar

    Moving this up my tbr now, it sounds incredible and I’m in for some dark vibes! Great review ahhh <3

    1. avatar

      yes!!! i hope you enjoy it if you get around to reading it!

  10. avatar
    Becky says:

    I just got this one and am excited for it!

    1. avatar

      i hope you enjoy it!!

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