Reviews with content warning for Blood - Dom sióstr marnotrawnych

This is definitely being added to my list of favourite YA books. It’s tense, it’s creepy, it’s engaging, and I loved the depth of worldbuilding.

I do have a couple of complaints. The first is that I felt that we were constantly being told how much of a bond the sisters had without being shown it, especially as both the older sisters leave the youngest behind. Even at the end it felt like we never saw much positive interaction between the sisters as half the time one or more was unconscious or missing. My second complaint is that I found all of the twists very predictable, but this isn’t too much of a complaint as it didn’t ruin my enjoyment of the book.

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booksalacarte's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Iris Hollow and her two older sisters are unquestionably strange. As children, they disappeared on a Scottish city street only to return a month later with no memory of what had happened to them or where they'd been. More troubling, their appearance began to change: their blue eyes now black, their dark hair now white. And as they grew older, odd, eerie occurrences seemed to follow in their wake. People find them disturbingly intoxicating, unbearably beautiful, and inexplicably dangerous.

Now seventeen-year-old Iris is doing all she can to fit in and graduate high school on time- something her two famous, glamorous, globe-trotting older sisters, Grey and Vivi, never managed to do. But when Grey goes missing, leaving behind bizarre clues as to her where-abouts, Iris and Vivi are left to find her--but they aren't the only ones looking. As they brush against the supernatural, Iris quickly realizes that the story she's been told about their past is unraveling and the world that returned them seemingly unharmed ten years ago might just be calling them back again.

✨my opinion✨

This is mystery, horror, magical, suspense, feminine, complex, grotesque, disturbing and ethereal… all wrapped into one.

I didn’t quite understand what was going on, with all of the background writing, warring with the MC trying to remain normal…until halfway through the book, then the plot took of at breakneck speed- and just kept going. My heart broke at the end for what the MC, and her family went through, while also being horrified and not sure how I felt at the end.

It was creepy. It was disturbing. I would not have been able to handle reading this as a teenager. I would have been sleeping with the lights on for weeks. It’s easily one of the strangest stories I have ever read. I think I liked it…. But I’m so conflicted that I’m not quite sure. That’s a pretty unique response and so I’m giving it 4.5 stars!!!

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mmefish's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Did not expect to cry or feel much but I did.

Check trigger warnings.

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rahhow's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Underneath the gruesome foliage of unkempt power, House of Hollows is rooted in the beauty of veiled mysteries and chilling imagery.

This book is perfect for the Halloween/fall season.

Content Warnings

zir_readsalot's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

rhaenyra's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I wanted to read a spooky book for October and, this seemed very fitting to me when I found it on TikTok. I read this in the span of two days, and I wasn't disappointed.

This book felt like a thriller with a touch of supernatural which I loved. For me it wasn't that scary, and I actually excepted to sleep with the light on after this book but, it was good nevertheless.

It was a very faced paced book and, I was worried that the plot-twist would be ruined due the shortness of the book but, the author managed to do it. I had a thought about what the plot-twist would be but, I was still surprised. I didn't see most of these things coming which made it an enjoyable read.

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aboutaphrodite's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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bookishkale's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I am not one for horror, but 'tis the season, am I right? I picked up House of Hollow on Libby this past week for a little spooky season read, and it did not disappoint! I had fun reading it!

First of all, I enjoyed all of the characters! I found them endearing, and I was desperate to know what happened to the Hollow sisters, where did they go so long ago? Vivi is a little grating at the beginning but I really enjoyed her character in contrast to Grey and Iris by the end of the book. Vivi is also queer, but it's done in a super casual way, which is nice to see every once in a while. Tyler is a highlight, and he adds a great dynamic to Vivi and Iris as they search for their sister. Iris' characterization makes so much sense. She's the youngest of three girls, the older two were rambunctious and rebellious, and in turn, Iris was quiet and well in order. She grapples with her identity vs her sisters, wanting to be like them, but also, trying to find herself. She's not naive like the book almost makes her out to be, since she is not as cool and interesting as her older sisters, but I never found her to be. She's the smartest one in the book and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing this world through her eyes. Her character growth by the end was well worth it. One of the best narrators I've read in a while.

For the plot, this is where I docked points. I loved that the story was centered around the three girls and their relationship with each other. I have two older sisters, so Iris, I get you. The book does not shy away from the grotesque body horror elements that a story like this needs. I just felt the pacing was off, I don't know how to explain it. I felt like the last half of the book was fantastic, but the beginning is a little slow. I just feel like it takes too long to get where they were going and the plot suffers a bit from that. But overall, everything ties up in the end, (really well, might I add!), and that's really all that matters to me. I did predict one of the mysteries, but for the question of the Hollow girls... I wasn't expecting it, and it was really well done! I applaud the choice! I think this story could have been better if Sutherland upped the age range for this book, and just went all in, no whammies.

And I cannot end this review without gushing about the imagery! Krystal Sutherland does a fantastic job of putting you right there with Iris as she experiences these horrific events. I was obsessed with each disgusting thing that she describes. I had to gag at some points because it was so realistic. I'll be thinking about the imagery in this book for a while. The book wraps you up in this nightmare with them, as it swallows you whole.

Overall, highly recommend this book for the spooky season! I'd avoid it if you can't handle any amount of horror. I can handle some so I think this book is fine if you like to watch the occasionally scary movie with friends but don't watch anything scary by yourself. It's mostly just super creepy, but I know people can be super sensitive to things! This book does not shy away from the creep factor. Be sure to check out the rest of the trigger/content warnings for this book!!

I look forward to what Krystal Sutherland releases next!

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