Reviews with content warning for Schizophrenia/Psychosis - House of Hollow

two words: holy shit.

this was an incredible read that I tore through in less than a week. a definite page turner if there ever was one.

to be honest, the beginning left me a little bit worried. while i very much enjoyed the atmosphere and mood that beginning set, i felt at the start that things were a little overdescribed/overwrought/overdramatic, what have you, and that the exposition was a little heavy-handed and unsubtle, interrupting the narrative to explain what the girls were like as young children, or telling us their personalities, or describing the past reactions to their disappearance. i think the book could have benefited from a chapter or two at the beginning, maybe one showing their disappearance and the immediate aftermath, and the second showing their return and subsequent weirdness? the prologue could still be the same, because it's a brilliant hook, so it would be prologue - flashback - flash-forward - continue as written. i think that would have helped with the sometimes heavy handed exposition.

but these issues either dissapear completely or become negligible in the face of this book's fantastic middle and ending—or, like half the beginning, the middle, and the ending. i don't know, structure points like that are blurry as hell.

i honestly could not tell you if the exposition was poor after the beginning—it certainly seemed like less of an issue to me, but it might have just been so good i completely ignored it. the twist (which i wont spoil) is brilliant. it was perfectly executed. just enough clues and foreshadowing were given that i almost guessed it (i guessed something kind of similar, i had one major element wrong) but it wasn't obvious, although in hindsight there are definitely enough hints to guess the twist in its entirety, which isn't a bad thing! in fact i think its a good thing.

another thing i like about the twist is that i think the book would still work if you went in already knowing it. i feel like today we act like knowing a spoiler is the worst thing that could ever happen to a reader or viewer, especially with franchises like Marvel not even telling their actors the context for the scene they're doing to avoid them accidentally spoiler their Sacred Movie, but my honest opinion if that if knowing a spoiler ruins your movie's/book's/tv show's rewatch/reread value. and i just put this book down and i already want to reread it to see all the foreshadowing i missed. like go through with a highlighter and everything, haha. so if you already know the twist, don't worry, there is still plenty of value in the book, youll just have a different kind of fun realising all the foreshadowing i may have missed!

also, the ending leaves plenty of room open for a sequel if Sutherland wants to write one, but it's still a satisfying ending if there is no sequel, which is a skill!

all in all, a brilliantly plotted and executed read, with a slightly rocky beginning more than made up for once the ball gets rolling.

rep; bi main character, lesbian major character, gender-nonconforming major characters, korean major character

Content Warnings

mo345's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

the weirdest and creepiest book i’ve ever read. i couldn’t put it down.

Content Warnings

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

<<< SPOILERS >>>

TILLIA FUCK OFF YOU HAVENT FINISHED THIS YET

ok who the hell is siding with iris??? Not being funny but I genuinely dont understand why she is hating on grey so much???? Like bestie is literally only trying to stay alive?? And ur the fucking reason that tyler is dead so dont give me that shit. Also what the fuck? Ur like omg i cant believe that bitch would say thats how tyler died? Like she p much said the truth? Would u rather she said oh yeah tyler would still be alive if my dumb bitch of a sister, who literally couldnt even follow the very clear clues i left her, cause she left him in a clearly dodgy place while he was asleep and clearly vulnerable. Talking of tyler, im gonna go rip my eyes out. Anyway, yeah team grey. Good vibes tho and we know i love liminal spaces 💕

Content Warnings

sassyshark's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

bwwilhelm's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Check the content warnings, and take them very seriously!

That said, this book is nothing like I expected it to be. It's a glorious, dark fairy tale.

Without giving too much detail...

All the very best villians are somewhat sympathetic.

Also, the idea that souls can get stuck after death, not just because they have unfinished business, BUT ALSO BECAUSE SOMEONE LIVING IS UNABLE TO LET THEM GO ... just, wow. My heart hurts in the best way.

Content Warnings