Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

22 reviews

rebeccajost's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.75


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modernmatilda's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

 (Review from 2022)

Still the BEST book in the universe.


--
(Review from 2021)
•BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR•



Yes, I know it's May. But listen, it's going to be practically impossible for any book to just wander into my life and beat this one out. It was absolutely WILD and GORGEOUS and HAUNTING and CREEPY and PERFECT.


First off, spooky cottagecore, twisted fairytale, unreliable protagonist is an entire vibe right now and I can't get enough. Just when I thought no book could fill the "Wink Poppy Midnight" void in my heart, here comes Iris and her sisters. How Krystal Sutherland left my head scrambling even after the book was closed is just *chef's kiss*. The characters were astonishing, the fantasy-nature fashion was mesmerizing, and the atmosphere, the ATMOSPHERE, was so good I'm in tears just thinking about it.


Plus, is there anything more haunting and fascinating than random creepy doors in the middle of the woods? 

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a_libra_library's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved everything about this story! It was eerie, I was on edge the entire time. I loved how obsessed these sisters were with each other. This opened me to the YA horror genre! I loved every moment!  
changeling ?!? Nothing could have prepared me for that
 

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ghostlyprince's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0


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sarah984's review against another edition

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

1.0

This book has a beautiful cover and an interesting premise, but the way it's written is just. Bad. Everything is over-described but using the same few words (I hope you like the word fetid if you're going to read this), plot points happen over and over (Iris and Vivi break into a place belonging to Grey and find a secret of hers three times!), and the plot is predictable. The characters are flat and uninteresting: the sisters are described in the most boring way possible, breathless at their brittle, skinny, fragile whiteness, and the other major character reads like a parody of a British person. There's this weird sexual undertone to the girls’ powers that I couldn't stand. 

There's also a really stupid scene involving a character shooting a man with a shotgun while he's holding two women and somehow both women are unharmed.

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baileyraebooks's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

I have read and disliked Our Chemical Hearts, so when I realised this book was by the same author I was hesitant but this book absolutely blew my mind! I was not expecting something so dark, creepy and gruesome, but I was pleasantly surprised. I would've given this 5 stars but I found the school stuff at the start to drag on quite a bit, which made it hard for me to get into this book from the get go. 

Most of the twists were guessable but in this case I took that to be a sign of good writing rather than bad storytelling. The seeds were planted early on if you were looking for them and know a bit about folklore, which I was and I did.

I read that Krystal Sutherland is working on another folky horror novel, and I am so excited for that!

I really need to know that Tyler is okay though.
 

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jessica_upfold'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? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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aliclare's review

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adventurous 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

5.0


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pilarr's review

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.5

Muchos sentimientos encontrados con este. Hasta la mitad iban a ser 2.5⭐, pero después pasaron muchas cosas y ahora no sé.
Me costó mucho ver a los personajes como personas reales. Todos, pero particularmente las tres hermanas, parecían una suerte de caricatura basada en distintas versiones de t/n. Los diálogos eran muy, muy poco genuinos y bastante forzados. Sobretodo esas líneas que se suponían eran graciosas y para aligerar el ambiente, pero quedaban como diálogos rídiculos de una película mal financiada y con actores mediocres.
Dicho esto, es el primer libro de horror que me hizo dar asco y miedo. No me puedo acordar la última vez que un libro me asustó, y aunque lo sobrenatural no es lo mío, le doy crédito por eso.

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colleensreadingadventures's review

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adventurous 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

4.0

This book definitely gave me creepy vibes throughout the WHOLE thing. It’s not really a scary feeling just super eerie and gives you this feeling like you know something really bad is just around the corner. 😱😱😱⁣

There were 3 little girls Iris (7), Viv (9) and Grey (11) that disappeared 10 years ago, without a trace down a old town Edinburgh Road while under their parent’s supervision. One minute they were right in front of them and they turned their heads for one second and they were gone the next. They were gone for 1 solid month until they reappeared just as suddenly on that same Old Town road. They don’t remember what happened but they are suffering from PTSD that has effected them both mentally and physically with changing hair and different eyes. Their family unit is slowly being torn apart. The girls father Gabe slowly loses his mind seeing his children change so much and he eventually commits suicide. ⁣
Cut to the present. Iris’s oldest sister Grey goes missing. She has a habit of disappearing for days at a time ever since she left home at 15. But this time it’s different. With the middle sister Viv in tow Iris and Viv start to notice weird (even weirder that their normal weird life) things while searching for Grey. Like a dead man with bloody symbols all over his body left in their sisters ceiling and a man wearing a bulls mask that seems to be stalking them. And now Iris is getting snippets of memories from the past. And she knows the only way to really find her sister is to figure out the mystery of their disappearance as children. ⁣

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬:⁣
Iris and Tyler are my favorites.⁣
Probably Tyler most of all! 🔥🔥🔥⁣
I think throwing Tyler (Grey’s hot model boyfriend that kind of reminds me of Harry Styles) in the mix was amazing. He provided some comic relief with his sarcastic wit. And I had stars in my eyes picturing this man come to life! ⁣
I really didn’t have much of an attachment to Viv or Grey except that I felt a weird mix of disgust, admiration and sympathy for Grey.⁣

𝐏𝐥𝐨𝐭:⁣
First off House of Hollow is very well written. It is told in the first person of Iris Hollow. Honestly I would love a rewrite in Grey’s perspective. It would help answer some questions I have.⁣
It is definitely a slow burn. I have a hard time with slower paced books but I think in this case it helped to soak everything up in pieces to truly appreciate the creep factor. You had to follow the bread crumbs to truly understand the story instead of having it thrown all at you if that makes sense. ⁣
The end leaves you wondering if there is more to come. And seriously I didn’t think I would be so invested to read it, but I’m already googling will there be a second House of Hollow book with no answers!! I need to know KS!!! ⁣

This was a bit of a bizarre, twisty, and spooky book that I didn’t realize I needed in my life. So thank you so much to Penguin Teen for your gifted eArc in exchange for my honest review.

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