A review by singsthewren
The Hollow Heart by Marie Rutkoski

3.0

This follow-up book to the midnight lie found us is unfamiliar territory. Sid went home - and somehow I missed that she was the child of the main characters from the other trilogy! It was a little hard to see my beloved characters as such godawful parents, and see how miserable their child was. Made it a little disappointing to read, I would have preferred if it was a new series, to be honest. I don't think it gained anything from its association with the other series.

I really liked Sid's storyline, though, and her scenes with her parents were interesting and great. Unfortunately, the other half of the narrative was less compelling. Every scene felt very perfunctory. It skimmed through huge important scenes without even showing them to you.

The final act was similarly rushed. I felt like this could and should have been a trilogy. There was just no time to go into any of the emotional arcs of the characters. I wanted to see Sid and yes-I've-forgotten-her-name-sorry together, see Sid's slow growing realization that something was missing, see the push and pull between them. But we got a handful of pages and that was it.

It was a good book, but I felt like it could have been a great book and just didn't quite get there.