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bubblewombat 's review for:
The Hollow Gods
by A.J. Vrana
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
My friend told me the author's newest book, Wildblood was on Netgalley a few months ago, and that she's Serbian so obviously I ran to request it. Then I saw it was a companion book to this duology so, obviously, I had to read it first.
The story takes a while to get going, so I totally get the people who dropped it early, but I think it's worth sticking with, if you have the patience.
The atmosphere is heavy with a capital H, this worked for me though, because I felt like I was also walking through a creepy forest of doom along with the characters the entire time.
Some scenes had my heart beating fast like in the scariest thrillers, and the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
When that story got rolling, I was completely enthralled, needing to know what would happen next, if they'd solve the mystery and come out unscathed.
As a whole, the second half of the book was better than the first, and really hard to put down. As for the first half, I'd say the first third was the slowest so if you make it past that you're in for a treat.
We have three PoVs we follow, that of Miya, Kai and Mason. They each have a role to play and were all interesting in their own way. But I gotta say, in those beginning chapters, Mason's perspective was the most intriguing to me.
The Serbian used in the book was so fun to me, like little Easter eggs. Every time Kai would ask who Gavran is I'd giggle, because I know what that word means and who that character is, but I won't spoil it for people who don't. Also, the author's name being Vrana...I see you.
There were a few other characters with Serbian names like Sashka Lavović and Vuk. Vuk being a wolf shifter was the icing on the cake, it's so on the nose, but it's something I actually don't mind compared to mermaids being called Sirena in other books and/or movies. Also, fun fact, Sashka is a nickname for the name Aleksandra in Serbian.
There were some expressions A.J. Vrana used that I thought were super adorable, like the "chubby hamsters" line, or Ama calling Miya a "peanut". There were more, those are just some off the top of my head.
I have quite a few lines highlighted, but since I read this through Hoopla I wasn't able to screenshot them, so I'll have to get a physical copy at some point to properly annotate.
Leaving the romance for last because it's one of my favourite parts of the book. I loved seeing Kai and Miya falling for each other, the way they joked around and took care of one another, I can't wait to see more of that in the next books.
The ending wrapped everything up nicely, so you could stop reading at this book if you wanted to, or continue with book two if you want to see more of this world, like I do. I was a bit scared it wouldn't be wrapped up and we'd be left on a huge cliffhanger, even though I literally have the second book ready but still!! Either way, I'm glad I don't have to wait to jump back in, and then jump in again.
Give this series a chance okay!! It may surprise you.
The story takes a while to get going, so I totally get the people who dropped it early, but I think it's worth sticking with, if you have the patience.
The atmosphere is heavy with a capital H, this worked for me though, because I felt like I was also walking through a creepy forest of doom along with the characters the entire time.
Some scenes had my heart beating fast like in the scariest thrillers, and the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
When that story got rolling, I was completely enthralled, needing to know what would happen next, if they'd solve the mystery and come out unscathed.
As a whole, the second half of the book was better than the first, and really hard to put down. As for the first half, I'd say the first third was the slowest so if you make it past that you're in for a treat.
We have three PoVs we follow, that of Miya, Kai and Mason. They each have a role to play and were all interesting in their own way. But I gotta say, in those beginning chapters, Mason's perspective was the most intriguing to me.
The Serbian used in the book was so fun to me, like little Easter eggs. Every time Kai would ask who Gavran is I'd giggle, because I know what that word means and who that character is, but I won't spoil it for people who don't. Also, the author's name being Vrana...I see you.
There were a few other characters with Serbian names like Sashka Lavović and Vuk. Vuk being a wolf shifter was the icing on the cake, it's so on the nose, but it's something I actually don't mind compared to mermaids being called Sirena in other books and/or movies. Also, fun fact, Sashka is a nickname for the name Aleksandra in Serbian.
There were some expressions A.J. Vrana used that I thought were super adorable, like the "chubby hamsters" line, or Ama calling Miya a "peanut". There were more, those are just some off the top of my head.
I have quite a few lines highlighted, but since I read this through Hoopla I wasn't able to screenshot them, so I'll have to get a physical copy at some point to properly annotate.
Leaving the romance for last because it's one of my favourite parts of the book. I loved seeing Kai and Miya falling for each other, the way they joked around and took care of one another, I can't wait to see more of that in the next books.
The ending wrapped everything up nicely, so you could stop reading at this book if you wanted to, or continue with book two if you want to see more of this world, like I do. I was a bit scared it wouldn't be wrapped up and we'd be left on a huge cliffhanger, even though I literally have the second book ready but still!! Either way, I'm glad I don't have to wait to jump back in, and then jump in again.
Give this series a chance okay!! It may surprise you.