A review by yaynotboo
The Hollow Ones by Guillermo del Toro, Chuck Hogan

2.0

I’m so disappointed. The premise was so awesome and the book got off to such a great start. I was immediately sucked in. Then it all fell apart. The whole middle of the book was a slog. Our main character, Odessa, became annoying and asked the dumbest questions. Arguments between characters went around in circles, with repetitive dialogue. The coolest part of the story, the titular Hollow One, was pushed to the side in favor of extended flashbacks that just muddled the story. This honestly could have been two books: a crazy, scary book about the Hollow Ones in present day and a prequel that dives into the backstory. Instead it crammed the most interesting parts into the beginning and end and wasted so much time on a poorly formed middle. The ending was rushed, leaving me simultaneously relieved that I was done reading this book and wondering “wait, that’s it?”. What a wasted opportunity.