A review by anaisniz
House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 🌼 Plot: 9.0/10
🍄 Setting: 8.0 /10
🍯 Characters: 8.0 /10
✍ Writing (style): Excellent.

📚 Would I recommend it? Yes.

"Of course I remember. I remember everything. You just wouldn't believe me if I told you."

👍 Up's:

1) Main protagonists (The three Hollow sisters) & Sisterhood
2) Interesting concept and idea
3) Mysterious creepy/dark/folk horror fairy tale vibes
4) Intriguing plot & Good pace
5) Charming and fun writing

1) Having two older sisters that I myself am very close to, obviously this book hits close to home. I love stories about sisterhood, ahaha. And this story didn't disappoint. The relationship between the three is deep and very interesting and enjoyable.
I think that overall Iris is a likable character, she has her flaws and virtues. It's not suffocating or boring to follow her, even if, she is (I personally think) the least intriguing of the three sisters.

When she kissed her sister's boyfriend was bad weird, yeah.

. There were times that I felt relatable to her and she was easy to understand. Grey was by far, the most interesting one, full of mystery and macabre shit.

2) & 3) I was dying to get this book for a while now. I read the synopsis and it immediately sounded like something I would love. The concept is super interesting, strange and macabre. The book has a dark and weird cozy atmosphere, which I love.

4) I didn't know this was a contemporary fantasy, I was expecting the set to be between the 80's or 90's. I myself don't enjoy contemporary that much, so I admit that at first it was hard to get used to this scenario. But after it, I was hooked on the book and read it easily. The mystery and the strange things kept me gripped to each page and more and more curious to get answers. The pace of the book also helped immensely, no time was wasted on trivial things and the main focus was always present.

5) Loved the writing style, especially the various scent descriptions. It was an original and good way to approach this world.
The horror and strangeness its written so well.


👎 Down's:

1) Vivi and Grey felt flat
2) Tyler who?

1) I wish I could see a little bit more personality of the older sisters, Vivi and Grey, instead of just: Grey, the boss, Vivi, the rebellious one. I wish that they were not described by the same words so repeatedly and there was some mix in their personalities. AND YES, there is, but it felt limited.
Vivi was much more caricatured, she was a circle all about drinking and rebelliousness.

2) Tyler (boyfriend of the older sister) was super random imo, he felt somehow out of place and forgotten. Also, I didn't care that much for him lol. Didn't love or hate him. And he was suppost to be important. Although, I admit he and Vivi had a fun dynamic.


✨ Final thoughts:

Saw people giving this a low rate for having sensitive topics, what I personally think it's a bit wrong. Just because it has sensitive topics does not make it a bad (in this case) book. But anyways.
I loved the combination of how both disturbingly strange and aesthetically pleasing the book is. Ending was also great. Plus, that cover is gorgeous.