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A review by candleniights
House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
I went into this book expecting very little but having heard, if nothing else, it was worth it for the inventive body horror. I won't lie, can't say it was. I kept waiting for the amazing gorey elements I was promised until, eventually, I'd realised that was it, there wasn't really anything special to look forward to.
The story itself felt underworked. Mystery reveals were hammered home. A resolution to a plot point would be hinted at, and then repeated flat out to make sure the reader wouldn't miss it (which could work in some scenarios but definitely not here). Other plot points, arguably more important, would never be fully explained, their resolution skimmed over.
For many reasons, one being a major spoiler so I'll refrain from spelling it out here, the ultimate reveal regarding the Hollow sisters fell completely flat for me.
The book tries to mix several aesthetics and, in my opinion, fails to do so competently. The dark fairy tale elements (and this books MAKES SURE you know that's what it's aiming to be. The times things were referred to as fairy tale-like were numerous, unnecessary, and, frankly, a bit annoying) felt pretentious and flat at the same time. There was potential, but it never really made me fell anything.
The other thing this book seemed to be going for was your typical YA banter, mostly in the person of Tyler Yang. To be fair, he did end up having the most personslity out of all the characters. Still, I felt like I've seen this character way too many times in media, and he certainly didn't stand out.
The Reddit boards helped a bit with the lightheartedness factor but still.
A disappointing read, I'm sorry.
The story itself felt underworked. Mystery reveals were hammered home. A resolution to a plot point would be hinted at, and then repeated flat out to make sure the reader wouldn't miss it (which could work in some scenarios but definitely not here). Other plot points, arguably more important, would never be fully explained, their resolution skimmed over.
For many reasons, one being a major spoiler so I'll refrain from spelling it out here, the ultimate reveal regarding the Hollow sisters fell completely flat for me.
The book tries to mix several aesthetics and, in my opinion, fails to do so competently. The dark fairy tale elements (and this books MAKES SURE you know that's what it's aiming to be. The times things were referred to as fairy tale-like were numerous, unnecessary, and, frankly, a bit annoying) felt pretentious and flat at the same time. There was potential, but it never really made me fell anything.
The other thing this book seemed to be going for was your typical YA banter, mostly in the person of Tyler Yang. To be fair, he did end up having the most personslity out of all the characters. Still, I felt like I've seen this character way too many times in media, and he certainly didn't stand out.
The Reddit boards helped a bit with the lightheartedness factor but still.
A disappointing read, I'm sorry.