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A review by stacygiven
Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk
2.0
This book is nothing more than the author’s thinly veiled and utterly failed attempt to be Harper Lee. I am baffled by the accolades it has received. It is dark, ugly, and not particularly well done. I can appreciate a little well written darkness, written with a purpose, and aimed at the right audience. That is not what this was. This was brutality and hatred merely for the shock value and to make the pages turn. That’s it. There was nothing deeper. That little trick is bad enough in an adult book. It is despicable in a children’s book.
Speaking of that, this is not a children’s book, despite how it may be presented. It is most certainly better categorized as YA fiction and mediocre YA fiction at that. The plot is ridiculous. Hello, why would you take the advice of an eleven year old and hide in a barn if you have a solid alibi with a witness? For that matter why do all these adults just go along with whatever wacky plan pops into this girl’s head? Would you really dismiss those strange moaning noises when the whole damn town is out looking for a missing girl? The author weaves the storyline into such a unlikely and disastrous knot the only way she can undo it is by abruptly cutting it off and killing the two most troublesome characters. “Well shoot. I don’t know what to do with this bully I created and have written into a corner. I guess she’ll have to be impaled.” Less than impressive.
Speaking of that, this is not a children’s book, despite how it may be presented. It is most certainly better categorized as YA fiction and mediocre YA fiction at that. The plot is ridiculous. Hello, why would you take the advice of an eleven year old and hide in a barn if you have a solid alibi with a witness? For that matter why do all these adults just go along with whatever wacky plan pops into this girl’s head? Would you really dismiss those strange moaning noises when the whole damn town is out looking for a missing girl? The author weaves the storyline into such a unlikely and disastrous knot the only way she can undo it is by abruptly cutting it off and killing the two most troublesome characters. “Well shoot. I don’t know what to do with this bully I created and have written into a corner. I guess she’ll have to be impaled.” Less than impressive.