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A review by mermay
House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I feel like my whole review is going to be a spoiler, so I'll hide it a lot of it just in case. I never write reviews, this was a message to my best friend so this might be rough, but wow. Bruh. Okay. Bruh. This book. This book is amazing, it really is. Well-written, unpredictable, and engaging enough that I just spent the last 5 and a half hours reading it straight through without pause (until 3:30am). HOWEVER. It is very very dark. It is also incredibly primally evocative creating fear, tension, and disgust by way of bodily fluids (vomiting, mildew, infestations of bugs, a few mentions of urine, and a lot of talk about rot and decay of death and dead things). It really painted a vivid picture in my mind while I was reading, it just didn't evoke pleasant things. I also don't know if I'd classify it with having a happy ending. I'm pleased with the way things turned out. Like I said, it's well crafted and this author did a really good job with character and plot development. I don't think there will be a sequel because it doesn't need one. I would rec solely based on the fact that it is a GREAT book, but you should know the rest of this stuff too before reading. Also, due to magical abilities that play a major role in the plot, non-con is a pretty strong theme throughout this story.
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Kidnapping, Murder, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Stalking, Suicide, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Drug use, Dysphoria, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, and Trafficking
Specifics about a non-con scene between a teenage girl and adult man in the wrap. There's a short...non-explicit, but potentially upsetting, scene that contains non-consensual kissing and touching between the main character and a man much older than her in a flashback. It doesn't go farther than a kiss, and it's stopped by someone who saves her, but she is definitely traumatized by it. The person who saves her says things to her directly following the assault that could be taken as victim-blaming. If you're reading the book in paper firm it's on pages 173-175 if you'd like to skip it.