Final Rating:
Date of Completion: 02/06/2023
Published by: Hot Key Books
ISBN: 9781867558491
Cover:
With the ants, budding flowers and trickles of blood, this hauntingly beautiful design nicely reflects the story. I only wish the text font was a bit more striking.
Writing:
The sensory writing style effortlessly presents the emotions and experiences of the protagonist to give a vivid and engaging narrative. A mysterious, unsettling atmosphere is also established and sustained throughout the story, making it hard to put down.
Knowledge is power. And ignorance is bliss
Storyline:
From the intriguing prologue to the well-crafted mystery and shocking revelations at the end, the well-paced story kept me invested in unfolding events. Interesting themes regarding beauty and family relationships are also nicely explored.
Main character:
Despite being slightly naive and conflict-averse, Iris Hollow provides a great point of view for the story. I especially loved her gradual growth, as this makes her character endearing even though she makes some questionable decisions.
Dark, dangerous things happened around the Hollow sisters.
Secondary characters:
The strangeness surrounding the Hollow sisters made their characters fascinating, and I loved their distinct personalities and roles. While there are only a few other secondary characters, most are given enough depth to make them engaging and help drive the storyline.
Romance:
Iris’ weird attraction to a character who should have been off-limit may have creeped me out, but it was fitting for the story. That said, I found the banter between them somewhat cute and was unable to predict how this aspect of the storyline would play out.
Narration & Audio:
Through vocal changes and inflexions, Eleanor Bennett nicely conveys the creepy atmosphere of the story and enriches the audiobook.
Right from the intriguing prologue, ‘House of Hollow‘ grabbed my attention with its strange characters and mystery. The story that played out was hard to put down due to various revelations and twists that only made me eager to see everything resolved. Another creepy tale to check out if you liked this is Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
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