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House of Hollow
A New York Times Bestseller!
An Instant Indie Bestseller!
A dark, twisty modern fairytale where three sisters discover they are not exactly all that they seem and evil things really do go bump in the night.
Iris Hollow and her two older sisters are unquestionably strange. Ever since they disappeared on a suburban street in Scotland as children only to return a month a later with no memory of what happened to them, odd, eerie occurrences seem to follow in their wake. And they're changing. First, their dark hair turned white. Then, their blue eyes slowly turned black. They have insatiable appetites yet never gain weight. People find them disturbingly intoxicating, unbearably beautiful, and inexplicably dangerous.
But now, ten years later, seventeen-year-old Iris Hollow is doing all she can to fit in and graduate high school on time--something her two famously glamourous globe-trotting older sisters, Grey and Vivi, never managed to do. But when Grey goes missing without a trace, leaving behind bizarre clues as to what might have happened, Iris and Vivi are left to trace her last few days. They aren't the only ones looking for her though. As they brush against the supernatural they realize that the story they've been told about their past is unraveling and the world that returned them seemingly unharmed ten years ago, might just be calling them home.
An Instant Indie Bestseller!
A dark, twisty modern fairytale where three sisters discover they are not exactly all that they seem and evil things really do go bump in the night.
Iris Hollow and her two older sisters are unquestionably strange. Ever since they disappeared on a suburban street in Scotland as children only to return a month a later with no memory of what happened to them, odd, eerie occurrences seem to follow in their wake. And they're changing. First, their dark hair turned white. Then, their blue eyes slowly turned black. They have insatiable appetites yet never gain weight. People find them disturbingly intoxicating, unbearably beautiful, and inexplicably dangerous.
But now, ten years later, seventeen-year-old Iris Hollow is doing all she can to fit in and graduate high school on time--something her two famously glamourous globe-trotting older sisters, Grey and Vivi, never managed to do. But when Grey goes missing without a trace, leaving behind bizarre clues as to what might have happened, Iris and Vivi are left to trace her last few days. They aren't the only ones looking for her though. As they brush against the supernatural they realize that the story they've been told about their past is unraveling and the world that returned them seemingly unharmed ten years ago, might just be calling them home.
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Community Reviews
Originally reviewed on Cyn's Workshop
An addicting read, House of Hollow follows Iris Hollow as she hunts for her sister and braves the mysteries of their past.
Mysterious
Iris Hollow is the youngest of the Hollow sisters, all of whom vanished together under mysterious circumstances. Years later, Grey Hollow has gone missing again, leaving behind more mysteries than Iris can bear.
Right from the beginning, House of Hollow haunts the reader. It brings to life these three girls who vanished as children, their eyes once blue now black, their hair white. Three little girls found naked except for a knife in their hands. It is an eerie setting, one that draws the reader in, luring them into the mystery of the girls, their power leaking off the pages and into the blood and bones of the reader.
The atmosphere that Sutherland has set up here matches the story. It breathes life into the eeriness of it, into the mystery that surrounds the girls and even the fantasy of it. Something strange is going on with these girls, with the power they hold over others, with their influence over others, and it all connects to their strange disappearance as children.
How House of Hollow unfolds is almost inexplicable, wrapping itself in the dark and shadows, in the lingering place between life and death with something other hunting them down. Pieces of their past start to fall apart around them, keeping the story engaging, keeping the reader invested in the narrative.
Momentum & Storytelling
Sutherland spends much time setting up the atmosphere of House of Hollow, but they do not neglect the pacing. For the atmospheric tone to work as well as it did, the pacing had to keep up. Sutherland did an incredible job putting this mystery together, making sure it worked so that the pieces unravel together cohesively.
Everything had to fit together, and the way the pieces were piling up to create the mystery keeps the reader hooked. Moreover, the way those pieces fell together, bringing the sisters together back to their beginnings, worked. It simply worked so well. There was fluidity in the way the story built up, in the way it moved to unravel the mystery of the sister’s disappearance and Grey’s as well.
Furthermore, it was unpredictable. Once the reader sees the pieces lining up, it is easy to see where it is going. Even then, however, there is this doubt until the characters speak it. It is gripping, compelling, driving the readers to the edge, driving their need to unfurl the mystery.
Final Thoughts
House of Hollow fills the reader up. It lingers with them from beginning to end, capturing their attention and haunting them once done, seeping into the readers’ bones and blood.
See more reviews at Cyn's Workshop and follow me on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Tumblr | Spotify Podcast | YouTube | BookBub | Goodreads+ | LinkedIn
An addicting read, House of Hollow follows Iris Hollow as she hunts for her sister and braves the mysteries of their past.
Mysterious
Iris Hollow is the youngest of the Hollow sisters, all of whom vanished together under mysterious circumstances. Years later, Grey Hollow has gone missing again, leaving behind more mysteries than Iris can bear.
Right from the beginning, House of Hollow haunts the reader. It brings to life these three girls who vanished as children, their eyes once blue now black, their hair white. Three little girls found naked except for a knife in their hands. It is an eerie setting, one that draws the reader in, luring them into the mystery of the girls, their power leaking off the pages and into the blood and bones of the reader.
The atmosphere that Sutherland has set up here matches the story. It breathes life into the eeriness of it, into the mystery that surrounds the girls and even the fantasy of it. Something strange is going on with these girls, with the power they hold over others, with their influence over others, and it all connects to their strange disappearance as children.
How House of Hollow unfolds is almost inexplicable, wrapping itself in the dark and shadows, in the lingering place between life and death with something other hunting them down. Pieces of their past start to fall apart around them, keeping the story engaging, keeping the reader invested in the narrative.
Momentum & Storytelling
Sutherland spends much time setting up the atmosphere of House of Hollow, but they do not neglect the pacing. For the atmospheric tone to work as well as it did, the pacing had to keep up. Sutherland did an incredible job putting this mystery together, making sure it worked so that the pieces unravel together cohesively.
Everything had to fit together, and the way the pieces were piling up to create the mystery keeps the reader hooked. Moreover, the way those pieces fell together, bringing the sisters together back to their beginnings, worked. It simply worked so well. There was fluidity in the way the story built up, in the way it moved to unravel the mystery of the sister’s disappearance and Grey’s as well.
Furthermore, it was unpredictable. Once the reader sees the pieces lining up, it is easy to see where it is going. Even then, however, there is this doubt until the characters speak it. It is gripping, compelling, driving the readers to the edge, driving their need to unfurl the mystery.
Final Thoughts
House of Hollow fills the reader up. It lingers with them from beginning to end, capturing their attention and haunting them once done, seeping into the readers’ bones and blood.
See more reviews at Cyn's Workshop and follow me on Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Tumblr | Spotify Podcast | YouTube | BookBub | Goodreads+ | LinkedIn
A MUST READ debut that was the perfect antidote to all the books that have left me underwhelmed lately. This story of three sisters and the power of wishing will drag you along as it barrels into the dark forest of this twisted fairy tale that unfolds visually before the reader. And you will feel every goose bump as the man with antlers stalks you on this journey . . .
At first glance, it’s a mystery of what happened to three sisters (Grey, Vivi and Iris) when they were younger, disappeared for a bit, and the changes it brought. Now, as young adults, the oldest sister, Grey, has disappeared again and Vivi and Iris need to unravel their past to rescue her.
We learn of how the incident affected the parents – with the father thinking the girls were not really his, how his descent into madness drove him to violence, and how the mother became smothering in her need to keep them protected while the daughters were left to deal with the aftermath by themselves. It also spoke to me of a tale about female adolescence with their changing bodies. Of how the sisters gained “powers” after the incident. They all became impossibly attractive to men. Grey used her beauty as a weapon; Vivi played down her looks, addicted to alcohol and body modifications; and Iris refusing to use her power and becoming an easy target. The changes in their bodies had more of a supernatural element to them, but I stand by my thought. Ask any parent whether their child "disappeared" during puberty and became someone different.
But the supernatural element? Wowza. I cannot say enough good things about how this author – in her debut – used fascinating characters to tell a fantastical story of the bond between sisters and what makes up a family. It also asked a question to its readers through the parents – which way of accepting hard, cold facts is better? Do you accept hard facts and move on as best you can? Or do you rail against them?
There were so many elements to this story that made me stop and think (abandoned doors found all over the world and what inspired this book, how being a mother changes you fundamentally, the bond between siblings especially sisters, the moral question of bringing people back from the dead, does a blood bond make or break a family, and more) that makes this a perfect choice for bookclubs.
I really liked how the author wove folklore into the modern world. Sure, there were parts that were fuzzy when the two worlds collided, but the amazing storytelling made up for any minor glitches. Some in bookclub complained the author spent too much time describing the fantasy world, but I appreciated how it brought what I was reading to life. This book really needs to be made into a movie already!
I will be reading anything else Krystal Sutherland writes.
Time to settle in....listen to Iris tell you a tale...about a door, one that used to lead somewhere...but now leads somewhere else.
I loved this read... Sutherland writes for the senses, you can smell, taste, hear, touch, and see...most vividly, the beauty and grotesque nature of her prose. This is solidly one of the best written young adult novels I've read to date. Period.
Thanks Alexa and Jen for the recommendation!
I loved this read... Sutherland writes for the senses, you can smell, taste, hear, touch, and see...most vividly, the beauty and grotesque nature of her prose. This is solidly one of the best written young adult novels I've read to date. Period.
Thanks Alexa and Jen for the recommendation!
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