Will I love House of Hollow?

Three sisters vanish as kids and mysteriously return with no memories of what happened and a lot of strange quirks… in other words, the perfect set-up for a modern story about changelings! Initially, I was skeptical about this one because—while I shamelessly loved Twilight back in the day—I’ve also been kinda burned out from all the froofy falling-in-love-with-magical-creatures/worlds books that surfaced in its aftermath. (And c’mon. That cover? It practically screams froofy tortured teen magic.)

But let’s just say the marketing team failed here because while this book was beautiful, it was also kinda rotten, incredibly atmospheric, and genuinely creepy… show more.

As one of four sisters, I appreciate a good sister story because there’s always something going on under the surface. House of Hollow is no different. There’s the complicated dynamic of the three sisters—the model and fashion designer, the grunge musician, and the loner high school student—revealed when the eldest goes missing and the two younger sisters search for her. And then there’s the twist of something otherworldly—the fact that the girls disappeared for a month as children, reappearing with black eyes, white hair, mysterious scars, and the ability to entrance others with their scent and touch. I couldn’t stop… show more.

It’s not often that a book keeps me awake until 3 am, but this one did. The mystery in House of Hollow is straightforward: Iris Hollow’s sister, Grey, has gone missing under strange circumstances, echoing the way Iris and her sisters disappeared when they were children. Although this book is for young adults, there’s nothing childish about it. House of Hollow is beautifully written and totally unpredictable, the magic sinister and unnerving. As the mystery unfolds, it creates more questions for the reader, and by the end I was no longer sure I wanted to know the answers. This book… show more.

This one took me to places I never could have imagined. The Hollow Sisters are exquisite: monstrous, tender, unknowable, and obsessed with each other. Reading this book felt like sitting down to a sumptuous meal and knowing that some of the dishes being served are cooked with human flesh. Nothing in this book is as it seems, nothing is predictable, and yet everything fits together seamlessly. Dark and lush as a night-blooming garden.

House of Hollow is a book you can smell and taste. Everyone knows the three Hollow sisters are strange. Ever since they went missing as children and then returned naked with half-moon scars at the base of their throats and no memory of what happened, something hasn’t been right. Iris has spent most of her teenage years trying to avoid the weirdness that sticks to her like tar, unlike her eldest sister, Grey, who wields it like a supernatural gift, drawing people to her like moths to a flame. But when Grey goes missing for the second time, and… show more.

This thrilling, lyrical YA horror ushers readers into a modern fairy tale. Iris and her two older sisters vanished right under their parents’ noses when they were young children, only to reappear a month later with identical scars across their throats. Now in the present day, one sister goes missing again, and it is up to the other two to save her, while delving into the horror-tinged mystery that stole them away as children in the first place. House of Hollow is a visceral, eerie read to remind us that fairy tales and dark horrors go hand-in-hand.