Author: Krystal Sutherland
Genre: Paranormal Fiction
After browsing pinterest for a while trying to find some books to read around Halloween I came across House of Hollow and ironically all it kept popping up on tiktok after. My partner asked if I fancied him ordering me another book from amazon and i jumped at the chance because why not (I love when he treats me to book) I chose House of hollow immediately. I was meant to read it for Halloween but I've been having such a bad time that I put it off for a couple of weeks but now I've read it I realised I shouldn't have put it off! House of Hollow takes on a mysterious tone that leaves the reader wondering where it could possibly lead, with excited eyes I proceeded on a tale I now can't stop thinking about.
Synopsis:
A dark, twisted 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.
My Thoughts:
I know that people say not to judge a book by it's cover but I couldn't help it, just from looking at the cover of this book you could tell it had a deep and compelling story. Iris is nothing like her older sisters, she cares deeply for her mum and tries to ease her mind by doing everything her mum asks of her so she knows she is safe. Some may say it's over board but for Iris she just wants to keep her mum as happy as she can especially since her father's death. Life hasn't been the easiest and although Iris has no memory of when she went missing it hangs over her and haunts her every chance it can get. Her sisters had left home in a matter of weeks of each other and now are off doing their own thing, now Iris feels it's up to her to carry on with her studies and stay focused in order to become the person her mum wants her to be.
At first I thought it was understandable that the mum knew where Iris was at all times due to the disappearance but it kept bugging me that she was fine not knowing where her older two daughters were, she barely spoke to them. The three sisters were different in many ways, the eldest Grey she was a successful business woman who was the strangest of the three sisters, she is very dark and mysterious and doesn't give too much away. Vivi is the middle sister she is in a band, loves her piercings and tattoos and expressed herself through song, then we have Iris, she is quiet compared to her sisters, does as she's told and looks after her mum as best as she can.
The three loved each other very much and whatever happened to them connected them so when Grey doesn't turn up to Vivi' gig the girls know something has happened. The build up and mystery to Grey' disappearance was what kept pulling me in, keeping information from the reader in order to keep us second guessing gave the book an edge. The connection between three girls is what keeps the book flowing thanks to what happened to them as children that connection is what helps the girls when finding Grey.
When we delve more into Grey' story I had a horrible feeling about her, she made me feel uncomfortable and I knew that she had a big part to play in the horrible events that happened when she was 11. This made me feel awful as she was just a child but usually when I have a gut feeling about something it turns out to be right. Seeing Iris let down her walls and allow herself to find out the truth was hard, it was almost like I was seeing everything through her eyes and felt her emotions, Sutherland executed them feelings wonderfully and they pulled on my heart strings causing me to cry. The more we learn about the truth the harder the truth was for me to handle, I found myself pausing and whispering no to myself, I was in such disbelief.
Death is a deep routed part of the book and no matter how much any characters try to deny it, death always comes back to bite them on the bum. There is a connection between every character brought into the story that centers around death, it all flows to one answer which I like, i've read books where there have been pointless characters that had no purpose in a storyline. House of Hollow is very different from any thriller I read, it's a beautiful telling of what shouldn't have happened, Sutherland is a very talented writer, she created a story that is far from your typical teenage angst phase, her dark and twisted telling made me want more, I need a sequel to this book the ending just wasn't enough for me.
Have a cosy day
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