A good book. It lacks some depth. I wish it built on the characters more and it was longer to provide more substance.

First thing first, I would like to take a second to thank Netgalley for allowing me a copy of this book for review.

This book had so much potential. I read this up to the 50% mark and was so invested in the story that after the horrendous plot twist I just wanted it to end. If I try to even attempt to explain what this book is about, I would fail miserly. I thought this was going to be about a girl who went through some tragedies and finally finds herself. However, this was so confusing. I don't understand how it went from hard-hitting to paranormal in a sense. Very. VERY. CONFUSED.

Minor spoilers

This is pretty dark for a YA novel.  Of course there are loopholes, but the first person person perspective is fast paced with a cold narrative.  

The story revolves around Morgan, a high school student who is constantly bullied.  Family life isn’t much better-a car accident killed her brother and left her mother paralyzed.  Ironically, I attended high school with a student very similar to Morgan, and reading about this character brought back painful memories and left me feeling empty at times,  Let’s face it, even with social media and cell phones, there will always be a forgotten classmate.  High school sucked for most of us.

Anyways, Morgan acquires a camera from a hospital that turns out to have evil powers, and we really don’t get more background info on this device, but it doesn’t tarnish the other ideas behind this character study.

this was a really touching story, the characters were great and I really enjoyed reading this. I felt so bad for Morgan.

Sorry but i dnf this book after chapter two but will try to read it after some days maybe i am not into this genre right now.

I was really excited about this one because it's been so long since I've been able to read a good horror. Unfortunately, this didn't do it for me. It wasn't bad, it was well written, I just personally didn't like it.

Sadly, this book didn't really work for me because it didn't really feel horror.  It had some horror elements but I was expected something completely different and was left kind of confused.

I hadn’t heard about this book until I saw it available on NetGalley. Horror and a cursed camera? Hello please sign me up.

The story feels more atmospheric and psychological on the horror spectrum, but it didn’t feel fully developed—perhaps due to being pretty short. I wanted to know more about the cursed camera, the creepy hospital, and the people whose personalities became twisted. Morgan’s depression could have been explored deeper as well, but was well portrayed in what was shared.

All in all, an entertaining and spooky read.

CW: discussion of rape, sexual assault

I was so excited to read this book, with such an interesting premise! It did not disappoint - it had me hooked right from the start, I read it in two nights. Great character development and commitment to the story all the way through. Have already recommended to friends.

The vibe of this book is kinda spooky/horror themed. Parrish let us know her world by giving us time to understand and read her works. The book is good for readers who wants to try new horror genre. The story is kinda slow paced for me and there were times when I got stuck to a different scenarios in the story. Nevertheless, Hollow is a great read, quick written story that is recommended to everyone.

First off, the premise sounded awesome. And that cover is fantastic!

Hollow is about a girl in highschool, dealing is all the normal high School drama. As well as having a mom and wheelchair, a brother who died, and a shity ex-boyfriend. 

From the beginning, we hear about the condemned hospital near her house that she grows up hearing creepy stories about. Accidents have happened and people have died. Her only solace is her best friend, running and photography. So when she finds an old camera in the hospital, she is beyond excited. What she doesn't know is this camera can steal people's souls and turn them into darker versions of themselves. And even her family isn't safe. 

Without going into too much detail and ruining the story for you, I really enjoyed this book. It was a page-turner, and a quick read. It kept me interested the whole time and I was always wanting to know what was going to happen next. The characters were believable and relatable, and you could feel the highschool vibe without it feeling too young.

I would recommend this book to anyone just getting into his psychological thrillers or anyone that just wants a fun quick read.

I was granted access to this title by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I found this book difficult. To start with, from the blurb I thought that this book would fall more into the genre of Horror, but it leaned distinctly closer to YA with some supernatural elements. Secondly, it felt that we didn't get nearly as much character development as I would want to see from a book that finds itself treading into the YA camp and that was a little disappointing. When I reached the end, I wasn't nearly as attached to the characters as I would have liked.

However, the story is fun and original with some great moments of tension but it didn't leave me with that creepy feeling that would have pushed it into a truly great supernatural story, for me.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book!

I am a huge horror buff so I am always looking for the next horror book to read and I loved this book. The atmosphere was everything I wanted it to be. I loved the plot and storyline in the book. I loved the characters in this story. It gave me all the feels I was looking for when I started reading this. I highly recommend this author. I loved the writing. I will be looking for other works in the future from this author.

Trigger warnings: sexual assault (on- and off-page), loss of a family member/child, grief, depression, difficult mother/daughter relationship
Representation: depression

There was a lot that Parrish packed into Hollow. But because this was such a short book I think it left something to be desired.

Hollow is marketed as a horror story. And while the book does deal with a sense of creepiness, sorrow, and darker atmosphere I wouldn't be recommending this for those chasing a scary story.

Overall, this is a story that explores a girl's attempts to deal with grief and the breaking-down of her family after the loss of a little brother. It also deals with dealing with assault from someone present in one's everyday life.

Everything else in this story - the abandoned hospital, the cursed camera, the creepy bird - they just didn't feel fleshed out enough to matter. These components felt forced and separated from the rest of the story.

I think there was a lot of potential in Hollow. Had it been approached differently, with a more in depth exploration and development between the different story components this could have been a standout for me. As it is, however, I'm just left wanting something more.

Thanks to Net Galley for the Arc.  This had promise based on the blurb, but it does not pay off. I didn’t connect with anyone. It just seems rushed. It feels like it needed another pass for clarity and to build up the characters.  I hate to crap on anyone’s art, but I just couldn’t get behind this.

This book was creepy, but not the standard horror. I was holding my breath and racing across pages just to try to figure out what came next.

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I read the blurb for this book and that was something that was just so creepy. It had me thinking of old tv shows I watched with my mother about cursed objects. It in this case it was a camera. It would leave the people photographed feeling empty or hollow. Everything is already wrong in Morgan's life and she is trying to keep it together and her life is already hell. It is only when her sister takes a selfie with the camera does she knows she has to find a way to fix what is happening. It is a chilling story.

Quick Take: Morgan is struggling following the feather of her younger brother in a tragic car accident that she blames for herself. When she discovers a camera with the ability to strip it’s subjects of their humanity Morgan’s life becomes a lot more complicated.

What I Loved: This book was so campus and fun. It seriously gave me RL Stine vibes (Say Cheese and Die anyone?). Morgan what a likeable, relatable character and had a lot more depth than I was anticipating for such a short novel. The book also treated a lot issues I wasn’t expecting including: sexual assault, domestic violence, death of a child, and depression.

What I Didn’t Love: Outside of Morgan, a lot of the characters felt a little flat and one dimensional with virtually no growth on the page. Since it was such a short book it didn’t bother me too much but it was still noticeable.

I can appreciate a short horror story. Slice of life works really well for the genre. 
I really debated whether this book should be a two or a three star, but ultimately decided on two.
My biggest issue with this book was the writing. It often felt like it was trying too hard to be current but ended up feeling forced or dated. This book was released this year (2020) but felt like it belonged in 2013.
The characters did not seem realistic, with the exception of Amy, the little sister. The love interest was just a one-dimensional hot British kid, and the best friend reminded me of Jughead in the Riverdale TV show. The main character is supposed to be messed up from her trauma but she has a healthy coping mechanism (running), an average dislike of math, and a fairly normal teenage relationship with her parents.
It honestly fell short in the horrors as well. I thought the premise was interesting but the camera was never explained and did not make sense for the setting.
The message was the shining light. The main character deals with some really heavy problems and in the end, she was able to realize that it was not her fault and that set her on the road to healing.

Truly bizarre. It's like "Alice in Wonderland" meets "The Crow." I don't consider this book anywhere close to being a horror story.