The Hollow Gods sounded promising as the story has folklore elements, wolves, murder mystery, a mysterious wood and characters dancing on the edge for different reasons.

Sadly, it just wasn't for me.
While I loved the folklore parts and the way the characters were written, the way of the writing didn't really click with me. It was fascinating in the mystery and great in the characterization, but often the story was rather lengthy in descriptions which weren't necessary because it did not add to the scene or overall story. I found myself skipping pages, hoping to get to the mystery surrounding the Dreamwalker.

So while I enjoyed the story somewhat, it felt rather like I had to read it instead of wanting to come back for more. Maybe with a bit of editing out the overly lengthy scenes, this book could shine.
Because the idea itself is great.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

There is something truly haunting about dark, creepy woods surrounding a small town. They are drawn in mystery, curiosity, and twisted tales of what lurks in the shadows. Only the brave venture into the dark, and if they’re lucky enough to find their way out, they are never the same.

For the people of Black Hollow, this is their reality. To those just passing through, it would appear to be a normal, small Canadian town. They would not hear the whispers about the young girls found dead or know the folklore that has haunted the town for centuries. What lurks in the dark of Black Hollow is the Dreamwalker and her wolf. The figure is said to lure young women into the woods and possess them. And history is repeating itself. The Dreamwalker has returned, girls are going missing, and the town grows more and more fearful of what lies ahead.

The story has three intertwining narrators: Miya, a struggling student who may be the Dreamwalkers next victim, Kai, a young man with his own demons and bloody instincts, and Mason, an Oncologist who escaped to the town for some peace, and instead found himself obsessed with solving the town’s mysteries. The character’s lives begin to intertwine as they overcome their own traumas, their own guilt, and you can’t help but feel for them.
There is a lot to unpack in The Hollow Ones, and while at times it can feel like maybe there is too woven into the plot, it’s fast-paced, charming, and touching.

Much like any good folklore, it’s truths are rooted in reality or day-to-day themes. They are not always easy to look at, but when you throw magic over it, its easier to manage. And Vrana’s writing is superb and humorous. The way she has weaved in ghosts, folklore, magic, and dreams into one story is pure talent.

The Hollow Gods is a striking debut about guilt, grief, and how the past sometimes finds a way to come back to haunt us. The roots of this story will be familiar to those who enjoy reading about fairytales and folklore, but Vrana has added her own touch to the genre that allows this novel to hold it’s own against the greats.

The Hollow Gods was an unexpected treat. It’s loosely categorised as fantasy but what it really does is dissolve the boundaries between fairy tales, nightmares and folk horror. It’s incredibly successful at making you doubt the character’s ability to perceive reality whilst still keeping you engaged and rooting for them. Best of all, there’s a healthy dose of spookiness that has you questioning your own understanding of what’s happening. A gem of a book. I can’t wait for the next one.

I received The Hollow Gods from Netgalley for an honest review.

Based in current day North America, it follows Kai, Miya, and Mason as they uncover and unravel the mythology of the Dreamwalker and the cycle of missing girls.

The main characters are introduced early on and motivations are made clear from the start though as the weaving of the characters and story progresses these motivations become more unclear and tangled.

A lot of good world building to support the mythology that is being developed as this is the first of a duology, but by no means does this feel unfinished an waiting for the second book.

A play on some of the usual fantasy/horror tropes that has worked well. Wolves, ravens, dream states, all wind together and build to a great conclusion.

Well-paced and gripping for most of the book, it took me a day and a half to finish.

This review can also be found on my Goodreads page and my website thedyslexicbookworm .

I was excited about reading this book but it just did not click with me at all. I liked the overall premise but the flow of the book was distorting .
I found it didnt adequately transition from one explanation to another so I was left guessing what and who the author was referring to most the time.

I also felt that the language was overly wordy yet the sentence structures were simple which didn't work or make sense and was difficult to get past possibly due to my dyslexia.
The ideas are there and the characters interesting , I particularly enjoyed the folklore element to the tale and enjoyed the ominous feel of the book which allowed me to give it an extra star than I had originally planned for.
It has lots of promise but also needs some work.

I was searching for something a little different when I found ‘The Hollow Gods’, and I certainly got what I was looking for. I fell in love with the cover at first sight, and the title intrigued me as did the summary. I have a soft spot for folklore at the best of time, and this seemed like an interesting twist on that idea, and it was. It took me a few chapters to get into the book, but once I did, I was hooked. While folklore and the role it plays within a community is central to the story, it weaves through several genres, and I would find it hard to classify it under a singular genre, which I think is a massive part of its appeal.

    The story itself is split between three very different narrators, all following their own paths through the story, and it felt very much to me that I was with them on those paths, discovering new secrets and answers, alongside them. The. Each character was well developed in their own right, as well as through their connections with one another, and there were aspects of what they were struggling with or searching for that you can’t fail to identify with. The relationships between them, the folklore and the rest of the town were intricate, and there was an ambiguity to it all. That, rather than leaving you lost or drifting away from the story, kept you hooked and chasing the answers.

   There were a couple of places where the language choices jolted me out of the flow, but it only happened a couple of times and was more a personal tic than anything, and for the most part, I found the language beautifully reflective of the story. It felt like a folktale, in terms of language but also in the storytelling method, but one that the reader is experiencing for themselves.

    My favourite part of the book is how it explores folklore and how it is experienced – as a story, a dream, a part of history – and how stories can become something far more if people believe in them strongly enough. ‘Stories aren’t told to convey the facts. They’re told the convey the truth’ – is something very real, and very present in our lives, and here it is explored and addressed in a way that is not only relevant, but which is accessible, and I loved it.

   I would highly recommend this book for anyone with interest in folklore, magical realism, and a dark touch of horror. An absolutely stunning debut from this author. I have pre-ordered my own copy of the book, and I am very much looking forward to the second book in ‘The Chaos Cycle’.

Unfortunately, I am just not the right audience for this book.
The premise is brilliant, and the atmosphere that the writer creates is creepy, and well written.
I found myself unable to connect with the characters because of the many multiple pov’s.
As this is just a personal tic, I’m hesitant about adding a star review. I think perhaps readers of Karen M. mcManus’ thrillers, or the dark horror/fantasy of V.E. scwab’s Vicious duology would enjoy The Hollow Gods.

When I read the description of this book I was not sure if it was something that I would like, but I wanted to give it a try. I thought this book started out rather slow and boring, but after several chapters in I was hooked. I wanted to know what type of secrets Black
Hollow was hiding, why girls that went missing turned up dead, who was killing them, and why. I wanted to know why the Dreamwalker, a figure of local folklore, would want to lure young women into the woods and possess them, and why do they almost always end up dead after they return? When Kai was first introduced, I wasn’t sure if I liked him or not. He was very rude and obnoxious. I wanted to know why did Kai wake up next to the lifeless body of a recently missing girl, and why did he have no memory of how he got there? I thought Miya was a very interesting character. I thought it was odd that she hung out at night on a swing in a park playground alone. It was almost like she was looking for trouble. It was interesting how Mason, Miya, and Kai met each other. Even though the author jumped from one character’s story to another before all three characters came together, the author made it very smooth. It was easy to follow when he went from one story to another. I recommend this book. I have never read this author before, but I am going to look for more books by A.J. Vrana.

February was a bad month for me with books. Usually, I'm all 4-5 star reads but I got mostly 3 stars and maybe one 4. THEEEEEEN, I started an arc of HOLLOW GODS and I knew I finally had my five star read.

THE HOLLOW GODS is a book I think should be given out into the book community and praised. Granted, I did have high expectations because I've been drooling over the synopsis forever. I enjoy anything comped to The Raven Boys, but I was excited to see where the author would take me.

THE HOLLOW GODS is what I expected. Dark, violent, heart wrenching, funny, and unique. We have three very complex characters-Mason, Kai and Miya-a tragic town's history and themes such as finding yourself after grief and disappointment.

It's the real deep emotions that made this book a five star read for me. In essence, it gave me a strong Stephen King vibe, most recently the character of Ralph Anderson in THE OUTSIDER where he has to figure out this mystery all while dealing with the death of his own child. It's that realness that drew me in and made me fall for these characters. Vrana did great drawing out these emotions and gave us protagonists to root for. I realize this type of book isn't going to be for everyone for its graphic nature in some scenes and time leaps and big words that people don't understand that Kindle has a dictionary function for, but this is the sort of unbelievably out of the norm books I look for when I'm trying to get out my YA blackhole.

In closing, this book was everything I hoped it would. The writing is something to envy (TEACH ME YOUR WAYS) I am eager to get my grubby hands on the next installment.

Read if you want a dark, atmospheric read reminiscent of Stephen King.

"The Hollow Gods" is a genre-busting fantasy that blends fables, fairy tales, dark nightmares, and boundaries. You have the age-old motifs of the angry mob of villagers, the disappearing girls, the maiden on the creaky swing in the forbidden glade, the shapeshifting werewolf, the raven and the willow, and the haunted wood.

It takes place in a remote British Columbia village hours north of Vancouver. Yet, Dark Hollow could well be in some fell mountain region in Western Romania. The woods extending out from the village are a doorway into other dimensions where time and reality twist. And, where ancient gods do havoc. Yet, there are hints that maybe it's not real at all, just an overactive imagination. It's as if the characters will often awake from a dream. Some of it is firmly rooted in this reality, but much is in dreams, in mystery, in legend.

Not written in a classic expository format, The Hollow Gods is a bit loose plot wise and seems almost to circle around and around the myth, around the woods, around the cabin, around the willow. Perhaps not the epic fantasy for everyone, it does have some real treats for those brave enough to venture into this wood.

A very engaging and enjoyable read. The main characters are richly developed. It’s particularly important to have a nuanced narrative that weaves group psychopathology with myth.

This review can be found on my Goodreads as well!

5 stars

I was lucky enough to receive an E-arc for review.

I have no idea how I am supposed to articulate how much I loved this book but I will try!!
Also, to A.J Vrana, her support system, and writing team, Congratulations on creating an amazing world that is done in this debut book. It was phenomenal!!!

I am calling this now as my second favorite book of this year. Only one book has the potential to surpass it and that is Sarah J Maas's new adult fantasy. Very high praise from me for those who do not know me.

I do not read magical realism enough to state that this is what this book is categorized as but I deeply believe if you like magical realism and folklore that this book is for you.

Summary:
This book is about fictional folklore for a small village that believes there is a dream walker that abducts girls and when they come back they are missing something that makes them not themselves. The families believe this so religiously that the families are turning on them. The story also keeps the plot going with mysteries of who is the dream walker, and why is she abducting girls. There are other small questions introduced and followed as well but I do not wish to dull the potential of this book by saying too much. Vrana truly has created such complex lore and history to this village that it seems real in an overwhelmingly immersive and wonderful way.

Pros
There will not be many because when everything is good it is hard to pinpoint what good you appreciated most!

1. ALL THE CHARACTERS ARE STRONG! I cannot tell you how long it has been since I have overwhelming loved and been engrossed in a book. Each character was though out in my mind and I enjoyed all three. I won't lie I do have a preference for the prickly asshole though!! His rude humor made me giggle. Way to go Kai!

2. The ending was very satisfying. Yes, I have questions but it is going to have another book and it gave me all the feels.

Cons
I do not have a single one and as soon as I submit this I am going to preorder this and gush about it to anyone I can bring it up in conversation with.

Highly recommend

Lately, I can’t stop looking for the unknown in storytelling. The unknown as twofold: as it relates to the plot (the spiritual, the mysterious, the concealed within a cloak of secrets, the supernatural) and as it relates to how a story is told (unreliable narrators, dreams, liminal space, deviating from the expected form). It is invigorating exploring that which lit a fire of passion for reading within me, a love that caused me to study literature and to focus on Postmodern lit specifically. But it is also exciting to see that type of exploration and experimentation that invigorates genres that have maintained their own formula—like that of fantasy.

A. J. Vrana’s iridescent debut, <b>THE HOLLOW GODS</b>, is the first volume in a series called The Chaos Cycle. A story weaving folklore, dreams, the complicated histories contained within families, and the demons that communities carry with them. It is a speculative novel that defies classification in just one genre: it is magical realism, it is literary, it touches upon fantasy, it gives us a glimpse at real horror.

<i>The Hollow Gods</i> is a story that follows three narrators: Miya, a floundering university student, let down by the institutions to which she had clung and who now faces the prospect of being the next victim of a legend that has plagued the town of Black Hollow. Kai, a dangerous and haunted young man, struggling to make sense of the death surrounding him and his fight to hold on to himself and his memory. And Mason, an Oncologist struggling to create meaning for the loss of a patient by debunking and rationalizing Black Hollow’s obsession with the Dreamwalker and the town’s dark past. We follow Miya as she experiences some truly horrifying dreams that blend with her reality as she tries to navigate what is happening to her and get to the bottom of the legend of The Dreamwalker. Kai is struggling against his own demons, trying to survive, when he and Miya come together and find solace in each other—their narratives becoming intertwined. Undergirding their journey is Mason, giving us the necessary history and circumstances to create a full picture of the town of Black Hollow, and elevating it to a character in its own right.

I am absolutely in love with innovative story structures, and I was entranced by this setup—in addition to sustaining that “but how did they get here” tension, the story swapping makes for exciting and snappy storytelling that propelled me through at a voracious speed. Beyond pacing, however, it also lends to a delicious ambiguity—a revealing of information that at once feels integral, but is also still mysterious. Storytelling like this reminds us that sometimes it is essential to not have all of the information and that the mystery of folklore is grounded in humanity itself—the most unexplainable of phenomena.

Perhaps what I appreciated most about this book is how it addresses themes that are genuinely relevant to understanding our own lives and history. It is a contemporary setting, but beyond time-period, it explores folklore as it relates to how we as people and societies rationalize our existence through the supernatural, and how that rationalization become the stories that we tell ourselves, and, perhaps most importantly, how those stories become a reality.

I loved reading this book. I loved the characters within it. I can’t wait to further immerse myself in this enthralling world with the people that I have grown to love.