Although one of Kingfisher's earlier novels is already in my TBR pile, this one marks my first experience with her writing. And I have to say, I absolutely loved it! It's delightfully spooky (as contradictory as that sounds) with the tension nicely broken up with humor - either through narrator Kara's amusing interior monologue or funny banter between characters. Post-divorce, Kara moves in with her beloved Uncle Earl who runs the Wonder Museum in Hog Chapel. An overgrown curio cabinet of a museum, it's kitschy and fun... until strange happenings begin, resulting in Kara and her friend, Simon, crossing over into an otherworldly adventure. There are nods to other fictional predecessors here, but this remains fresh throughout. Really, it's so much to read!

There are scary moments that may leave readers staring hard at the next willow tree that they see, and cat lovers will rejoice in a fictional hero to root for. This is an exciting, original and really fun read. I truly loved it from start to finish - it's a great October read and can't wait to read more from Kingfisher in the future!

This was the first horror novel I've read in many years and i'm glad to be getting back into the genre with this book! It was plenty suspenseful, but the main character would occasionally make asides to let the reader know she was reflecting on her experiences in the "vacuae" as a way of saying she made it out alright in the end. This book is definitely best for someone who can't handle something too spooky, but still wants to enjoy the thrills it has to offer.

I really enjoyed the dynamic of the main duo and the way they supported each other with humor. They were both likeable and made even the darkest moments brighter. Kara's voice was full of personality.

The final 10% of the book was dedicated to revealing most of the secrets behind the "vacuae," but enough was left to the imagination that my curiosity about the "vacuae" and its portals to alternate dimensions didn't diminish. I would've appreciated the reveals be a little more measured throughout the novel, but overall this was a quick read that I had trouble putting down.

I have been on a horror kick and when I read the blurb for The Hollow Places and realized this was the same author as Twisted Ones, I needed to get my hands on it.

Poor Kara is living out her horror story. Divorced, poor, and now has to live with her mom. Joy. So when her Uncle offers her room and board for her help running the his museum, she jumps at the chance.. Little did she know, she'd live to regret it, as her curiosity gets the better of her and she finds a mysterious door that leads her to a Pan's Labyrinth / Narnia dimension and the scares are just beginning.

This was delightfully creepy, quirky and funny! It's horror and sci-fi, with great pacing and characters. This is exactly what I was looking for and the perfect time of year for it.

I’m just going to flat out say it at the start of the review. The Hollow Places by T Kingfisher has been the best book I’ve read all year. Possibly the best book I’ve read in the past two years. If you care at all about my reviews, or my opinions on books, you’ll just go on ahead and pre-order it right now online, or make a plan to head to your local bookshop to pick it up in person. I know I’ll be walking down to my local for a physical copy tomorrow. This was absolutely so unsettling, so scary, and at the end, touching. Everything I look for in a horror novel.

We start off with a really weird opening at first about the Wonder Museum where the protagonist grew up. It felt, at the time, like such a throwaway but afterward, it makes perfect sense to start there. That one bit is the only bit of that seems to fall out of the story. By that, I mean that everything else follows a smooth, linear narrative with great pacing. There is never a dull moment. Seriously. I mean, the tension just continues to grow to the point where I would have to put the book down because it got to be too much (I’m a chicken.)

Characters were great. Protagonist and narrator, Kara, feels fresh. She is well-rounded and seems real. From the small tidbits of her hobbies (that are SO relatable), to the emotions she goes through and how her priorities shift. Heck, even her response to dealing with the events of the novel are so realistic, it’s what I always say I would do should anything wild happen to me out of a movie, or in this case, a book.

Finally, what really packs a punch when it comes to The Hollow Places, is the absolute heart and emotion present throughout it all. Yes, it is scary. Yes, it is creepy. But, it is also packed with love. The love the characters have for their families. The love the characters have for their community and those within. Even though it was a tense and terrifying read, the ending brought tears to my eyes.

Please, take the jump and pick up The Hollow Places by T Kingfisher. It is such a great novel and a spectacular horror novel full of heart. The tension and pacing are superb making this such an intense read that you’re torn between putting it down and continuing through at lightspeed. This is seriously my top pick for 2020, regardless of genre.

This is my first T. Kingfisher book, and I was extremely impressed by the quality of the writing. A sci fi-horror buffet with a Steven King and Lovecraftian flavor, with a side of Stranger Things. Here we have a bad breakup, a curious museum, and a portal to another dimension. (I mean, who HASN'T wanted to teleport to another dimension after a crappy breakup?) The description of the landscape - gorgeous; the dialogue - great; the plot....leaned a little too much on the sci fi "creature" aspect and lighter on the horror for my tastes, but should be very pleasing to those more sci fi inclined than I am. Basically a haunted evil Narnia, and who doesn't enjoy that? There's also a little bit of HItchcock flair in the horror of the unknown here.

Overall a very entertaining book by an extremely talented and lyrically inclined writer. This book made me very interested in picking up one of T. Kingfisher's more traditional horror novels. A very talented voice to watch, especially if you are into sci fi.

Thank you to Netgalley, T, and Gallery for an advance copy of this book.

Just another cold Swedish meatball in the TV dinner of life.

What a weird and humorous ride! This is my first T. Kingfisher book, but I doubt it will be my last. Don’t be fooled by my initial statement – while there is plenty of comic relief throughout The Hollow Places, it is still an incredibly spooky fun October read.

Kara (Carrot) finds herself 34 and divorced with no home. In lieu of going back to her parents house, she agrees to stay with her Uncle and help him run his wacky museum of oddities. When she is left to run the place on her own, she stumbles upon an alternate universe hiding in the walls. Her and the barista next door end up on a wild ride trying to keep whatever is ‘out there’ from coming ‘in here.’

I adored the characters. Typically in horror and thriller, I don’t feel that it’s common to really get to *know* the characters, but Carrot and Simon felt like old friends by the end of the book. And of course I loved Uncle Earl. Even the side characters that we only meet briefly, or never even fully meet but are discussed were brilliant.

The story itself (inspired by a Lovecraft story) was super engaging. It’s very rare that I make one book my sole focus (I am very guilty of reading 5-6 things at a time), but this book was the only book I read for the two days it took me to get through. The horror aspects were truly horrifying. Objects that are not scary suddenly become terrifying. Having to do a double take at everyday objects. Extremely gruesome methods of ~undoing~. Overall, this was a fantastic kick off to my month of nonstop horror/thriller books.

"Does your uncle know there's a portal to Narnia in his museum?"

Kara is living and working with her uncle after her recent divorce. When she finds a secret tunnel/portal in her uncle's museum, she and her friend Simon decide to check it out. Needless to say, they will wish that their curiosity did not get the best of them because entering the bunker/portal/tunnel leads them not to Narnia but to alternate realities which will have their hair standing on end, their hearts thumping and we will witness them trying to control their own thoughts.

"We're going to die here, aren't we?"

Well, they will not be going on a joy ride or a happy stroll through some underground secret tunnel. This was a refreshing, chilling, creepy, humorous, and horrific book. Love horror with a twist of humor? This is for you! I really enjoyed the originality and the inner dialogue of Kara. This was a nice fast-paced read which did not disappoint. This was my first book by Kingfisher and it will not be my last.

Pray they are hungry.

I also prayed that this book did not end. I found it to be an enjoyable walk on the dark side. The characters are likable, and the story sucked me in immediately.

Do not miss this book. Highly Recommend!

Imagine that you have discovered a Narnia-like door as an adult, but instead of a magical place filled with talking lions and Turkish delight, it is filled with horrific creatures that feed off of your fear! Shivers!!

T. Kingfisher has done it yet again!!

I would like to thank Netgalley, Gallery Books and T. Kingfisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I could not have been more excited to see that T. Kingfisher, the author of The Twisted Ones, was coming out with a new novel just in time for Halloween! I can not think of a more perfect way to usher in the month of October than with her riveting new horror novel, The Hollow Places!

Kara is a recently divorced 34 year old caffeine junkie (aren't we all) starting a new chapter in her life. She moves in with her Uncle Earl's wacky Wonder Museum filled with all of the bizarre things you never knew you needed to see. Her and her friend Simon are watching the museum for her uncle one day and happen upon a whole in the wall. They decide to investigate further and discover an entry to an alternate dimension filled with fog, willow trees, mystery and dread. For in this dimension are sinister creatures that feed off of their fear.

Taking inspiration from, "The Willows", by Algernon Blackwood, this horror weaves horror, dread, weird and the occasional comic relief. I love how relatable the characters in Kingfishers' novels are. I love the caffeine riddled strong female protagonist in both works and her zany friend Simon in this novel. IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A SPOOKY HALLOWEEN READ LOOK NO FURTHUR!

Newly divorced, Kara returns home and finds a bunker behind the wall of her uncle's home. Pray they are hungry is written on the wall, and she begins to explore the area. There are portals to other worlds that are haunted by creatures that can hear thoughts. The more they are feared, the stronger they become.

Kara's normal life is emotionally difficult in the wake of her divorce, which anyone who has experienced loss can empathize with. Her uncle is a wonderful character and is supportive of her as he gives her a place to live and a day job as she freelances as a graphics designer. This abruptly changes when the hole in the wall leads to a hallway that defies the building specifications; I immediately started thinking of House of Leaves and hoo boy, this certainly does follow in a similar vein. There is a lot of creepypasta in this other world, with eerie sensations that I can visualize very well despite my usual difficulty doing this. I'm so glad she crossed over with a friend; she has Simon to lean on in emotional moments, and he leans on her as well. As they put it, only one of them can fall apart a time, and it helps them as they explore the other world full of portals.

There's tension in each half of The Hollow Places; in the first, it's finding their way back home, and in the second it's trying to figure out why they're trying to return or what might have followed them back. That adds a layer of creepy over the ordinary world Kara and Simon are from, and they only have each other to fight it. Telepathic creatures interested in eating or unraveling people? Very no thank you! There's not much bad language in this, so any age able to handle interdimensional creepypasta creatures can read it, just in time for Halloween!

This was a pretty dang good story. It had mystery and suspense and horror. Some of it corporeal and some of it ethereal. There are many moments here where I envisioned a movie with jump scares and a booming soundtrack, and I found that super cool. I had to suspend my disbelief and go with the action as it unfolds and that was a little bit of a bummer. In the end I was satisfied.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3502779589?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
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Truthfully, based on the synopsis, I was hoping for more alternate realities. More horror. Something more than what it was.

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed our characters of Kara and Simon. I liked having our protagonist be in her 30s and closer to my age than a lot of the characters I have been reading lately.
I also thought that the body horror aspects were done really well. Those were creepy.

But then you lost me. I felt like there was too much 'science' woven into the plot. (I'm not sure any of it was actual science, but it was trying to be technical.) I did not understand where or how or why the place beyond the bunker existed. And I'm not sure it was explored enough.

I thought that the last 20% just seemed to get more and more ridiculous without any substance to back it up. I wished there was more of a reason for the ending.

That being said, I'm very curious to check out more of T. Kingfisher's work.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing the E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC Kindle edition of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If it is possible for a book to be creepy, dark, weird, and funny all at the same time, then this is the book. This book started with a bang, but after a while it did start to drag on. During the first half of the book I would have said, "Loved. It." By the end, the feeling was more like "It was ok."

Unfortunately, the book was a little predictable. What kept me going was to see how everything connected. Even though this was my first book by the author, I would definitely try another.

This was a great book to start October off. I liked that the story was was based off of a short story by Algernon Blackwood. It was creepy, it was tense in parts, but it also had some humor in it. All around great read.

This is my first Kingfisher and I completely see why people love this author. The writing style is unique and I loved how downright weird this story was. Let’s not forget the eerie foreboding and utterly creepy atmosphere of this portal world.

This is also another book I highly recommend going into blind. All you need is the synopsis and a healthy dose of imagination. Kingfisher had me swiping pages faster than ever on my little kindle app and for the first time in a good bit I finished a book in a day. The characters are so easy to connect with and relate too. Kara (aka Carrot) is the MC and let’s just say that I want to be like her when I grow up or in the otherworldly event of a portal from some hellish land opening up in my house. Between her, her friend Simon and the cat, Beau, I laughed and cringed and nodded along at the absurdity of what l read. Pretty sure I yelled more than once at their choices too. I also enjoyed the Lovecraft vibe I felt while reading.

I typically find when reading horror novels that the scary scenes would be better suited for the big screen. Sometimes the scare just doesn't translate in an author's writing style. I did not think this reading The Hollow Places. The author deserves praise for making the hairs on my arms stand on end at times. There are some scenes that dragged for me or felt a little like filler but not enough to take away from my reading pleasure. I cannot wait to get my hands on more by her and to find the audiobook of The Willows mentioned in the Author’s Note.

Thank you to Gallery/Saga Press for the opportunity to review this novel for an honest and unbiased opinion. I highly recommend this one for October TBRs or for anyone who enjoys weird and creepy reads all year long!

Thank you, NetGalley, for allowing me to preview "The Hollow Places" in an e-book format before publication. The beginning of the story by T.Kingfisher caught my attention immediately with its quick wit and beautiful character building. I loved the beginning relationship between "Carrot" and her uncle and truly relished in the flashbacks from her childhood that were used to enhance this relationship.
***There are a few slight spoilers in the next paragraph, so read at your own risk ***

I wish that the level of effort to build up the characters was as strong in the actual plot of the story. Sadly, the excitement for the plot just wasn't there. After they found the dead body at the beginning, it just didn't leave me shocked enough to care why it was there. I feel like the build-up to the hole in the wall was great, but after traveling through, it lacked a connection for me, as a reader. After they found the body and traversed the hallways, the banter between the characters just felt non-sensical, silly, and a little forced. It didn't really add to the story any and I became easily distracted while reading, as well as, not interested in the journey.
I think that people who enjoyed the Goonies, Stranger Things, and general science fiction would probably like this adventure. I wanted to like it too, but this time, it just wasn't for me. I appreciate any writer's gift and truly appreciate the time and effort put into the story. I also am thankful to NetGalley for a chance to review this story.

Weird and twisty. Those are the two words I would use to describe The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher. After finding a hole to another place that shouldn't exist, Kara and her friend/neighbor, Simon, are compelled by a need to explore and find answers. The story wraps up nicely with an almost traditional sifi/horror feel. For me, The Hollow Places was a fun scary story filled with adventure, several head scratching moments, twisted scary moments, and even humor. Kara's internal observations and her dialog with Simon had me laughing at times. I loved the mix of horror and humor. As someone who tends to deal with fear by using humor, I could relate. The story is engaging. I had no difficulty keeping up with this page turner. I do wish that the story would have provided more insight to the hollow places rather than guesses and observations by the main character, but the why was probably not as important as the what. I think in the end, I was really okay with that. Overall, I loved the book. I definitely would
read it again.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy and the opportunity to read and review T. Kingfishers The Hollow Places.

After Kara gets divorced and moves in with her Uncle Earl who owns the Glory to God Museum of Natural Wonders, she anticipates a quiet life cataloging all the oddities at the museum, having coffee at the Black Hen next door, and designing logos for her graphic design clients and ordering in Chinese food.

But when she discovers a hole in the museum and enlists Simeon, an employee at the Black Hen to help her patch up that hole, they discover a portal to another world full of silverlight willows, bunkers and the stuff of nightmares.

Kara and Simeon are such a great duo! I really enjoyed the banter between them. With his top hat, fishnets and fingerless gloves, Simeon brought both a sense of flare and someone to keep Kara grounded after they found themselves lost in a strange world of doors and islands and a mysterious boatman.

In many ways The Hollow Places reminded me a lot of The Twisted Ones. The main characters in both novels have a similar sounding voice, both tend to repeat their fears inside their heads over and over and have a similar sense of humor.

Both novels also have a similar tone. There is a lot of humor in the midst of some truly horrific scenes. It’s a book that is quiet and slow and gradually builds up to its horror, so don’t go into the book expecting fast-paced action. In fact halfway through the book, there is a twist that I didn’t expect that shifted the book in a different direction and slowed the pace down quite a bit.

I’ve read several T. Kingfisher books now, and I’m impressed how she can blend both the everyday, ordinariness of life with some creative, supernatural twistiness.

With a close cast of catchy, quirky characters, and a strong narrative voice from page one, "The Hollow Places" is equal parts sarcastic humor and unnerving horror. 

Kara’s Uncle’s museum, full of taxidermy, oddities, and religious paraphernalia, may seem weird to others, but to her, it’s like home, and literally will be for the foreseeable future after her divorce. After all, the elk head mounted on the wall, the stuffed mermaid with the razor-sharp teeth, and the fake didgeridoo are all more than familiar to her...although the hole in the wall to another world is new…and most certainly evil.

"The Hollow Places" will send readers diving headfirst into the strange worlds of Kara’s life, in both this dimension and the next. The first half of the novel is filled with addictive doses of mystery, tension, and vivid yet haunting world-building. 

Unfortunately, an odd plot structure makes the second half of the story a lot less exciting as the world-building dissipates and readers are left feeling frustrated as they watch the characters ignore blatantly obvious answers to all of the characters' questions and the slow build to an ending that's evident from the halfway point.

The attachment to the characters is the only thing that drives the conclusion forward, although we see noticeably less of one of our two leads in the latter pages. Still, readers’ connection to Kara only goes so far when the plotline seems as backward as the world she falls into, and it ends up being somewhat maddening to see a story that could have been so great if it had been swapped around, and which started with such a strong beginning, end up so lackluster.

A five-star start with a two-star ending I rated "The Hollow Places" 3 out of 5, but would still recommend to fans of the world of "Reverie" and those who are looking for another novel like it with a touch of "Stranger Things" vibes. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Gallery Press for an early copy in exchange for an honest review!

This book!

I want to thank Netgalley and Gallery Books for sending me a copy that I could read. THANK YOU!

October is the spooky season and if you know me I enjoy spooky books. I want to be scared and I want to be unsettled. This book by T. Kingfisher did just that and more.

What would you do if you found a portal to another dimension? Another place? What if that place was truly dangerous? I will tell you, if I found myself in this place I would probably have died in seconds. Kara is not some weak horror novel character. She has been through a bad patch of life, and she’s smart. What I loved about her is that although there was fear, there was also humor. She found a way to laugh through the darkness. There were times the tension got so bad that her humor was what pulled me back in and kept me from taking a break from the book.

There are some very twisted scenes in this book. The images will stay with you in some cases. I still think about the man in the water. Trust me, when you get to that part you will get my reference. He will haunt you for all of October.

The Hollow Places is very much about its setting. You will find yourself getting lost in the place and its horrors. The characters are important but it is very much the places that linger more than the people.

This was a really good book and I am so glad that I was able to read it. Spooky, unnerving, and well worth the read.

I don’t normally read horror, but I can’t resist anything written by T. Kingfisher, and this book did not disappoint. It was just as quirky and funny as I hoped, and more horrifying than I could have imagined. This is not a story for the squeamish, faint of heart, or easily offended, but I am glad I put my faith in the author and joined her on this deeply disturbing journey.

This may be the scariest books I’ve ever read, but it’s also quite endearing. The story grabbed my attention and would not let go, and I suspect I will be thinking about it for a long time to come. The characters are charmingly relatable, and the ending is almost cozy. Highly recommended for fans of nerdy speculative fiction.

Note that the book contains brutal descriptions of death and body horror, as well as swearing. May cause nightmares.

Thanks to Gallery Books for providing me with an ARC through NetGalley, which I volunteered to review.