I received an e-book ARC of The Hollow Places from Netgalley and Saga Press in return for my honest review, which follows below. I thank both for this opportunity.

What struck me about this book and The Twisted Ones, her first novel I read, is how effortless her writing feels. I know that is far from the truth, but while reading both, the stories just flowed so wonderfully I would get towards the end and have to slow myself down, not yet ready for the pages to run out and the stories to end.

The characters created by the author were engaging to read, plus a cat named Beau gave us the animal protector for this novel. I like the sense of humor that she gives her female protagonists, and their ability to handle the unbelievable felt honest.

The museum the protagonists uncle owns becomes her residence and employment after divorcing and leaving her ex-husband the house. Fond memories give her solace, and the coffee shop next door keeps her caffeinated and connected to the world via WiFi. The comfort ends when a hole in one of the walls opens into a concrete hallway that doesn't make sense in relation to the building. The barista next door joins her in searching the anomaly, leading them both to a place that feels different then their world.

They become embroiled in something they cannot control; the things they see and interact with are strange and predatory. They make it back to the museum, but the path to another place is still open, and things are drawing them back to danger. The descriptions of Them and the violence that happens are written beautifully, it puts you on edge and picks at you. The idea of the human body being manipulated by something so alien to us added a somber and heavy feel to the book for me. The idea that things like this could happen, without warning, is prevalent. This is not wandering into Narnia, but someplace more blood thirsty.

In some ways it reminds me of Adam Nevill's worlds, but where his are ancient in a way that is falling to disrepair, derelict, and often times filthy, her worlds are more ethereal and lush but just as dangerous. Where his are firmly set in our world, hers runs parallel to us, leaking through the thin places where they touch. I absolutely love the imagery of her novels.

I give this 5 stars because I thoroughly suggest this to anyone who enjoys dark, fantastical fiction and I could see giving this as a gift for several readers I know. I also intend to buy a hardcover copy of this book when it is released, I know it is one I will re-read.

This was my favorite book by Kingfisher yet. When Kara gets divorced, she moves in with her uncle at his bizarre Wonder Museum full of taxidermy and other oddities. When he has to have surgery on his bad knees, he puts her in charge of the museum. But a strange artifact has opened up a portal to what seems to be another world and a strange bunker in the museum wall. Exploring the world will lead to nightmarish discoveries and creatures she may not be able to escape.

I enjoyed Kara and the other characters. She was easy to root for and sympathize with and her uncle was charming. Simon, the barista at the coffee shop next door who she winds up adventuring with, was fun too. As for the story itself it had a lot of creepy moments and atmosphere I loved. And while some of the bizarre creatures are kept a little mysterious, I think it worked well in making them a little scarier and making them feel more otherworldy.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Hollow Places.

I love anything horror; movies, painting, books, and I'm always on the lookout to be scared and terrified, which is why I was pleased when my request was approved.

The premise of The Hollow Places really drew me in as did the writing.

Kara is a likable and realistic heroine; she's funny, self deprecating and honest.

She is down in the dumps after a divorce and has returned to her uncle's kitschy museum, which she used to love as a girl.

When she discovers a hole in the wall that leads to an alternate world, she and her friend next door, a barista named Simon, step through (who wouldn't?) to discover they should not have (Isn't that always the way?)

Is this creepy? Yes. Is it scary? Ehh....not really. But, if you're easily scared, you would love The Hollow Places.

There were scenes of immense potential (the bus) the author could have had fun with; opportunities for pure terror and horror.

Unlike some reviewers, I liked how the author kept the bad guy(s) vague and mysterious, so readers can let their imagination run wild. But, I wanted to see...more. Something more frightening the bad guy(s) can do.

The Hollow Places reminded me of a manga called Uzumaki when the author referred to the 'funnels in the sand.' That definitely gave me chills, in a good and bad way.

I'm glad the ending was happy, because I like Kara, her uncle and Simon, but it was kind of abrupt, especially when Kara discovers how the hole was opened in the first place, the story could have gone into another direction. So many possibilities of horror in so many directions.

I hope there's a sequel.

Wow. This book was creepy and horrifying and I couldn’t rip my eyes from the pages. I devoured this story and while at times I considered finding something lighter to read before bed I knew I had to finish this before I slept, Kara finds herself divorced and with a dreadful plan of moving home with her mother she feels saved when her uncle invites her to come stay at his museum of oddities. Everything is good until she finds a hole in the wall that leads somewhere that should not exist. Finding it turns out to be the easiest part. The writing was good, the characters were realistic (too much for some) and the story was well done,

Given the satire of the novel, I actually feel guilty to have enjoyed the fun, uncanny horror ride, this book gave me! The Wonders Museum- wow to the imagination and the details. Everything about the story and its setting is delightfully dreadful! The story is fast paced and thrilling, but the ending really disappointed me!! It was not what I expected, especially after the “build-up”. Its still suspenseful and fun to read and reread!

Thank you Netgalley, T.Kingfisher and Gallery Books for the ARC. This review is my own and is not influenced in any way.

Following her divorce, Kara moves back to the small town of Hog Chapel working in her uncle Earl's "Wonders" museum. A hole in a back wall reveals a mysterious bunker leading to a place where alternate realities and unspeakable horrors await. This alternate world is inhabited by creatures that can hear your thoughts and feed off your fears..."pray they are hungry".

The Hollow Places is a fascinating new horror novel by author T. Kingfisher. Although I had not read The Twisted Ones, it quickly moved towards the top of my TBR list after finishing this novel. Our protagonist, Kara, is recently divorced and trying to sort out her life when her uncle Earl offers her the spare room at his "Wonders" museum. The museum houses many unique items which in themselves are a bit creepy yet also fairly interesting. When Kara discovers a hole in the back wall of the museum she enlists the help of Simon, the eccentric barista who works next door, to help her fix it. They discover a "space" behind the wall which can't possibly exist leading to a horrifying alternate world. I loved everything about Simon's character and he added a bit of odd humor to some otherwise horrific events that occur...everyone needs a Simon in their life. The author noted that she was inspired by the 1907 novella The Willows by Algernon Blackwood and those similarities can clearly be observed in both the willows and the creatures that prey upon unsuspecting visitors. At first I was confused by the meaning of “pray they are hungry” but I quickly learned that the alternative is a much more disturbing fate. I really enjoyed this unique blend of sci-fi/horror and look forward to reading future novels from this author.

This is a weird thing to say but despite the atmosphere of dread, this book was very fun. The uncanniness of the horror elements and the setting reminded me of the Strugatskys' Zone of VanderMeer's Area X. I enjoyed the protagonists' bantering, and I thought that the Wonder Museum was delightful. I was pulled into the story and read the whole book in one sitting. It was very similar in tone (and protagonist personality) to Kingfisher's last novel, The Twisted Ones. Although the ending fell a bit flat for me, this was an entertaining and absorbing read that I would recommend based on the interplay between eeriness and humor.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Hollow Places introduces us to Kara who has recently moved into her uncle's Wonder Museum to help him with the workload and help herself begin anew. She shortly discovers a portal in the museum that leads to another plane of existence with horrific prisoners and invisible beings whom hone in on you if you think about them. What adventure awaits Kara in this strange place and what will she do when that plane begins to spill over into her own?

This was a really difficult read for me. The first 30% of this story was great, it sucked me in and the characters were perfectly laid out. It takes quite a nosedive in terms of pacing once Kara finds herself in the other plane. It's overly drawn out and doesn't focus on the points of the plane that were actually interesting. You can only explain a world with trees and water for so long before you lose the reader. The new characters introduced at this point in the story are very rushed and(while they are the most interesting part of this section of the novel) very glossed over. The writer keeps the "big bad" very aloof and I expected that, so that wasn't an issue for me at this point in the novel. When Kara returns to our world the story starts to get back the steam from the beginning, however by the final act it was like pulling teeth to get myself to finish. I understand this is a horror novel, but I don't think attacking the reader with boredom and a failed execution was the authors intent. The Big Bad was such a let down as they never really even appeared or interacted with our heroine.

The Hollow Places just felt like the title, a hollow place devoid of a story worth telling. I felt like it could have been a novella and wrapped up in less than 200 pages. In the end, this story just wasn't for me.

Kingfisher created an amazing multiverse novel in "The Hollow Places". The author was able to draw readers in with excellent character development of Kara (Carrot) and Simon, before venturing into the science fiction aspects of the book. I was emotionally invested in both Kara and Simon, and even Uncle Earl, and that helped propel me through the action in the book. The emotional toll from the experiences Kara and Simon encountered in the willow world was well portrayed. This helped create tension and fear for the reader, making this an excellent choice for horror fans in addition to science fiction readers. The dark comedy and snarky dialogue lightened tense moments and reconnected the reader with the characters during times of intense action. The descriptive style used in creating the willow world was enough to help readers picture to world, but not so much that it took away from the action and plot. I appreciated the tense end scene, which was the scariest thing I have read in a while! This book is highly recommended.

I read the description of this book on NetGalley and knew I had to read the whole thing. A menacing warning about an ambiguous/otherworldly “they”? And why do I want them to be hungry?! Obviously I was enthralled and thrilled when I was approved for the title. Unfortunately, the book didn’t quite live up to my expectations. I’ll start with the good. First, that cover is perfect. PERFECT! Second, I connected easily with the main characters and their humor-filled attitudes. Third, I was anticipating an unsettling atmosphere and the author 100% delivered in that regard. Certain portions of the story were downright disturbing and I ate them all up. My biggest criticism (and the one that bumped my rating from 4 to 3 stars) is that the ending fell flat to me. I was hoping for a big payoff full of world-destroying, fiery revenge but there was absolutely none of that. Maybe this leaves room for a second installment? If so, count me in. I liked the characters enough to give it another try. I will also issue a warning that this book is very “campy” in some ways. If that isn’t your style, I would probably steer clear. Despite these couple criticisms, I did enjoy most of the book and thought it was worth the read!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book ahead of the publication date in exchange for an honest review!

Another great book by this author. I have come to look forward to anything she writes. This one kept my attention in one full swoop. Read in one day. Great story. Lots of twists and mystery.

A special shoutout to NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC in exchange for an honest review, let's get to it shall we?

The Breakdown:

Cover Art: 9/10
Inital Grab:9/10
Content:8/10
Characters:8/10
Setting: 9.9/10
Readability Factor: 8/10
Overall: 8.5/10
Likely to Recommend: 9/10

First things first, you will never see a willow tree in the same light. This book has an overall feel of a Lovecraftian meets Pan's Labyrinth meets a dark Alice in Wonderland meets horrific Narnia. Long story short, it's a dark-toned tale that I had a hard time getting into initially, but eventually, the pace picked up for me and it built into a truly great overall story. I really liked the dark elements and loved the overall tone of the novel. Honestly, this is a great book and it's definitely worth the read!

Huge thank you to Netgalley for granting me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This review may contain light spoilers...don't read ahead if you don't want to know!
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This book feels like a romp in Narnia where there are world eaters waiting for their next snack.

The Hollow Places delivers unbelievable/macabre horrors in the same way that the Twisted Ones did. I love how Kingfisher is able to create a world of the impossible and to terrify us when the impossible meets with reality. This book is primarily an inter-dimensional somewhat cautionary tale about what can happen if you stumbled onto a portal to another world. Compared to the Twisted Ones, the pacing in this book picks up the focal point of the whole story almost immediately. At first, I wasn't sure that I was going to be a fan of getting to the 'meat' of the thing right away, but quickly realized that there would be so much more to the story even after we end up falling down the rabbit hole.

Kara aka Carrot finds herself divorced and in need of a place to stay. Taking up the offer by her somewhat eccentric uncle who run an oddities museum, she finds herself settling into a new life of cataloging and caring for taxidermied animals & quirky displays. That is, until a hole to another universe appears. Carrot & Simon begin to explore this odd, impossible hole in the wall that just doesn't seem to end. They become curious enough to even cross over the threshold to a more impossible place- a seemingly new world / portal to other worlds. The spookiest parts of the book come into play here. At first, I was entirely excited by the prospect of what they were finding, until slowly, slowly the fear creeps in as Simon & Carrot barely escape. Even once they find a way back to their world, how are they to know nothing has followed them? I constantly found myself eyeing the shadows from the lights in my room & perking my ears whenever I heard shuffling outside my door. Kingfisher's writing slowly seeps into your subconscious & will stay with you long after you finished.

For the most part this book unfolds fantastically. There were a few parts that seemed disjointed (transition from sleepwalking to meeting boatman in the hole), but that could have just been my perception & ultimately didn't pull focus from the story.

4.5/5 stars

Thank you for the opportunity to review The Hollow Places, by T. Kingfisher. This is outside of my usual genre and I approached the book with some trepidation. Post-read, I can say that the trepidation was completely misplaced. This is an excellent effort, well worth adding to your TBR list and one I'll recommend to friends.

Oh man I wish that I had left this one for October. Its soo twisted and spooky it was soo good!
Kara is down on her luck and recently divorced and its all still fresh. She's still checking in on her ex and she's staying with her mom. When he uncle has to go have a knee surgery when she is left alone in her uncles museum, she discovers a path a way to get to alternate universes.
Now, this isnt the cool Narnia type of universes but like one with full of terrifying creatures, the things that nightmares are made of. Its all so twisted and it seems like the more she tries to escape the more she goes down the rabbit hole.
This is a great adventure novel that is absolutely shocking, twisted and dark. It is addicting though so dont start the book if you can only devour a couple chapters. This is a hook line sinker type of book! Definitely recommend!!!

What an incredible (and scary) journey this one was!

I have to be up front with you: I totally read this book based on the cover alone. I only gave the synopsis a cursory glance and saw it mentioned a girl dealing with a divorce, which I myself have experienced and that was all it took.

So you can imagine my surprise when it turned out to be a horror book - totally not my preferred genre. However, I was hooked. This horror story was creepy, but had humor in all the right places. It was the perfect blend.

This book flowed - it was so easy to fall into this story and not want to leave. I didn't want to put it down.

Our main characters are Kara and Simon and you absolutely fall in love with them from the beginning, although I must admit that Uncle Earl stole the show anytime he was mentioned. We follow Kara and Simon as they find themselves in another dimension/world, quite by accident....then their curiosity (unfortunately) took over and they began to explore.

I do think the book ended before it should have. I wanted more and I wish the author had expanded more on how a particular item had been made....but maybe that's a story for another book. Here's hoping!

I won't say any more than that except it got to a point where I only wanted to read this book while sitting in direct sunlight. The boatman ain't no joke folks!

You just read this book. T. Kingfisher just became an insta-buy author for me and I cannot wait to read the rest of her work.

A Smart, Sassy, Southern Riff on Lovecraft/Blackwood

This is a marvelous book. Almost literally marvelous. It had everything I like and nothing I don't like. Wonderful.

About a quarter of the way in I realized I was reading a modern take on Algernon Blackwood's "The Willows". That's a good thing, considering H.P. Lovecraft admired Blackwood above all other writers, and considered "The Willows" to be Blackwood's masterpiece. It's also a good thing because "The Willows" is considered by pretty much everyone else to be Blackwood's masterpiece as well. I felt awfully darn clever to have seen the connection, until I saw blurbs and reviews for the book and found out that everyone else had also seen the connection, thank you very much, including the author, who gracefully acknowledges "The Willows" as her inspiration. Anyway, I mostly mention this because you will enjoy this book even more than usual if you read "The Willows" first. It's only novella length and it has been in the public domain for so long that there are free or 99 cent downloadable copies of it everywhere. (Or get the brilliant graphic novel adaptation by Nathan Carson.) Either way, read "The Willows" and you will be rewarded by a great book, you'll be totally set up to enjoy this book, you'll already be on the right Lovecraftian horror wavelength, and you'll get all of the many clever allusions in this book to the original "Willows".

Now, put that "Willows" stuff aside. I won't try to summarize the plot. That wouldn't do it justice, as a lot of the book is built on mood and small scenes rather than plausible events and plotting , and it's even a little bit beside the point. Suffice to say that the author nails old school creepy horror, alien "Others", and the eldritch terror that lurks just beyond the veil, (or in an "alternate parallel quantum universe", which is just the modern way to say the same thing).

The exceptional additional appeal of this book is the two main characters. Our heroine, Kara, is in the sassy southern chick style, but way better. She's smart, she's funny, she's perceptive and thoughtful, and she isn't written to have any of those Southern-stupid mannerisms that pass for characterization in lesser books. This isn't all Krispy Kreme donuts and chitlins. Kara is a sophisticated woman who is both vulnerable and tough. She has a fondness for her southern roots, but no corny hee-haw touches. On top of that she gets a great sidekick. Kara is running her Uncle's weird wonder museum, and next door to that is a coffee shop. The barista there is gay. But he's a gay version of Allan Quartermain, (which may actually be a redundant statement). He's smart, courageous, rational, and studly, even if he does wear fishnet stockings as part of his explorer's kit. He's witty, she's witty, and the two of them together are a brilliant double act.

This does take a little while to get rolling. If you didn't know better you'd start to suspect that this was going to become a chicken-and-waffles rom-com with a side of green tomatoes. But just be patient. Wait for the appearance of the creepy carved thingy and then the hole in the museum wall. Adventure, terror, and a surprising number of laughs, (big laughs and also nervous laughs), await you. Both modern and old school, and almost endlessly inventive, this is an elegantly conceived and written top drawer find.

(Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

Only T. Kingfisher could make me love a terrifying thriller. Loved the portal fantasy and humor. Longer RTC near release date.

I enjoyed this book much more than the authors previous novel because I KNEW what I was getting into! The Hollow Places is a quirky horror novel with interesting (and somewhat absurd) characters! The characters have a comedic side to them that dulls the horrifying events, but not too much to take away from them. I still found this one to be really creepy! I love the authors unique ability to bring us horror like this and am looking forward to the next book!

Thank you to Gallery Books for sending me a free galley of "The Hollow Places" in exchange for feedback.

Seriously, Gallery Books, I always say that when I'm reviewing a book I got from NetGalley, but thank you so much, because I have been looking forward to this book, and in fact I've had it preordered from my friendly neighborhood bookstore since the day I learned about its existence, so I was SO excited to get to read it early.

I couldn't put it down. It was fantastic, even better than Kingfisher's first horror book, "The Twisted Ones," and that's a high bar. Like "The Twisted Ones," this is loosely based on a deep-cut old scary story, but you don't need to read the previous book to enjoy this one. Or maybe 'enjoy' isn't the right word for this book. 'Not stop reading until you get to the end.'

I loved the first chapter, which is not at all horrifying in any way, in which Kara is dislocated by a divorce and returns to a much-loved childhood haunt, her uncle's eccentric museum of curiosities and taxidermies. The museum is not creepy at all, the way Kingfisher describes it, but cozy and strange and loving, and I would be all in for reading the alternate, sweet version of this novel in which Kara settles in, learns to help manage the museum, and maybe falls in love or solves a crime and gets a cat.

But this is not the cozy version of this story, and while there is a cat, some bad stuff happens to it. In this version, the lovable uncle has to leave for perfectly reasonable reasons, leaving Kara with only her friend the neighboring barista to help when the portal to an alternate world of water and willow trees and stalking horrors.

"Pray They are hungry," says the writing on a wall, which is both completely true and entirely unhelpful, because it doesn't appear to matter what you pray, They will come when they come and they'll do what they'll do, and the things they'll do... T. Kingfisher, what is WRONG with your brain? How did the writer who created the honey-sweet Hamster Princess books also come up with some of the awful, awful things that happen to people in this book, things that would never even have crossed my mind might be things to worry about? It's reasonable for me to be afraid of murky things floating in the water, but why am I now also afraid of the spaces between willow branches, school buses, and the unraveling of fabric?

Anyway, this book is going to be released just in time to be fantastic Halloween reading, and you should probably preorder it right now, just to be sure.