What a wild, disturbing ride this book was! The body horror reminded me of Wilder Girls a bit, the doorway magic reminded me of the Wayward Children series, and the adventure was quirky like The Hazel Wood. What I’m trying to say is, I liked this one a lot!

I appreciated that the author didn’t shy away from being brutally gross at times, and that while this was a horror story, there was some humor to it. The exploration between the sisters’ relationship, as well as between them and their parents/classmates/etc., was also very interesting. It kind of brought in a true crime element, seeing how the sisters navigated the world after disappearing and coming back.

While I can’t say I didn’t see the “twist” coming, I was mostly in denial and it was a terrible surprise anyway. But when I say terrible, I mean that in the best way!

It’s hard reviewing books like this, because I don’t want to give away any details, and the story really is in the details. But I def recommend it!

CW: death, murder (on page), suicide (off page but talked about), attempted rape, alcohol and drug abuse, body horror and gore

TW: suicide, sexual assault, gore and body horror.
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HOUSE OF HOLLOW follows three sisters, Iris, Vivi and Grey. When they were children, something terrible happened to the three girls that left them with identical scars at the base of their throats, and no memory of how they got there. Iris has always tried to ignore the strangeness that is her life, but she can’t run from it any longer. Grey is missing. A man with horns is hunting the three sisters, a corpse falls from Greys bedroom ceiling, and dark memories are coming back. What happened to them as children? And what has Grey hiding?
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I’m stunned! Sutherland is so incredibly talented. This story is fully immersive, and the atmosphere is haunting. I was hooked from the very beginning and could not stop reading until I had the answers I needed. Sutherland does not shy away— this story is creepy, morbid, and completely fascinating. I couldn’t look away. I’m a little torn on the ending. I like the way it ends, but also... please, tell me more! I want to keep going! Overall, great story! I can’t wait to see this cover all over Bookstagram. This is something I’d like to reread in October!
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4.5/5 stars, HOUSE OF HOLLOW by Krystal Sutherland is available April 6, 2021!
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Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for the eARC to review!

Not going to lie, I was in the mood for a book exactly like this when I picked it up and it couldn’t have been more perfect for my mood. This is a deliciously creepy and twisted fairy tale-like story of three sisters who disappear in the blink of an eye from a street in Scotland, only to return one month later with no memory of their time gone. Their story instantly became a news frenzy with the girls at the center of the storm. They were stalked, assaulted, accused of lying, and threatened. When their parents are proven by authorities to have nothing to do with their disappearance and winning a large defamation suit from a newspaper, the girls begin attending an expensive and prestigious private school where the abuse continues. Grey and Vivi quickly leave school to pursue modeling and musical careers, but Iris stays and tries to be both the perfect daughter and perfect student. But there’s nothing perfect about any of the sisters. Upon their return on that cold, rainy night, the girls changed. Their hair turned white and their eyes became an inky black and they developed a constant hunger. The girls know they are strange but only Iris tries to fit in.

Now, ten years after their reappearance, Grey, the oldest of the Hollow sisters is missing. Leaving behind a bizarre set of clues, Iris and Vivi must find their sister before it’s too late for all of them. Along the way, they discover that their connection to the supernatural is far greater than they realized and they are far from the only ones looking for their sister.

I thoroughly enjoyed every single page of this gruesome thriller. It’s dark and twisty and plays with the concept of power so well. These sisters know they are different and strange but it’s so much darker than that. They have the ability to compel people which sounds like an incredible power to have, until it goes too far and makes people obsessed with them. This power helps both Grey and Vivi in their modeling and music careers, but for someone who is quiet and mild-mannered like Iris, it’s frightening. This book is incredibly dark. Very quickly we learn the girls’ father dies by suicide and was obsessed with the idea that the girls were not his daughters. Cate, their mother, is estranged from both Grey and Vivi is hyper protective of Iris. This dynamic makes it incredibly difficult for Iris to maintain relationships with her sisters and she is constantly pulled between the two relationships. All three girls are also incredibly beautiful and they use that beauty to manipulate others. When the girls discover that Grey found where they were held during their disappearance, they also discover more about their time there and it’s the darkest thing possible. I cannot emphasize enough how dark this book is, but if you can handle it, you won’t be disappointed.

This is a fast read. I was immediately engrossed in the story and intrigued about where the girls had disappeared and what happened to them while they were there. I couldn’t wait to see how everything was tied together and how far the author was willing to take this story. Iris and her sisters were great characters. You can feel how abrasive Vivi and Grey found their home life and how much of a mediator Iris plays for the family. Cate, their mother, seems so cold and distant but you soon realize how much she has to cope with and it’s all a defense mechanism. I really liked how the author made Grey’s boyfriend completely immune to her supernatural charm. It made for a great and snarky dynamic between him and the other two sisters.

If you love dark fantasy, twisted fairy tales, and deliciously dark YA, this is definitely one to try.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

A dark, twisty modern fairytale where three sisters discover they are not exactly all that they seem and evil things really do go bump in the night. I think that says it all. A beautifully written dark, gothic and atmospheric fairytale. I loved the story and the sisters, Iris, Grey and Vivi Hollow. The storyline kept me guessing all the way through. This book has me both drawn to and wary of old doorways. If ever I come across one, I will immediately think of this book.

Thank you to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Three young sisters go missing and show up a month later with no memory of what happened. Ever since their disappearance Grey, Vivi and Iris have been different. Identical scars on their necks, hair that turned white and eyes that go black. Years later, while still strange, the girls have flourished, Grey a famous fashion designer, Vivi a talented bassist, and Iris on her way to being the first to attend college. Unearthly and powerful, Iris believes her sisters to be untouchable, but when Grey fails to show up at Vivi’s concert and a man with a skull mask appears to be following them, Vivi and Iris know that it is time to find answers of their own. Krystal Sutherland spins a very eerie gothic mystery with language both disgusting and haunting as she leads you to the mysteries behind the door.

I got this ARC during North Texas Teen Book Festival from Penguinteen via NetGalley.

House of Hollow really excels at aesthetic. In the book club I attended, the author and other readers mentioned the movie Midsommar. I've also seen that movie and I concur that the feeling of dread while surrounded by beautiful nature scenes and florals is exactly what House of Hollows contains. However, I do think House of Hollow is almost more blatantly sinister in tone, with rot and decay on full view for much of the book. Tl;dr: this book is great if you love creepy atmosphere.

I did like how Iris was definitely normal--a foil to her super worldly and weird sisters. I did think this made her point of view a little boring at times since we didn't get to see the coolness of Grey and Vivi too closely (they don't live at home anymore), but made it easier to connect to the perspective character. It also made some parts of the story even scarier because I just wanted this poor teenager to be okay.

And speaking of scary, wow. Adult horror doesn't scare me (the aforementioned Midsommar was really fun but not super scary to me) but I got to the ending of this book a little late at night and had a bit of an existential scare. Definitely look at trigger/content warnings for this one if you're not a big horror reader. I don't want to give away the "big twist" everyone is raving about, but it's a doozy, and I ate it up.

I would recommend this book if you love dark fairy tales, stories that get a little weird, and/or horror.

Phew that was something. The element that stood out the most for me was the setting and the atmosphere, which is a critical part of the story. House of Hollow is set in London and Scotland, and Sutherland's writing transports readers to these places. I could so clearly see the locations, and her descriptions were so vivid that I definitely got all of the disgusting details, so for better or for worse,

That being said, I didn't have the best grasp of the characters. I felt like there was more telling about the characters (also through Iris Hollow's eyes) than readers picking up certain things themselves. Out of the main characters, I probably had the weakest grasp on Tayler. Because of this, I didn't really get a holistic and physical picture of the characters; I was drawn into the story more through the setting and plot.

Otherwise, House of Hollow is a truly addicting story that keeps unfolding layer after layer. After you read it, you'll probably have a different opinion of my choice of peeling back and unearthing these complexities 👀. I started House of Hollow on (a) Wednesday and finished on Thursday. It's no joke that I flew this story. I have so many unanswered questions that were kind of answered by the end, but then again, this book is not the "ends with a perfectly placed bow on top" kind of book.

Review posted on GoodReads (March 24, 2021)
Review linked below.

4/5 stars!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Teen for sending me an E-ARC of this book for an honest review.

This book was so interesting. Going into this book, I didn't really know anything about the plot or the synopsis. All I knew was that it was a thriller and that the cover was beautiful... Honestly, I am so obsessed with this cover.

This story pulled me in from the very first page. Sutherland's writing was beautiful and lyrical, and the intricate world that Sutherland created was so alluring. This book is beautifully dark and mysterious, and I loved every moment of reading it. I think that part of the beauty of this book is not knowing that much before jumping into the story, so I am not going to say much more—just know that the plot takes so many different turns that weren't predictable at all. It was such a fun read.

Thanks for reading!
Caden

This book... It's dark. It's morbid. It's gory.

It has this amazingly macabre mood through the entire story. The descriptive writing is perfection and the details are on point. That's why I'm so incredibly disappointed to give this book any less than five stars.

But, the story is so slow. And maybe that's because it jumps back and forth between what's going on in the present to what one of the sister's remembers in the past, it got a bit jarring and terribly repetitive! It got to a point where I was just waiting for the story to end. The way it unfolds is lackluster, I really craved more depth.

All in all, I didn't hate it, but I wouldn't read it again.


Thank you to PenguinTeen via NetGalley for an e-ARC to read and honestly review.

Quick Stats
Overall: 5 stars
Characters:5/5
Plot:5/5
Setting:5/5
Writing:5/5

I… I’m genuinely at a loss for words. Don’t read this book if you’re prone to nightmares. Do read this book if you liked The Hazel Wood, or if you like twisty, sometimes grotesque horror novels.
I’m thoroughly freaked out, but it was so good. I could not put it down to the point that I read the whole book in one sitting. The intrigue hooked me from the first page; I simply had to know what happened. And let me tell you, I was not expecting what happened. At all.
From the start, I loved the characters. Iris was relatable and real, and her sisters where interesting and well developed. Every character I read was well rounded and interesting. The plot was…well, I don’t know how to put this delicately…it was a mindfuck. I was freaked out, confused (in the best way), and needing more every step of the way.
Sutherland’s writing was flawless. She writes creepy really well.
Definitely don’t read this if you’re easily spooked, but if not, I highly recommend it.
I do need a nice fluffy romance to recover though.

This story is told from the perspective of Iris the youngest Hollow sister. The three sisters are all different but have always been close. When Grey goes missing they do all they can to find her with the clues they have. This book is filled with suspense and keeps you guessing. After about halfway the book picks up from starting out slowly. There were a few different genres presented such as fantasy, suspense and magical realism. This book is pretty dark and there are some gruesome scenes. And the ending is a shocker. 3 1/2 stars
I will post my review on my Instagram page and good reads closer to pub day.

This book is so hauntingly beautiful and I wasn't expecting the horror aspect, but it did not disappoint! I like how it is family-oriented but with a twist which, speaking of twists, I did not see any of it coming!

House of Hollow is genuinely the most haunting, darkly beguiling, compulsively unsettling book I’ve ever read. It’s a story of sisterhood and empowering women, while also being a story of monsters and terrible things that happen in the night. We follow the first-person perspective of Iris Hollow as she tries to pretend that her life is normal, that there is no mystery surrounding her or her sisters. However, when her oldest sister goes missing, it’s up to Iris and her middle sister Vivi to find her.
The author has a lush, atmospheric writing style that created vivid pictures in my head (for better or for worse). The entire story is a dreamy nightmare that you can’t help but consume as quickly as possible. Its weirdness only escalates the farther you go. I loved it*.

*sometimes i think that i’m too slytherin for my own good
There were times when I was reading this when I had to take a break because I was getting too creeped out. To be fair, I was reading it in the dark (on my phone) so that probably didn’t help. But that’s one of the things I appreciated most about this book: it didn’t pull punches just because it was a YA book. There were parts that were shockingly dark and twisted, moments that cannot be described as anything but breathless horror. However, this is also a book about family and sisters and love and being a girl in a world that can hurt girls so very easily.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this. Would it be magical realism trying too hard? Would it be a confusing mix of supernatural and normal thriller elements? In the end, this truly felt like a cult classic horror fairy-tale. Every story beat is brilliantly plotted, as we go from slightly creepy to downright horrifying. Even the cover takes on a new meaning after finishing the book, for as good as the build-up to the climax is…the ending takes the cake. I didn’t guess the plot twists fully, although I saw hints of them coming. But gosh dang was the ending done well.

I can say with certainty that this is the best horror book I’ve ever read. I don’t want to give too much away because this is something that simply needs to be experienced. I loved the complexity of every single character, and the web of relationships tying them together. My one complaint is the treatment of a certain POC character. The ending leaves things a bit ambiguous in that regard but still.

So that’s it! I’d be surprised if this isn’t one of the standout books of the year, because it is that good. Overall, this is a solid 4.5/5 stars.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an advanced copy of this book to review

This book is all the things that I love in books. It is weird, like super weird, it has a strong sister relationship, it has an unexplained magic system, and it has a plot twist that I did not see coming at all.

After their disappearance 10 years ago, the Hollow sisters have never been the same. Their hair turned white, their eyes turned black, and they had this strange quality about them that drove people a little crazy. Now both of Iris' older sisters have moved out and are famous but when their oldest sister disappears they know something isn't right.

As they unravel the clues she has left behind to help them find her they realize that everything may not be as it seems and that she may not be telling them the truth about what happened to them all those years ago.

I honestly do not know how to talk about this book without giving anything away but it is so freaking crazy, and a wild ride of weirdness and I loved every minute of it. I was constantly thinking about this book when I wasn't reading it. It will most likely be one of my top ten books of the year and I'm still thinking about it almost a month later.

This book did a great job of keeping secrets from the reader that even if you can kind of guess, you don’t know the whole thing and have to keep reading to find out more. The whole concept is so unique that it stays unpredictable no matter how much of the story you kind of start figuring out.
It’s also creepy in a way that isn’t horror-esque, but that you still don’t necessarily want to go to bed after reading parts of it.
There were just a couple of things that didn’t quite work for me. There is kind of a significant plot hole, in that how much of Iris’s childhood she remembers actually changes during the story. It’s a minor detail, but still a plot hole. The other aspect of the story that I thought could have been improved was that Iris is a bland main character. I can kind of forgive it that, since it’s hard to avoid bland main character syndrome when the story is much more about the plot than the main character, but it’s still so noticeable when she is surrounded by characters who are so much more interesting.

From the very first page, I knew this book was going to be one of my favorite reads of the year so far. Turns out, I was right! I loved getting to know Iris, her sisters, and the strange world that springs up around them.

The writing is lyrical and gorgeous, but straightforward enough that I didn't feel bogged down in descriptions or weird metaphors. Every turn of phrase created an overall atmosphere of dread, death, and rot that I totally loved even as I became more and more unsettled. I've never been a huge fan of straight-up horror, but the horror elements worked really well for me here. Yes, there are some gross parts, but I thought there was a great balance between the fear factor and the emotional resonance of the story.

I love any book with a strong mystery thread, and this one had me whizzing through the pages to find answers to the strange goings-on. There were a couple of twists that I did NOT see coming at all! Everything felt pretty nicely wrapped up by the end, but I appreciated that a few of the answers weren't completely handed to me on a silver platter, because I liked the lingering air of mystery at the novel's conclusion.

Overall, anyone looking for a dark, gripping, atmospheric read reminiscent of Wilder Girls should definitely check this one out!

I have never read anything like this before. This was so weird and creepy, and at times, disgusting. I literally felt like gagging at some of these descriptions. I liked Iris as a character and I’m glad we followed her perspective instead of one of the other other girls. I really wish we knew more about the ending!! The writing of this is beautiful and wonderfully descriptive, definitely going to be reading more of her books.

Another jumbled ‘review’ that technically doesn’t even make sense. But I feel like that’s the sign of a good book, when it’s hard to properly express how good it was.

Anyways.

As a warning, don’t read this book when it’s dark. Don’t read this book while you’re home alone. Now that that’s out of the way:

Easily one of the best books of 2021. This was unlike anything I’ve ever read. This was horrid, eerie, creepy, mysterious, a bit chaotic, grotesque even and I can’t say I didn’t enjoy every second of it.

You know that feeling when you’re full of adrenaline, completely consumed by a book because it’s so good you literally can’t stop reading. This was it. It was very fast paced and had a haunting mystery that made you keep going regardless of time or place. Catch me holding my phone up, reading while my dentist tries to get access to my teeth.

The visuals, the descriptions were flawless. The story in itself is one of nightmares but one I, oddly enough, wish I could live in. It was creepy no doubt about it but it has its appeal. It was enchanting, in a dark twisted sense.

And it has a hell of a plot twist that I never saw coming. It’s just one those books that stays with you long after finishing, keeps you up daily obsessively thinking about.

As a side note, I want to put out there that I would like a sequel or even a novella because I need more. Especially with the way this ended.

The Hollow sisters, Grey, Vivi, and Iris, went missing for 31 days when they were children. They have no memory of the time they were missing, where they went, or who took them, but whatever it was changed them. They each have a small half-moon scar on their collar bone, and hair that turned white overnight. While her older sisters have embraced their strangeness, Iris just wants to fit in and move on. However, when her oldest sister goes missing again, and a strange man in a bull-skull mask begins following her, Iris and Vivi have to follow their oldest sister's clues to find her, save themselves, and maybe even learn where they went for that missing month when they were children.
This book was an eerie and bizarre mix of fantasy, horror, and thriller elements, and I loved every minute of it. I thought I knew what it would be about going into it, but it surprised me at every turn. It was full of darkness and mystery, but also beauty and allure. It kept me on the edge of my seat and wanting to know more.

What a hell of a book. I am in love. There were definitely parts that dragged a bit, and honestly all of the “twists” were PAINFULLY obvious, but overall this was one of the most unique things I’ve ever read. It was a blend of fantasy and magic and outright horror, and I only wish this had been released during October so I would’ve had the right mood to set this to.

Everything about this was pure poetry, and I couldn’t get enough of the writing style. I felt and saw every single thing that went into this book, including things that made my skin crawl in the best way. This was vivid and haunting and absolutely beautiful in its gruesomeness. It had a quality of old fairytales mixed with the dark things in the forest you don’t want to know about, and it will pull you in from the start until the very end. Do not skip this book. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever read.