Absolutely fantastic! If you're a fan of hauntings paired with unsolved mysteries you will ADORE THIS! Keeps you guessing to the very last page! and that cliff hanger!!!! aaaaaaaaaa!!!! You fall in love with these characters and understand them on a much deeper level then you would ever expect to! Truly can not wait for the sequel!!

The main thing I didn't love about this book that I felt like there were a ton of side plots and sub-details that were brought up, then seemed to be abandoned, only to be woven back in later when it was convenient.

First things first: THIS COVER. I immediately knew I wanted to read this one as soon as I saw the gorgeous and creepy cover.

This book was super creepy! I really liked the haunted house aspect and how the whole town knew the legends surrounding it. I also really liked the characters and hope we get more of them together in the second book. It was interesting how the past with Holly and present with Evie connected in multiple ways.

I think my main reason for knocking off a star was because I feel like we weren’t given full explanations about what was happening. The creepy dolls in the attic? The mirror? Why was it there instead of the bedroom? I’m hoping we get those answers in the second book.

I enjoyed this one more than i thought I would. I love a good haunted house plot. The author did a fantastic job at making you feel spooked yourself.

I loved the characters, I felt like they were developed well.

I wish we could get a book with the story behind the murders.

Overall I really liked this one.

First of all I was drawn in by the creepy cover, I love it. It took me awhile to finally pick this book up and read it and it wasn't bad. I think I was expecting more. It had its really creepy parts but I also feel like it had the ability to be a lot creepier. I don't like how it left off on a big cliffhanger because now I feel like I have to read the second book which I honestly wasn't planning on.

This is everything that I look for in a book! It is nicely paced, spooky atmosphere and really keeps me in the story. There were times when I wanted a little more but keeping in mind this is a YA novel with young characters, I still really liked it.

I truly didn't think I would have liked this one as much as I did. But I really did enjoy it!

Holly Hobbie dolls was a big thing in my life because of my first name. My family leaned into the "brand" heavily. I distinctly remember a Christmas getting a slew of Holly Hobbie dolls and a tea set. So going into a story that I thought was going to completely change how I look at the brand was kind of daunting. And its because it was such a big part of my childhood. But the way the author made it so dang creepy was the best way to start off spooky season!

Evie's journey to find out what really happened to her second cousin, Holly Hobbie, was terrifying at times. There was instance in particular in her bedroom that made the hair on my arms stand up on end and I was looking around my bedroom for shadows. But the story was also heavily centered on the MC facing her internal demons and the trauma of her past that was eating her up inside.

I felt like the pacing of this book was maintained throughout, never felt bored. The author has ability to spin a truly terrifying tale. Not Stephen King level terrifying. But a solid YA terror that could make you look around the room expecting something to pop out at you. And the author definitely solidified what most of us think and feel...dolls are creepy.

What if you moved to a new town and found out that your new house is known to the locals as "Horror House"? I would be thrilled but most people probably would be scared and unsettled. A great spooky haunted house story for the high end of middle grade readers and lower end of young adult readers.

3.5/5 Stars

After her parent's divorce, Evie and her mother relocate to Massachusetts. When they arrive, she discovers that Hobbie House is better known as Horror House to the locals after a young girl named Holly disappeared from her bedroom.

This was very much a cover read for me. I think it looks so dang cool! This was a great little spooky read for the autumn. I think this would be a good bridge from middle grade readers who are wanting something a little spookier, but aren't quite ready for full blown horror as I definitely think it is geared to a lower YA audience. The characters did feel quite young at times, especially with their dialogue and some of their choices and actions. I liked Evie, and her need to discover what really happened to the Patchwork Girl. We're left on a bit of a cliffhanger, and I do own the second book in the duology so I am interested in seeing where the story goes.

A story I've hear before. A girl moves to a town, falls in love with a boy. Said boy's family has some dark secrets and a ghost bent on revenge. It was an ok tail, though I've not read/heard of the story this is a retelling of so it was a nice surprise. Though I did like the end and how it left everything set for a book 2.

Thank you to PRH Audio and Penguin Teen for my gifted review.

Thank you so much to Penguin Teen for the e-ARC of Holly Horror!

Books with mentions of Korean food? Yes, please. I 100% wrote down different things I want to attempt to cook 😅

Holly Horror was a fun creepy read! A few scenes were so good & detailed so well, it was easy to envision. I also adored the relationships between characters, romantically & platonically.

I have already started the sequel & I’ll have much more to say about that one because wow it’s 100x creepier & better.

I absolutely adored Holly horror and I’m very excited for the next installment in the future. My initial draw to the book was because of the cover but the story is creepy and mysterious, which hooked me right away. A phenomenal story I can’t wait to read more of this.

I wanted to enjoy this book based off the blurb and cover but the book felt like I was reading a middle grade novel and not a young adult book.

Oh, what a lovely cover this book has! It definitely caught my attention. Holly Horror by Michelle Jabès Corpora is the first installment in a YA horror series that puts a nightmarish twist on the classic Holly Hobbie character. I was thrilled by this fresh take. The book was fun and engaging, with some genuinely creepy moments, and it ends on a cliffhanger, which has me eagerly anticipating the next installment!

I was really interested in Holly Horror because of the book cover, but I ended up appreciating the quick ghost story. This one has all the classic ghostly elements like a creepy doll, ghosts, an old haunted house, and a spooky childhood song. While I did enjoy it, I felt like the only well-developed character was the main one. I'm also not a huge fan of the sudden cliffhanger ending, although I understand that this is the beginning of a series, so I can see why they chose to end it that way.

This was hard to review because I did find a lot of the plot to be really predicable but also still found myself dying to read more. The setting and vibe of this book are so well executed. I do think people who are newer to Horror as a genre will enjoy this more and it really could have worked a little better as a Middle Grade book in some ways. The characters are well written and I appreciated that there was more of an explanation for why the main character was keeping what was happening a secret and seeing how that information was revealed was well done. As I said the setting was also excellently done and the house was so interesting as was the towns history. I am really interested in learning more about the house and the town in the second book. All around this was still a really engaging read.

Holly Horror by Michelle Jabès Corpora is the first book in the young adult horror series by the same name. This new series is based on the old Holly Hobbie character which was cute and cuddly but this series definitely puts a nightmarish twist on the character.

Evie Archer and her family have moved to Ravenglass, Massachusetts for a fresh start in their lives and are hoping their new home and town are just want they needed. Evie quickly finds out though that her new home is known by the locals as the Horror House and thought to be haunted after events of the past.

Evie doesn’t start off scared of her new home as much as just wanting answers to the local rumors. Looking further Evie finds out that Holly Hobbie mysteriously vanished from the home one night and when Evie starts seeing and sensing things around her new home she questions whether it’s real or all in her imagination but is determined to get answers.

First thing I would mention with Holly Horror by Michelle Jabès Corpora is that while I did label this as young adult with teen characters I do think it falls on the young side of that reading range but not quite middle grade either, so somewhere at the end of one to the middle of the other range in ages. As for the story here though it’s a pretty good haunted house tale with plenty of scarier moments involved for the horror fans of this age. The story was somewhat wrapped up in the end but also left some bread crumbs laying around to entice readers onward to book two.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

I have very mixed feeling about this book. While overall I liked the story there were quite a few things that really didn't sit right with me. For example Evie's mother...holy unlikable character batman. This woman was terrible, I could not get over how terribly she treats and belittles her daughter throughout this story. I also wasn't particularly fond of the way all of the secondary characters development seemed to be squashed into the last like 10 pages of the book. It was such a quick switch and felt very lazy and unbelievable.

Complaints aside, I did enjoy this story at its heart. A ghost story that wasn't as scary/spooky as I expected, but there were definitely some fun "jump scares" scattered throughout. I liked the Aunt character and wished she was in the story more, but it seems like that will be happening in book two.The book ends on a pretty fun cliffhanger and I am curious to see where the story goes in the next book.

MY REVIEW: 3 Stars

The cover is awesome and so is the story line. Funny thing is I still have my old Holly Hobby doll. lol

The only reason I didn’t give the book more stars is it was a little bit too young adult for me, almost borderline middle grade.

I enjoyed the characters and the almost old time feel to the book and some of the creep factors. I think plenty of people will love this book.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.

Mel

This was a really unique take on the old Holly Hobby character, that was totally spooky! I would definitely recommend if you're looking for a scary YA read!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher