Falling for the spirit that has begun to cohabitate your body? Not like other love stories. Hollis is a teen who after an incident finds his body being possessed by Walt, a guy who has been jumping from body to body for a hundred years looking for someone to let him settle into their body. Walt and Hollis have to learn to work together but they each have their own baggage.. and to keep the act up before someone else begins to notice. Yet the more time they spend together the more a bond begins to grow between them...can their love survive? This was definitely an interesting read and I can see the Venom x Eddie fans eating this up, but for me, I sadly just never got really hooked into the story. I wish I did, I love the idea and as a huge Venom fan, this should have been perfect for me, but I guess it just didn't work for me. I found myself getting a bit bored and a bit disconnected while reading it. I do think this book is a fun read for others, but it just was a miss for me. I think if you love a queer romance with a unique premise, you should definitely give it a go!

Release Date: April 22,2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books | HarperCollins for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

If you are in the market for an intense and unique love story look no further. I was weirdly charmed by the love story between Hollis and Walt as it was so interesting to watch them navigate their romance.

Going even deeper than that, this was a story about 2 very lost soul (one being an actually soul) trying to find their place in this next phase of life. This book also had such an amazing open that really set the stage for the whirlwind of emotion that is Hollis.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collin’s for the early chance to review and appreciate this love story.

Thank you for the ARC!

I'm going to start by saying I think this book wasn't written for me as the audience. I kept waiting for something to happen and when things did it just was over and that was that. No suspense, no drama, just "ok it's done". It reads like an adult general fiction book and that's largely why I didn't like it.

I kept reading hoping for a twist a turn SOMETHING but it was just the most flat and boring possession story I've ever read. Even falling in love with his possessor wasn't interesting.

The short chapters were annoying, why were there RECIPES?! and good Lord if I didn't forget which girl was which about 89 times.

I wish this author the best but the summary did not match the vibe at all.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!!

I am a certified K Ancrum Stan and this was one of my most anticipated of the year.

I just knew that the experience of being possessed by a ghost would be romanticized in a way that would be amazing and I was not disappointed. I loved this book. Hollis and Walt were so sweet together. K Ancrum is a master of writing romantic angst and pining/longing. How do you love someone inside of you? Someone you can’t really touch? This was so beautiful. I also love how the author writes friends in all of their books. This should be how everyone should be friends in my opinion. I also love the nods at mental health issues and how people deal with them in unhealthy ways. Walt’s life was so sad and I felt so bad for him. It was interesting how everyone interacted with him and how he was perceived. Walt was a sweetheart and then finding each other was fate and I always love to see it.

i always find it hard to muster the words for a k ancrum book review. whether that’s because i’ve flown through the space driven narrative of ‘the weight of the stars’ or i’ve had my heart healed and torn apart and mended and loved over and over by ‘icarus’ or if it’s been torn apart AGAIN by the incredible storytelling and atmosphere of ‘the wicker king’ and now whether ive been shoved into the chest of someone that knows you deeper than anyone ever could alongside ‘the corruption of hollis brown’.

k ancrums books feel so different and on such a grander scale than most of the stories i read and not in a ‘these books are written better’ way but in a ‘i didn’t know it was possible for a book to make Me feel this way for the entire 300 pages of it’ way. but they’re also just so fiercely imaginative yet realistic and tender.

the stories are full of platonic admiration, highlights of queer platonic relationships (even when they’re not explicitly given that name) and how much devotion and gentleness gets interweaved with never knowing peace and never letting yourself feel joy. how you can unweave the two, how you can have gentleness and peace if you fight for it. if your chosen family shield you, hold you, love you.

the mc’s in every book are realistic and flawed and resemble the parts of yourself you think are broken but these protagonists are not just loved anyway but loved because of the flaws. these stories are so tender and gentle and so so healing. there is something that is just full of love in every line and on every page and this isn’t actually a review of hollis brown at all but a review of each book all together because they feel so different but so connected.

and maybe that’s because they’re connected to me and k ancrum writes as if she knows me, as if she’s sucked all my desires and hopes and reluctance to fight for my own joy and put it in these stubborn characters who end up fighting and bleeding but who find a peace they’ve chased anyway.

every k ancrum book ive ever read has made me feel like i deserve to be alive, like i deserve a chance to fight for my joy, and what more could you ever ask from a book than that?

anyway i liked this book :)

A certain degree of suspension of belief is a requirement with all of K. Ancrum’s novels, yet despite knowing that I find myself still quite on the fence with this one. Some parts of it, namely the tenderness between Hollis and Walt, I really enjoyed. There was so much of the book, however, that I just can’t fully wrap my head around. Maybe I’ll need some time to ruminate on it or maybe I never will, and that’s okay too.

Nevertheless, one thing’s for sure: I would love to take a look inside K. Ancrum’s brain, if I could (and I mean it in the best possible way!) Everything she comes up with is so unique, and her writing is so beautiful, that I couldn’t stay away even if I wanted to.

The Corruption of Hollis Brown by K. Ancrum was a very fun and adventurous read. I fell in love with this style of writing with Ancrum's other book Icarus and I was very pleased to see it again. The characters are frustrating and lovable (the way most teenagers are honestly) and I love love loved the inclusions in this one. I found myself relating to not only Hollis and Walt but Hollis's best friends as well. It's emotional, it's psychological, and cuts a little deeper into what goes on inside of us really, despite what we show others, and how we all just want someone who can see us for who we are without all of the walls we put up. I've already recommended it to some of my friends.

Thanks to Harper Collins and Netgalley for the ARC!

Ahhh I loved The Corruption of Hollis Brown by K. Ancrum so so much. Zero Complaints! Therefore I'll just highlight my favorite things about the novel. K. Ancrum's writing is captivating and brings to life this Queer YA thriller with a wonderful cast of characters. I absolutely love Hollis and his two best friends! While the chapters are short, which is normal for Ancrum's writing, they still pack a punch. I loved that Hollis' baked for his friends and that the book actually included recipes for the things he made. I have no doubt I'll be trying out the sweet potato bread and the gingerbread brownies . 🤤 The star of the show for me was Hollis and Walt. They take a moment to adjust to their new situation but they find in each other a shared loneliness and a friend. They know one another in a way no one else possibly could. {{Sigh }} they were just precious.🥰 I was all up in my feelings with this one and I didn't want it to end.

I found a new favorite ghost story in the corruption of Hollis Brown. Not since summer sons have I read a story that mixes love, ghosts, and codependency so well. And not since the wicker king have I read a K Ancrum book that was so good. (And I just read Icarus by Ancrum and LOVED it.) With the mini chapters, deceptively simple setups, and the ability to bring out big emotion, Ancrum is a master of contemporary fairytales.

This was highly readable, which is no small feat these days. I fell into the story easily and remained engaged throughout. While the short chapters kept me reading, I found myself wishing for a little more depth and characterization. I think this might be a personal preference thing though, and I'd guess that the pace and length would be very appealing to YA readers. There's still plenty to swoon over and get emotional about. I didn't find the characters super realistic, but I did find them compelling and was interested to know what would happen with them. I especially liked the important roles the side characters played. I'd definitely recommend this to YA readers who want a quick and engrossing read.

80/100 or 4.0 stars

The atmosphere that Ancrum creates is fantastic. It gives me the same vibes of Radio Silence by Alice Oseman, if that makes sense. (That statement is meant to be a compliment, of course). A great inclusive LGBTQIA+ story that to me feels like it will resonate with so many teen and YA readers, and they will love this book for that. The characters are complicated and interesting, and I liked what what happening with the world and with Hollis and Walt's relationship.

This is my first book by Ancrum, but it will definitely not be my last!

Rating: 2.5

I liked this at first, but it went downhill fast. I liked that there were short chapters. It made getting through the book a lot easier. I didn't mind Hollis but I didn't care about Walt at all. His introduction and the development of their relationship felt very abrupt.

**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.**

K Ancrum returns with a YA queer romantic thriller in The Corruption of Hollis Brown. Titular character Hollis is stuck going no where fast in a worn down small town with few options. A dash of possession adds a bit of interest to his days after he inadvertently strikes a crossroads deal with Walt Eidelman, who died at age 17 in 1931. Walt is a local guy and is shocked to learn that his home is haunted and might be tied to the circumstances leading him to share a body with Hollis. But so much time together with no true barriers between Hollis and Walt leads to stronger feelings and Hollis' friends are certain that something is off with him. Hollis has to save the town from whatever is cursing it while not accidentally getting Walt exorcized.

This is K Ancrum's writing a la The Wicker King and Icarus, and it is so much fun. Content warnings for mental health discussions and suicidal ideation as well as descriptions of violence. This story is basically exactly as described in the synopsis. The actual journey to achieving those things and the execution of the plot points is what makes this story successful. As with previous Ancrum books, chapters that are very short are used to push the action forward at a steady, driving pace. This book adds in some fun recipes as well.

I would happily recommend this to anyone interested based off of the synopsis and look forward to whatever Ancrum puts out next.

This was such a fun book. I enjoyed the small-town setting and how the author wrote about small-town culture. The characters were well written overall, although sometimes it did seem as though they were a little flat. I fell in love with the main characters quickly. I do feel the ending was a little rushed. I would have liked more closure with Hollis's family.

I initially liked the short chapters, but sometimes, the book would cut off right in the middle of something happening, pulling me out of it.

Overall, it is a well-written book.

The Corruption of Hollis Brown by K. Ancrum follows the titular character, Hollis, as he is navigating life in a rundown town where no one ever leaves. One day, Hollis becomes possessed by a spirit with unfinished business named Walt. At first, things are confusing for the both of them but they soon start to find comfort in each other in a way they both need. But can it turn into something more?

This book has such a unique premise. A boy and the spirit possessing him fall for each other. The chapters are short and snappy which makes the book fly by. The characters are well balanced and interesting. The town feels almost like another character. I know that a lot of people will love this.

I had a hard time connecting with it. I think I would have preferred if Hollis had been written in first person so that it was easier to keep him and Walt separate since they are inhabiting the same body. But that it very much just a personal preference.

I can see myself recommending this book a lot because I feel like I know the audience that will really connect with this story.

4.5 stars rounded up.

K. Ancrum has quickly become one of my favorite YA writers over the past few years for her short, snappy prose that gets right to the heart of the story she's telling. If Icarus was one of my top releases last year, then The Corruption of Hollis Brown is undoubtedly bound to be one of my top reads this year. It's entirely different than Icarus, but no less lovely.

Hollis Brown knows that he's trapped in the small town he was born in, doomed to grow old in die in the same house his family has always owned. The only potential for escape is through college opportunities far away and entirely out of his reach, even if he wanted to go. The only highlights in his life are his two best friends, Annie and Yulia, and the chance to actually feel something through fighting with his classmates. But, then, a late night encounter with a boy named Walt ends with Hollis accidentally making a deal at a crossroads, and suddenly he finds himself possessed - with no control over his body and sharing his mind with the spirit of a boy that has his own violent history with the town. As they start to take the steps to put Walt's spirit to rest, what started as an unwilling possession starts to turn into something else entirely, and maybe they don't quite want the inevitable ending they've been headed towards.

It is... very hard to summarize my thoughts on this book. It's gritty and emotional and moves at such a quick clip that I think I'll still be processing this one in the months ahead. I had this same struggle in trying to review Icarus; there's just SO much to wrap your head around that, even though you know it was the perfect book, you can't quite sum up why. It's boy meets boy, gets possessed by boy, falls in love with boy, and...? All set to the backdrop of that small American once-was industrial town that hits like a punch to the gut. Hollis is frustrating and so entirely understandable in his struggles and desperate need to just FEEL something. And then his relationship with Walt and how it all grows and develops felt so organic and twisted.

It's perfect and dark and gritty and I cannot wait to see what Ancrum comes up with next.

After reading and absolutely adoring 'Icarus" by K. Ancrum last year, I requested this on Netgalley as soon as I saw it pop up. I had really high hopes for this book, and for a good part of them, they were met. I will say that I didn't love this as much as I was hoping to though.

I felt confused on the whole "possession" aspect of the story, but that could also just be me being stupid so who knows.
I will say that while I loved the development of their relationship, it is definitely a little disturbing at times- however, that is to be expected by the description of the book and the fact that they basically share a body - so them touching each other, is really just Hollis touching himself. This didn't bother me much, but a heads up if it might bother you.
There are also trigger warnings for depression and suicidal thoughts/ideology. It was definitely a bit hard to read at times, but I think it was handled beautifully and you could tell they put a lot of thought into writing this.
Now, these little gays are the most codependent people I have ever seen. And nothing screams codependency like literally being in the same body. And good for them to be honest. I loved seeing their development of the relationship between them, and I loved seeing their love grow. Codependent unhealthy love, but love nonetheless.

My main critique is just that I was never fully absorbed into the story. I read this so slowly because I just never felt the pull to pick it up over the other books I was reading. This is definitely an intriguing story, but it also lacked a lot, especially in the middle of the book.

My first 5-star read of the year! I've never read anything like it. Prose, beautiful and sparse. Mood, soft and bewitching. Romance, sharp and electrifying. Only wish I hadn't burned through it so fast, it's a book to be savored.

Kayla Ancrum is an autobuy author for me and Hollis didn't disappoint. The love between Walt and Hollis was beautifully rendered; this is a book I plan to return to many times.

E-arc provided by Netgally

**4.5 Stars*** 8.43 on Cawpile

I have truly never read a book like this before/this kind of plot - the writing was beautiful as always and I was intrigued the whole time as to what was happening and what was going to happen. As always K. Ancrum delivered something unique and heart wrenching