Seventeen-year-old Iris Hollow has always been strange. Something happened to her and her two older sisters when they were children, something they can’t quite remember but that left each of them with an identical half-moon scar at the base of their throats.
Iris has spent most of her teenage years trying to avoid the weirdness that sticks to her like tar. But when her eldest sister, Grey, goes missing under suspicious circumstances, Iris learns just how weird her life can get: horned men start shadowing her, a corpse falls out of her sister’s ceiling, and ugly, impossible memories start to twist their way to the forefront of her mind.
As Iris retraces Grey’s last known footsteps and follows the increasingly bizarre trail of breadcrumbs she left behind, it becomes apparent that the only way to save her sister is to decipher the mystery of what happened to them as children.
The closer Iris gets to the truth, the closer she comes to understanding that the answer is dark and dangerous – and that Grey has been keeping a terrible secret from her for years.
This is one of the books that Instagram made me buy. Several accounts I follow posted gorgeous pictures and high praise for House of Hollow, which meant that of course I was going to check it out the next time I was in a bookshop. One look at that cover alone is enough to get my hands itching to own a copy, let alone that intriguing synopsis with its mysterious, almost fae-like feel to it. It doesn’t have any of the fair folk in the book, but it does play with the same darker tones of the fae courts, with their unearthly quality, and sharp, almost cruel nature in places. This is a book that knows what it’s doing with images and language and it will draw you in until you can’t put it down.
The writing through the book is so rich and descriptive, creating a certain atmosphere, but without feeling too flowery. Sometimes books are filled with such decadent prose, and enthralling imagery, but really, the purple quality of the prose is more self-indulgent than actually serving any real purpose. In House Of Hollow this just adds to that sense of something being more than it seems, a wrongness that is haunting and enchanting at the same time. You can open any page and be sucked in by the beauty of this writing. It creates such a vibe and feeling through the whole book.
Of course, my favourite thing is the journey that the Hollow sisters go on to discover what happened to them so many years ago. Why their dark hair turned white, and their blue eyes turned black. Why they carry a strange presence and power with them. It’s a journey that takes them to the very edge of death itself and back, and it’s enthralling, unexpected, sometimes quite creepy, and highly mesmerising. It’s a story that sits halfway between folklore and horror. House of Hollow doesn’t have a fairytale ending, that perfect happily ever after that you almost long for, but then, it’s not the sort of book that ever promised you that. What it does give you is hope that things have changed for the better, that something good might come out of so much bad.
And of course, I can’t end without at least mentioning that absolutely gorgeous cover. I know that you should never judge a book by it’s cover, but in the case of House of Hollow, the cover is the perfect taste of what’s inside. It has a sense of mystery, of something being odd about it, even if you can’t quite put your finger on it. From the uncanny feeling of the face, to the abundance of flowers flowing from her skin, to the painted feeling of it all, everything is just perfect about this cover. There are many great covers, but this one really pulls off being able to give you a perfect taste of the book inside.
House of Hollow surprised me with just how much I loved it. It has so many folklore and fey type qualities to it, a fast paced, intriguing story that goes to unexpected places, all dressed up in such gorgeous writing. The Hollow sisters will keep you spellbound with that mesmerising power they all possess, and you won’t be able to put the book down. I know I couldn’t, and I have been in a slow reading phase for literally months now. This is the creepy, folk story half horror experience that I didn’t even know I was craving, but am absolutely in love with. Highly recommend!
Have you read this book? If not, is it on your reading list? Do you prefer folk stories or horror (you can only pick one this time)? I would love yo hear your thoughts. What was the last book that held you captive? Let’s chat in the comments down below!
