Krystal Sutherland: "House of Hollow"

Title: House of Hollow [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Krystal Sutherland [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Supernatural, Afterlife, Thriller or Mystery
Year: 2021
Age: 14+ (please note: this is dark YA - you may want to take a look at the WARNING! section)
Stars: 5/5
Pros: Unique twist on a well-known fantasy trope (I'm not mentioning it in order to avoid spoilers). Fascinating settings. (Mostly) satisfying characters. Evocative writing.
Cons: Potentially disturbing imagery. An instance of rape apology from the intended victim. An inappropriate kiss between a minor and her sister's boyfriend.
WARNING! Body horror/bug horror. Blood and gore. Death. Attempted rape. Murder. Drowning. Fire. Suicide (off page). Alcohol/drug abuse. Vomiting.
Will appeal to: Those who like dark, yet luscious stories with a supernatural mystery at their core.

Blurb: 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. (Goodreads)

Review: This book has at least three different blurbs LOL. I picked the one I like most (and, I seem to remember, the original one), but mind you - it doesn't mention the third sister Vivi, who's an integral part of the story.

TERRIBLE BEAUTY

Even if, like me, you don't put much stock on covers, House of Hollow has a striking one, doesn't it? one that, back when the book came out in 2021, compelled me to look at the blurb and see what the story was about. And even after the aforementioned blurb piqued my interest, I have to admit that the cover had me a little nervous, especially since I can't tolerate bug horror on a visual level (though I fare better with it when it's used as a literary device). Yet, at the same time, I thought the art was beautiful. Well, that's House of Hollow for you: "sheer horror and sheer beauty joined at the hip", as I stated in the mini review I wrote after reading it for the first time. It's a novel of contrasts, except they end up merging, or complementing each other at the very least. It starts as magical realism with a sizeable amount of mystery (what happened to the Hollow sisters when they were kids? what is the strange power they seem to exert on people? and what happened to Grey, the one who embraced such power shamelessly and used it to her best advantage?), then takes a turn toward the supernatural and becomes darker and darker, and more and more disturbing...yet the lyrical, evocative writing makes a thing of beauty out of it. [...]

SISTERS ACT

At the core of the story, there's a strong, peculiar (and unhealthy at times) sisterly bond that takes on a whole different meaning in the light of the mystery's unraveling. The Hollow girls all have a distinct personality and, as the story starts, they're living apart - but they're a close unit (with Grey being the fulcrum), and each one of them would do anything for the other two...or may have already. The relationship between the sisters is complex, all-consuming, and at the same time full of blind spots and terrible secrets, which finally crumble under Iris' determination to uncover the truth (the novel has a pronounced coming-of-age angle in that respect, with Iris getting a believable and interesting character arc). At the end of the day, one might argue that House of Hollow is first and foremost a story about the lengths you would go to protect a loved one - though to the same extent, it's a story about embracing your power, yet refusing to feed the monster inside. The sister theme also recurs in a secondary plot line that mostly serves the purpose to give more depth to a deuteragonist, and if it's a bit too convenient, it's still its own brand of heartbreaking.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

I've debated with myself if giving House of Hollow five whole stars for a while, since a few details kept nagging at my brain, but I ultimately decided against detracting half a star, because I love the story as a whole too much. Anyhow, I'm listing those details here...First off, there's an attempted rape scene where Iris (the intended victim) tries to excuse the perpetrator, and even if it makes sense in context (up to a point) and it's in character, it still sends the wrong message. Another thing that didn't sit well with me was that Iris and Grey's boyfriend Tyler would kiss (if just the once)...again, this happens in a particular situation, and it's consistent with Iris' character for a reason, but it doesn't add anything to the story, except some discomfort on the reader's part. Story-wise, there's also the problem of what Iris remembers from before her disappearance (though Sutherland does hint at a possible explanation), and of certain bodily manifestations that only start to happen 10 years from then, which shouldn't make sense...though I suppose we can find a supernatural explanation for that (sorry for being vague, but we're in spoiler territory). That aside, though, House of Hollow is a shocking, exquisite, fearful, intoxicating story that reads like a fairy tale from hell and that you'll never be able to get out from your head. If you think you can go past the triggers I mentioned, or you're a fan of horror, this is a book you won't want to miss.

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