Tag: supernatural

Monica’s Musings: House of Hollow

House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

“You shouldn’t be afraid of the truth. It’ll set you free, right?”-Krystal Sutherland, House of Hollow

Summary: 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.

My Thoughts: Calling all fans of dark fairy tales! Right from the get-go, this story drew me in. While reading, the hairs on my arms stood up, and I lost my appetite several times at the many grotesque descriptions throughout. When I look for a creepy read, I do not aim to have the bejeezus scared out of me. Nor am I hoping to be so freaked out that I won’t sleep for a week and have to check every dark corner for fear of monsters. Rather, I want that perfect balance where a story is actually chilling, but it is also so much fun that I want more. And this book hits it right on the nose!

I loved how the story unfolded, with lots of little clues and happenings building up to a set of twists and turns. I’m not sure what I expected going in, but it sure wasn’t this. With its darkness and vivid imagery, this story feels like a fairy tale gone wrong.

Book Review: Unblemished

Unblemished by Sara Ella

First Line: It can’t be true.

Summary: Eliyana is a girl who likes to hide because of a birth mark that spreads across her face. But when her mother dies her world turns upside down. Her guardian tries to protect her but things keep happening that lead her to a new world she never knew existed. As she learns more about this alternate world she finds that she has to find strength in herself to save it and its people.

Highlights: I don’t know what it is but I love YA covers! This one is beautiful and draws the reader to it. I loved that the main character wasn’t the go-to beautiful girl with amazing skills. Eliyana is normal with insecurities just like everyone else. The other main characters are developed to the point where you are cheering or booing them. You get invested in the story.

Lowlights: The problem I had was the plot got a little too complex at times. I was lost for a while until it all started to come to climax of the story. There are a lot of characters as well, with many different abilities to keep track of.

FYI: Violence but not more than most YA novels.