![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
juushikaTitle: House of Hollow
Author: Krystal Sutherland
Illustrator: Eleanor Bennett
Published: Books on Tape, 2021
Rating: 3.5 of 5
Page Count: 315
Total Page Count: 525,735
Text Number: 1922
Read Because: reviewed byrachelmanija, audiobook borrowed from the Multnomah County library
Review: As children, the Hollow sisters disappeared for two weeks and then came back changed; now, the eldest has disappeared again, and her sisters must uncover their past to find her. I struggle with YA, so that I don't hate this is backhanded compliment but compliment nonetheless. It retains YA markers that bug me: Snark's hard to write, Sutherland does a mediocre job, so instead of balancing out the dark fantasy aesthetic it just exaggerates an already exaggerated tone; predictably, a bevy of neat explanations undermines the very intentional liminality.
But this is willing to get dark & fantastic, and I appreciate that. It's a slow, overly-broadcasted journey into the speculative, but it has payoff, big spooky fairyland vibes, good; every reveal and consequence is generally as awful as it could possibly be, even better. Grey's character and her stranglehold over her sisters is seductive and empowered and ruthless and toxic, and that messy, compelling heart of the story doubles down on its own weirdness even when the plot resolves too neatly around it.
Author: Krystal Sutherland
Illustrator: Eleanor Bennett
Published: Books on Tape, 2021
Rating: 3.5 of 5
Page Count: 315
Total Page Count: 525,735
Text Number: 1922
Read Because: reviewed by
rachelmanija, audiobook borrowed from the Multnomah County libraryReview: As children, the Hollow sisters disappeared for two weeks and then came back changed; now, the eldest has disappeared again, and her sisters must uncover their past to find her. I struggle with YA, so that I don't hate this is backhanded compliment but compliment nonetheless. It retains YA markers that bug me: Snark's hard to write, Sutherland does a mediocre job, so instead of balancing out the dark fantasy aesthetic it just exaggerates an already exaggerated tone; predictably, a bevy of neat explanations undermines the very intentional liminality.
But this is willing to get dark & fantastic, and I appreciate that. It's a slow, overly-broadcasted journey into the speculative, but it has payoff, big spooky fairyland vibes, good; every reveal and consequence is generally as awful as it could possibly be, even better. Grey's character and her stranglehold over her sisters is seductive and empowered and ruthless and toxic, and that messy, compelling heart of the story doubles down on its own weirdness even when the plot resolves too neatly around it.
