The Hollow Places: A Novel Paperback – October 6, 2020

This was an amazingly, delightfully creepy book! The older I get, the less I seem to enjoy horror books, especially the gore and guts kind of horror. I still enjoy the atmospheric, psychological horror, but I find it hard to find good book that don't repeat the same tired clichés or manage to completely botch the ending. I'm glad I picked up The Hollow Places, because this book delivered.I think the best part about it is how slowly it develops the creep factor. We start in this wonderful little museum of improbable and impossible things that might look scary and unusual, but are, most of them fake. And our protagonist is someone who grew up in that museum. Who knows every nook and cranny of that building, who played among the display cases and hugged the stuffed animals as if they were her childhood friends. To Kara, or "Carrot" how her family and friends call her, the museum is the safest place on earth. This is a refuge when her family life is shattered by a divorce. A chance to regroup and start over.And the author takes time to set the stage and introduce us to Kara and her uncle, as well as the museum itself. It's done in such a way that as a reader, I was in love with the little building as well. I was feeling warm and safe there.So when creepy and unexplained things start happen in this safe place, it completely knocks the ground from under your feet along with the protagonist. The horror of what's happening has an even bigger impact because it is intruding into this safe zone.The author also introduces the horrors of the Willows very progressively. At first, it just looks like a slightly creepy, but ultimately benign world. Yes, it's flooded. Yes, there are bunkers everywhere, but no people. Yes, the willows are strange, but they are just trees, right? As more an more bizarre things happen to our protagonists, as the level of horror slowly ramps up, so did my blood pressure. I felt for them. I felt with them, especially after the school bus and their realization that they lost their bunker, and that they are possibly stuck in this weird no-man's land forever.I loved Kara. She is funny, she is a mess, but she is so relatable. Maybe because I've been in her shoes, with a messy divorce and a husband that acted exactly the same way. Yes, Carrot was slightly too stupid to live when it came to one particular object, but I can let it slide, because I liked everything else about her.And Simon! If I had to get lost in a weird in-between place of existence with somebody, he would be my first choice. He is cool under pressure, and funny, and also relatable. And special shoutout to Beau, the bestest, most adorable cranky cat in literature. As I mentioned, the horror in this slowly builds up and finds its culmination when the safe place suddenly becomes unsafe. Unlike other horror books I've read recently, the author didn't drop the ball here. The resolution is satisfying and the ending is everything I wanted it to be. And even though our protagonist win in the end, they are left with physical and emotional scars, which is also very logical and realistic. All in all, this was a very enjoyable book. I will definitely recommend it to my friends and I will check out other books by this author. Heck, I already told my husband he absolutely needs to read it.

So I wasn't sure about this book at first. I think I was scarred from reading Neil Gaiman and was apprehensive about diving back into anything remotely related to horror. Especially when an author introduces animals. (I love Neil Gaiman's writing but secretly despise him at the same time)This book made it easy to transition into something creepy and the little splash of gore was just enough. It felt a little slow in spots. But it didn't keep me from reading. The main character was a lot of fun and Simon was a small nod to the Mad Hatter. (In the way he dressed). The opening of the book was hilarious. I enjoyed Uncle Earl. Beau is now my favorite cat in literature. Give it a read. You won't be disappointed!SPOILERS BELOW THIS LINESo Carrot has a wonderful sense of humor. Simon reminded me of the Mad Hatter if he was a fan of Emo music.The only critiques I would leave is I felt as though the chapters where they are in the willows didn't have enough detail to give me a true sense of the surroundings. The bunkers were well described but the actual willows land felt fuzzy. Singer was also a bit fuzzy. She was supposed to be from another dimension yet seemed very human. None of the soldiers raised an eye brow it seemed. Then Martin's accent had me a bit lost. Not the way in which I heard it in my head, but the way it was described. (Probably just a me thing). Just those small nit picking critiques.I will say I enjoyed the way the humor was laced into the story. It gave you a periodic sense of relief at just the right times without jarring you away from the creep factor. Simon was connected with Carrot just enough that it made total sense he would save her from the willows. They shared a bond. I loved the insertion of the soldiers Bible journal. That was really creative. You got to read a second perspective without diving deep into another character. It didn't take away from Carrot or Simon.The taxidermy coming to life and defending Carrot made sense. The souls of the animals may be long gone but the idea that their flesh remembered who their care taker is was a great twist. The otter carving moving around and Carrot not seeing that for what it was didn't make sense. I explained it away because she was in an anxious state focused on the doorway and dismissed everything else. Which I am glad I did because it was a great ending. All in all, definately would read more of this authors books.