seffra's review against another edition
5.0
Wow this book was such a surprise, a good one!! I seriously loved this book. It is soo different from the other YA fiction. The characters were lovable too. Caspian was just soo hottt!!!! I want him!! This book just kept me at the edge of my seat. I can't wait for the sequel.
jill_fated's review against another edition
2.0
I listened to this and there was NO point to this book.
zombi's review against another edition
3.0
An easy and fast read with a not entirely unexpected twist at the end. I enjoyed this book, but feel Abbey isn't developed enough as a character. Perhaps she will blossom for me as I continue to read the rest of this trilogy -- I should start book 2 soon. I'm interested to see where Verday takes the relationship between Caspian and Abbey, as well as what else she has to reveal about Nicholas and Katy.
abilyssa's review against another edition
4.0
Amazingly written. If you are into paranormal romance, this is the book for you!
xtsukix's review against another edition
slow-paced
1.0
Frankly this was the most boring thing I've read in a long while. It was an absolute struggle to get through and the ending did not justify it for me. In fact I think I hated the ending, but that's very much a personal preference thing.
kblincoln's review against another edition
3.0
There were lots of cool elements in this book. A heroine who mixes perfumes, the Washington Irving/ Sleepy Hollow Legend aspect, and the boy with the black streak in his hair showing up.
However, those elements didn't quite fit together in a tight way. While the story is definitely interesting, I found the "surprises" were way too obvious for me, and that I felt the main character's dialogue with people was sometimes a little....bland.
I also felt the "bad" students at her school were portrayed as being mean for the sake of being mean, and were slightly over-the-top archetypes of the mean cheerleader, etc.
So while this book had potential, it didn't quite hold together for me.
However, those elements didn't quite fit together in a tight way. While the story is definitely interesting, I found the "surprises" were way too obvious for me, and that I felt the main character's dialogue with people was sometimes a little....bland.
I also felt the "bad" students at her school were portrayed as being mean for the sake of being mean, and were slightly over-the-top archetypes of the mean cheerleader, etc.
So while this book had potential, it didn't quite hold together for me.
amy_inthecatacombs's review against another edition
5.0
Abigail’s best friend, Kristen Maxwell, hasn’t been found for 68 days and is believed to be dead. Kristen’s family decided to have a wake and a funeral for her anyway. Abbey becomes furious when some older ladies say that they thought she’s dead because of drugs.
Abbey eventually heads out to the cemetery to get away from everybody and watches a grave being dug up. She thinks she saw a dark figure, but just ends up leaving and gets ready for the funeral. When the funeral is over, she sees a guy in the distance. The guy has white, blonde hair that has one black streak through it. She tries to go to him, but the rain and wind becomes too hard.
Later at the Maxwell’s house, she seems him again, but this time he talks to her. The guy, Caspian, tells her is there because of her when she seems afraid. Abbey finds it hard at school, and her mom and principal try to get her to participate. The only solace at school is Ben, a guy that wanted to know Kristen better. Will Abbey be able to cope with her loss?
When I saw how long this book was, I was hesitant to start it. I read some reviews where most of them hated how detailed the book is. It does have quite about of details, but for once I didn’t mind. I usually want the book to have a lot more dialogue, but then again it’s a 500 plus page book. I loved reading about the memories that Abbey has of Kristen. I wish there were more of Kristen though.
I knew this book was inspired by The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, but didn’t really see that much influence other than the town and having the grave of Washington Irvine. The legend does make more of an impact later on in the story. I loved that each chapter began with a quote from the legend.
I did like Caspian for the most part. There’s something he says near the end that made me mad. I can’t wait to see how Kristen’s secrets play out
Abbey eventually heads out to the cemetery to get away from everybody and watches a grave being dug up. She thinks she saw a dark figure, but just ends up leaving and gets ready for the funeral. When the funeral is over, she sees a guy in the distance. The guy has white, blonde hair that has one black streak through it. She tries to go to him, but the rain and wind becomes too hard.
Later at the Maxwell’s house, she seems him again, but this time he talks to her. The guy, Caspian, tells her is there because of her when she seems afraid. Abbey finds it hard at school, and her mom and principal try to get her to participate. The only solace at school is Ben, a guy that wanted to know Kristen better. Will Abbey be able to cope with her loss?
When I saw how long this book was, I was hesitant to start it. I read some reviews where most of them hated how detailed the book is. It does have quite about of details, but for once I didn’t mind. I usually want the book to have a lot more dialogue, but then again it’s a 500 plus page book. I loved reading about the memories that Abbey has of Kristen. I wish there were more of Kristen though.
I knew this book was inspired by The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, but didn’t really see that much influence other than the town and having the grave of Washington Irvine. The legend does make more of an impact later on in the story. I loved that each chapter began with a quote from the legend.
I did like Caspian for the most part. There’s something he says near the end that made me mad. I can’t wait to see how Kristen’s secrets play out
impybelle's review against another edition
2.0
This is another one from the bottom of the TBR pile (sorted by date, not necessarily interest) and it's another that just fell flat for me. For being such a long book, nothing freaking happens. Or things do happen, but there's no urgency to them until possibly the end and that's probably because we get seriously cliffhangered. Nothing is resolved, at all, and this is the second book by the author I've read that's done this so I assume this is just her shtick.
Sigh.
It doesn't help that the book promised in the blurb is not really the book you get. I was looking forward to a mystery about a missing, presumed dead, best friend with a side order of mysterious love interest. I was actually okay with the idea of getting a book about the grief of losing your best friend but we don't really get that, either.
Was Casper the friendly ghost being a ghost supposed to be a twist? Because I'm pretty sure even much younger!me would've spotted that twist a mile away.
The book wasn't without good things. I didn't mind Caspian when he did show up and had more care and thought been given to the build up of a relationship, I'd probably be on board. (Insta-love works so rarely but is used so often.) Nick & Katy are interesting and even that angle is intriguing but nothing is done with it in this book. Abbey's perfume making and dream shop? Love them.
I want to know what happened to Kristen but I'm not sure that's a question I'll ever get answered.
Sigh.
It doesn't help that the book promised in the blurb is not really the book you get. I was looking forward to a mystery about a missing, presumed dead, best friend with a side order of mysterious love interest. I was actually okay with the idea of getting a book about the grief of losing your best friend but we don't really get that, either.
Was Casper the friendly ghost being a ghost supposed to be a twist? Because I'm pretty sure even much younger!me would've spotted that twist a mile away.
The book wasn't without good things. I didn't mind Caspian when he did show up and had more care and thought been given to the build up of a relationship, I'd probably be on board. (Insta-love works so rarely but is used so often.) Nick & Katy are interesting and even that angle is intriguing but nothing is done with it in this book. Abbey's perfume making and dream shop? Love them.
I want to know what happened to Kristen but I'm not sure that's a question I'll ever get answered.
theladygonzalez's review against another edition
1.0
So, just for the record, I really wanted to love this book. The book description made it sound dangerous, exciting, suspenseful and romantic. I had a lot of expectations going into it and unfortunately I was extremely disappointed with the book.
First of all, it was not all at what I expected. From the title and description, I was expecting lots of paranormal/supernatural activity, but there was hardly anything paranormal/supernatural about this book. Honestly, when I saw that it was called the Hollow, I expected witches; which is my fault, I shouldn't assume. But, then the main character, Abbey, is really into making perfumes and mixing herbs and what not, so I definitely thought it was witches, but no. The Hollow simply refers to the setting of the book, the infamous, Sleepy Hollow. Again, one would think the book would be crawling with supernatural activity..
Although I expected the book to be something other than what it was, I still tried to keep an open mind. I read and love plenty of books that deal with everyday circumstances, so I thought I may still enjoy the Hollow. But I could not connect to the main character, Abbey or her love interest, Caspian. Unfortunately, I found them both one dimensional and their romance underwhelming. In fact, I thought Caspian was a creeper from the beginning. I get that he was suppose to be mysterious and all, but honestly, he was just stalker-ish. He shows up at Kristen's funeral and then goes to the collation. He shows up in the basement, when Abbey is alone, and tells her he came for her... but he has never met her before. Anyone else have red flags going up? Then, it took over 150 pages for them to have really any interaction at all after that and then Caspian would randomly appear throughout the book. Then, after they've known each other for like 2 weeks, and interacted for a grand total of like 5 hours, they are desperately in love. I hate when romances are rushed like this, it is just so unrealistic.
The pacing was also a huge problem for me, which is a huge problem with a book this size. There are 500+ pages and it takes forever for anything to happen, and I mean anything. There is hardly any character development, mystery or suspense throughout the book. The mystery with Abbey's dead friend is kind of one the back burner throughout the book. In fact, the big secret Kristen was hiding was not that shocking. I mean, it could be a secret anyone has. I don't want to spoil anything, but its really not that big of a deal.
Overall, I had a very, very, difficult time finishing this book. I don't know if it was simply that I was expecting something else from it or what, but I did not enjoy it. The characters fell flat for me and the pacing was completely off. I will not be continuing this series.
First of all, it was not all at what I expected. From the title and description, I was expecting lots of paranormal/supernatural activity, but there was hardly anything paranormal/supernatural about this book. Honestly, when I saw that it was called the Hollow, I expected witches; which is my fault, I shouldn't assume. But, then the main character, Abbey, is really into making perfumes and mixing herbs and what not, so I definitely thought it was witches, but no. The Hollow simply refers to the setting of the book, the infamous, Sleepy Hollow. Again, one would think the book would be crawling with supernatural activity..
Although I expected the book to be something other than what it was, I still tried to keep an open mind. I read and love plenty of books that deal with everyday circumstances, so I thought I may still enjoy the Hollow. But I could not connect to the main character, Abbey or her love interest, Caspian. Unfortunately, I found them both one dimensional and their romance underwhelming. In fact, I thought Caspian was a creeper from the beginning. I get that he was suppose to be mysterious and all, but honestly, he was just stalker-ish. He shows up at Kristen's funeral and then goes to the collation. He shows up in the basement, when Abbey is alone, and tells her he came for her... but he has never met her before. Anyone else have red flags going up? Then, it took over 150 pages for them to have really any interaction at all after that and then Caspian would randomly appear throughout the book. Then, after they've known each other for like 2 weeks, and interacted for a grand total of like 5 hours, they are desperately in love. I hate when romances are rushed like this, it is just so unrealistic.
The pacing was also a huge problem for me, which is a huge problem with a book this size. There are 500+ pages and it takes forever for anything to happen, and I mean anything. There is hardly any character development, mystery or suspense throughout the book. The mystery with Abbey's dead friend is kind of one the back burner throughout the book. In fact, the big secret Kristen was hiding was not that shocking. I mean, it could be a secret anyone has. I don't want to spoil anything, but its really not that big of a deal.
Overall, I had a very, very, difficult time finishing this book. I don't know if it was simply that I was expecting something else from it or what, but I did not enjoy it. The characters fell flat for me and the pacing was completely off. I will not be continuing this series.
aschembra76's review against another edition
2.0
All told, this book took me about six hours over about three days to read. It's a long book, but only because it uses a large type and is double spaced. Holy paper wasters.
I'm not sure what to really say about it. The idea was interesting -- a story taking place in Sleepy Hollow that (sort of) mimics the old legend. The writing was pretty terrible, the descriptions over described and the characters weren't that likable. Abbey, the main character was downright annoying at times and I found myself using the phrase "ugh" a lot.
The ending was abrupt and I know it's a trilogy (and yes, I have the other two reserved at the library because my OCD won't let me NOT read them), but there were so many questions left unanswered that I am not sure the next two books can even answer.
Two stars because I can't give half stars, but really, it's a 1 1/2 star book. I didn't hate it, but it's definitely not good enough for me to add to my home library.I'm glad I didn't spend money on this.
I'm not sure what to really say about it. The idea was interesting -- a story taking place in Sleepy Hollow that (sort of) mimics the old legend. The writing was pretty terrible, the descriptions over described and the characters weren't that likable. Abbey, the main character was downright annoying at times and I found myself using the phrase "ugh" a lot.
The ending was abrupt and I know it's a trilogy (and yes, I have the other two reserved at the library because my OCD won't let me NOT read them), but there were so many questions left unanswered that I am not sure the next two books can even answer.
Two stars because I can't give half stars, but really, it's a 1 1/2 star book. I didn't hate it, but it's definitely not good enough for me to add to my home library.I'm glad I didn't spend money on this.