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ellornaslibrary's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
As GR ate my original review, this is my attempt to fill one in for the time being. Perhaps in October I'll do a re-read and update accordingly:
I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
On a whim, I decided to request a horror book. Me, requesting a horror book? It was surprising. At most I read R.L. Stine when I was a kid and even that scared me. And when it comes to movies I am a baby. So, for me to request one was hilarious, but I didn't think I'd actually get it and then I did. . . and here we are: loving. it.
This was my first time reading T. Kingfisher, and I can't wait to explore more of their works. The way they write is captivating especially when building the tension in regards to the atmosphere of the setting our character, Kara, finds herself in. Kara is just expecting a bit of a relaxed stay at her Uncle Earl's home, a place she enjoyed as a child and hopes will be less stressful to stay at as she starts her life anew than her Mother's place. However, Uncle Earl's home is also his business, the Glory to God Museum of Natural Wonders, Curiosities, and Taxidermy, which comes with its own issues as she takes over running the place while her Uncle Earl is away for a little. Of course, some of these issues are definitely highly unexpected when she finds the hole in the wall. . . Kara is a great character, and her friend Simon from the coffee shop is as well. I love their dynamic throughout the book. While the story is a setting of horror, it doesn't forget that these two characters are people and that is delightful. The sense of humor, and the common sense the characters have at times, balances well with the unease that's introduced with each unnatural description especially in the other world. T. Kingfisher plays with all the senses in a way that can be uncanny. Even as the book left me feeling unsettled at times, I couldn't put it down for long. I just needed to know what would happen. And yes, unsettled is definitely a feeling encountered often as I read. There's a scene with a bus that will forever live rent free in my thoughts and visited my nightmares on more than one occasion. . .
But that won't keep me from reading more from this author or recommending it to everyone.
I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
On a whim, I decided to request a horror book. Me, requesting a horror book? It was surprising. At most I read R.L. Stine when I was a kid and even that scared me. And when it comes to movies I am a baby. So, for me to request one was hilarious, but I didn't think I'd actually get it and then I did. . . and here we are: loving. it.
This was my first time reading T. Kingfisher, and I can't wait to explore more of their works. The way they write is captivating especially when building the tension in regards to the atmosphere of the setting our character, Kara, finds herself in. Kara is just expecting a bit of a relaxed stay at her Uncle Earl's home, a place she enjoyed as a child and hopes will be less stressful to stay at as she starts her life anew than her Mother's place. However, Uncle Earl's home is also his business, the Glory to God Museum of Natural Wonders, Curiosities, and Taxidermy, which comes with its own issues as she takes over running the place while her Uncle Earl is away for a little. Of course, some of these issues are definitely highly unexpected when she finds the hole in the wall. . . Kara is a great character, and her friend Simon from the coffee shop is as well. I love their dynamic throughout the book. While the story is a setting of horror, it doesn't forget that these two characters are people and that is delightful. The sense of humor, and the common sense the characters have at times, balances well with the unease that's introduced with each unnatural description especially in the other world. T. Kingfisher plays with all the senses in a way that can be uncanny. Even as the book left me feeling unsettled at times, I couldn't put it down for long. I just needed to know what would happen. And yes, unsettled is definitely a feeling encountered often as I read. There's a scene with a bus that will forever live rent free in my thoughts and visited my nightmares on more than one occasion. . .
But that won't keep me from reading more from this author or recommending it to everyone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Grief and Gaslighting
ninjamuse's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Toxic relationship
urs's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, and Child death
Minor: Drug use, Gun violence, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, and Medical trauma
booksthatburn's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
THE HOLLOW PLACES is a horror novel where the comforting place is the museum full of taxidermy and the sight of willows strikes genuine fear and terror. Some things are worse than dying.
I love the friendship between Simon and Kara. It begins with banter developed by two people who saw each other casually in public, then slowly was permeated by the strange intimacy of sharing the same secret terrors. The world-building is great, I like the contrast between the museum and the willow world. Spending so much time in the museum before the bizarre events begin helps make the museum and its strangeness feel cozy and safe. The willow world hangs in this balance that drives terror both in what is actually shown and what its existence implies. I care about content warnings and I'm genuinely impressed by how creepy this was with so little that required specific warnings. It builds horror in the gap between what's expected and what actually happens, and while that's by no means new in horror, it's done with great care and precision so that I could never quite relax when it was quiet. The creepiness builds slowly, with a few specific moments that were terrifying. That time in between where things are a bit off but nothing extremely traumatizing is happening are so essential to the difference between reading a story about someone having a very bad time, and having a book make me so stressed that I have a bad time too.
It's masterfully written so that guessing the cause early does nothing to stop the horror and actually makes the anticipation even more stressful. So much of what I loved in its little details would be spoilers to describe, but suffice it to say that the explanations about the nature of the monsters and the cause of the strangeness helped my curiosity but maintained my worries for the characters. I loved this, and I'm adding T. Kingfisher to a small but growing list of authors that make me feel safe while reading horror, a genre that until recently I've had a hard time getting into.
I love the friendship between Simon and Kara. It begins with banter developed by two people who saw each other casually in public, then slowly was permeated by the strange intimacy of sharing the same secret terrors. The world-building is great, I like the contrast between the museum and the willow world. Spending so much time in the museum before the bizarre events begin helps make the museum and its strangeness feel cozy and safe. The willow world hangs in this balance that drives terror both in what is actually shown and what its existence implies. I care about content warnings and I'm genuinely impressed by how creepy this was with so little that required specific warnings. It builds horror in the gap between what's expected and what actually happens, and while that's by no means new in horror, it's done with great care and precision so that I could never quite relax when it was quiet. The creepiness builds slowly, with a few specific moments that were terrifying. That time in between where things are a bit off but nothing extremely traumatizing is happening are so essential to the difference between reading a story about someone having a very bad time, and having a book make me so stressed that I have a bad time too.
It's masterfully written so that guessing the cause early does nothing to stop the horror and actually makes the anticipation even more stressful. So much of what I loved in its little details would be spoilers to describe, but suffice it to say that the explanations about the nature of the monsters and the cause of the strangeness helped my curiosity but maintained my worries for the characters. I loved this, and I'm adding T. Kingfisher to a small but growing list of authors that make me feel safe while reading horror, a genre that until recently I've had a hard time getting into.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Medical content
Minor: Ableism and Animal death