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xlpurple18's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
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? Yes
4.0
Despite the controversy over this book, it was so well done and well written. The only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is because if you’re expecting Sid and Nirrim to have a lot of quality time together, that is not what you’re going to get, and it’s really disappointing. I read to the end because I had no idea how everything would’ve been tied together, but I’ll admit I was hoping to see more of Sid and Nirrim. believe the last couple of chapters where Sid saves Nirrim and Nirrim surrenders her ruthless cause would have made a great third book. It would have been amazing and much better to get a third book exploring where Norris goes from here, and how her and Sid’s love evolves and grows, then been given insight to Nirrim’s psychological recovery after all of the damage she caused. That said, it was tied together beautifully, although it felt rushed and felt like we didn’t get the rich end of the story. Marie Rutkoski did a beautiful job of depicting Nirrim’s ruthless self while not overloading her POV, and giving us more time with Sid, whose character development in this book is phenomenal as she navigates the complicated relationship of parent and child, and of her relationship with herself. Both kinds of love, love between parent and child and love of self, are so hard to put into words, but Marie Rutkoski did it beautifully, in a way that we all see ourselves in somehow. It’s difficult to write such a complicated, multi-layered narrative, but she did that beautifully. Despite the book feeling like it was rushed at the end—and we could have used more of Sid and Nirrim’s growing and loving relationship, and Nirrim’s recovery—it was still written beautifully.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gore, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Mental illness
valerian_honeybee's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Gore
strawberrycandy's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Death, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Gaslighting
Minor: Gore and Homophobia
strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition
I did not care about the characters anymore and honestly I didn’t care to see how the story got resolved. Also I have now learned there was a trilogy before this called the Winners Trilogy I think.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Violence, Blood, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
claudiamacpherson's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and War
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual content, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Classism
olivialandryxo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
After thoroughly enjoying The Midnight Lie, I was so excited to dive into The Hollow Heart. Unfortunately, I found it incredibly underwhelming, and even considering DNFing more than once. I pushed through because of how much I liked the first book, thinking it had to get better. And while it did, marginally, it never managed to achieve the same levels of intrigue, emotion and romance as its predecessor.
The slow pacing and long chapters made reading this feel like an uphill battle. At risk of sounding dramatic, it was sort of a Sisyphus situation—every time I would start to get invested, an especially long, boring chapter would ruin that for me. I shudder to think of what this book would’ve been without Sid’s chapters; I love her to pieces, 10/10, my favorite character, book girlfriend material. In all seriousness, her narration was what saved the story for me.
The girls were reunited in the final third, making it somewhat but not entirely better than the first two thirds. What really could’ve upped my opinion is a more detailed ending, because I feel like I was cheated. Not nearly enough sapphic content or story resolution, in my opinion.
Honestly, this might be one of my most disappointing reads of the year, alongside Kingdom of the Wicked. Whereas KOTW was a case of a book not living up to internet hype, The Hollow Heart was a sequel that I don’t think lived up to the first book, and that, I think, is so very sad. :((
Representation
The slow pacing and long chapters made reading this feel like an uphill battle. At risk of sounding dramatic, it was sort of a Sisyphus situation—every time I would start to get invested, an especially long, boring chapter would ruin that for me. I shudder to think of what this book would’ve been without Sid’s chapters; I love her to pieces, 10/10, my favorite character, book girlfriend material. In all seriousness, her narration was what saved the story for me.
The girls were reunited in the final third, making it somewhat but not entirely better than the first two thirds. What really could’ve upped my opinion is a more detailed ending, because I feel like I was cheated. Not nearly enough sapphic content or story resolution, in my opinion.
Honestly, this might be one of my most disappointing reads of the year, alongside Kingdom of the Wicked. Whereas KOTW was a case of a book not living up to internet hype, The Hollow Heart was a sequel that I don’t think lived up to the first book, and that, I think, is so very sad. :((
Representation
- sapphic protagonist of color
- biracial lesbian love interest
- sapphic romance
- queer side character
- side characters of color
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, and Murder
Most of the murders in this book are done by beheading, which is mentioned and briefly described, but never in graphic detail.
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