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A review by phyrre
Watch Hollow by Gregory Funaro
5.0
You can read my full review on my blog, The Writerly Way, here.
I actually picked this up from the library, when a patron returned it and said he enjoyed it. So I thought, why not? I like to know what my patrons enjoy. Boy am I glad I did!
- Right from the very start, this book is creepy and atmospheric, but in a very age appropriate way. It feels like a nice middle ground for kids who are a little too young for traditionally scary books like Goosebumps, but are wanting something a little more on the spooky side. It’s more along the veins of Small Spaces by Katherine Arden. While I was never really creeped out (I am an adult, thank you very much *flips feather boa over shoulder*), there were moments that were deliciously creepy that I appreciated. The atmosphere, though, was dark and gothic and heavy, like you know there’s a monster lurking somewhere in the pages, waiting for some unsuspecting reader to wander along.
- There’s spooky woods AND a spooky house, and be still, my trope-loving little heart. I want all the spooky, haunted things, and this book just really delivered. The plot unravels little by little, where at first you’re just a little suspicious, but it gets dark pretty quickly. Scary things never stay where they belong. I appreciated how the plot grew darker as it went on and the mystery unraveled a little at a time. It kept me wanting to find out what was next.
- The characters in this are just too cute and easy to love, a mixture of snark and adolescence and obstinance and all sorts of goodness. Lucy is a fun narrator, because she’s just a little snarky, but also caring and protective and brave. Oliver is a fun counterpoint, because he’s the older, more reliable big brother who happens to be suffering from the unfortunate side effects of puberty … but Lucy is still his sister, despite everything. And the clock animals? Well, they’re a treat that you’ll just have to discover for yourself.
- Family is a big theme of this, both family coming together and falling apart. I appreciated how this was done, because family is hard, y’all. Even when you love them, at the best of times, it’s a tribulation. The foremost family is the Tinkers, who are reeling from the loss of their mother and wife, which is hard enough. Add a little dash of financial problems, and it’s a recipe for disaster, right? The way each character handled this was different, and I felt for all of them. I can’t really say more about the whole theme of family without running amok of spoilers, but suffice it to say that it was quite thoughtful and rather touching.
I actually picked this up from the library, when a patron returned it and said he enjoyed it. So I thought, why not? I like to know what my patrons enjoy. Boy am I glad I did!
- Right from the very start, this book is creepy and atmospheric, but in a very age appropriate way. It feels like a nice middle ground for kids who are a little too young for traditionally scary books like Goosebumps, but are wanting something a little more on the spooky side. It’s more along the veins of Small Spaces by Katherine Arden. While I was never really creeped out (I am an adult, thank you very much *flips feather boa over shoulder*), there were moments that were deliciously creepy that I appreciated. The atmosphere, though, was dark and gothic and heavy, like you know there’s a monster lurking somewhere in the pages, waiting for some unsuspecting reader to wander along.
- There’s spooky woods AND a spooky house, and be still, my trope-loving little heart. I want all the spooky, haunted things, and this book just really delivered. The plot unravels little by little, where at first you’re just a little suspicious, but it gets dark pretty quickly. Scary things never stay where they belong. I appreciated how the plot grew darker as it went on and the mystery unraveled a little at a time. It kept me wanting to find out what was next.
- The characters in this are just too cute and easy to love, a mixture of snark and adolescence and obstinance and all sorts of goodness. Lucy is a fun narrator, because she’s just a little snarky, but also caring and protective and brave. Oliver is a fun counterpoint, because he’s the older, more reliable big brother who happens to be suffering from the unfortunate side effects of puberty … but Lucy is still his sister, despite everything. And the clock animals? Well, they’re a treat that you’ll just have to discover for yourself.
- Family is a big theme of this, both family coming together and falling apart. I appreciated how this was done, because family is hard, y’all. Even when you love them, at the best of times, it’s a tribulation. The foremost family is the Tinkers, who are reeling from the loss of their mother and wife, which is hard enough. Add a little dash of financial problems, and it’s a recipe for disaster, right? The way each character handled this was different, and I felt for all of them. I can’t really say more about the whole theme of family without running amok of spoilers, but suffice it to say that it was quite thoughtful and rather touching.