The Hollow

The Hollow by Jessica Verdays

published by Simon Pulse

$17.99 (Hardcover)

Genre: YA

528 pages

FTC: I borrowed this book from a friend. I am not being compensated for reviewing this book.

What it's about:
When Abbey's best friend, Kristen, vanishes at the bridge near Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, everyone else is all too quick to accept that Kristen is dead...and rumors fly that her death was no accident. Abbey has never felt so desperately alone. Then she meets Caspian, a gorgeous and mysterious stranger who shows up out of nowhere at Kristen's funeral and keeps reappearing in Abbey's life. Caspian clearly has secrets of his own, but he's the only person who makes Abbey feel normal again...but also special.
Just when Abbey starts to feel that she might survive all this, she learns a secret that makes her question everything she thought she knew about her best friend. How could Kristen have kept silent about so much? And could this secret have led to her death? As Abbey struggles to understand Kristen's betrayal, she uncovers a frightening truth that nearly unravels her--one that will challenge her emerging love for Caspian as well as her own sanity.
My thoughts:
Before I started reading the book, I went and read a few reviews for it. Most people didn't seem to really like the book, so I didn't have huge expectations for it.
The first 150 pages of the book are completely about Abbey and how she is mourning the death of her best friend. This was very sad but well needed. In this first section there are some pretty corny parts that had my eyes rolling but once you hit about half way, the book changes and becomes a little more serious.
I borrowed a friend's ARC copy of this book, so I don't know if this is how it was for all the books, but the book was double spaced with a bigger font than normal. It made me feel like I was reading a very long term paper. After a while you get used to the odd spacing but it really should have been single spaced. Takes less paper that way.
If you make it past the first half of this book and get over the fact Abbey likes to talk to head stones, it gets a lot better. I really enjoyed the second half of the book and want to see more of Abbey and Caspian together. I need answers to the unanswered questions!
The Hollow was slow paced and corny at parts, but I really enjoyed the book. This book was just setting up everything so the next book can be even better. I have a feeling it will be a lot faster pace with more twists and turns. I have real hope for the next book.
The Haunted (book #2) comes out in October.

My rating: 8/10