The Hollow by Jessica Verday

The Hollow by Jessica Verday

Series: The Hollow (book two due out next fall)
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Category: Young Adult - Paranormal
pages

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 goes through the motions of mourning her best friend, but privately, she refuses to believe that Kristen is really gone. Then she meets Caspian, the gorgeous and mysterious boy 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.

The cover for this book is gorgeous. Absolutely stunning. It also depicts apart of the story itself. Jessica is an amazing writer. You can feel the characters emotions. She also chose a unique hobby for Abbey that I really liked.

Abbey was a very believable character. Her grief is honest. She was a unique character. Caspian irritated me. I wanted to smack him throughout some parts of the story and kiss him at others. I loved the elderly couple though. They reminded of my own grandparents.

That is where my like of this story ends. The plot was so slow. Painfully slow. And whenever the twist happened it was very anti-climatic.Then the book ends maybe ten pages later. I couldn't stand that nothing was revealed about Kristen. It drove me insane reading it. Oh well. Maybe she'll delve into it next book.

This is a library book honestly. Don't spend $18.00 on it unless you like. I will be picking up something else by her - her writing style really is that good. Also, check out her website. It's gorgeous!

C-

Swoon by Nina Malkin

Swoon by Nina Malkin

Publisher: Simon Pulse
Category: Young Adult (leans toward adult!)
421 Pages

Sin is Coming...Prepare to Swoon!

Torn from her native New York City and dumped in the land of cookie-cutter preps, Candice is resigned to accept her posh, dull fate. Nothing ever happens in Swoon, Connecticut...until Dice's perfect, privileged cousin Penelope nearly dies in a fall from an old tree, and her spirit intertwines with that of a ghost. His name? Sinclair Youngblood Powers. His mission? Revenge. And while Pen is oblivious to the possession, Dice is all too aware of Sin. She's intensely drawn to him—but not at all crazy about the havoc he's wreaking. Determined to exorcise the demon, Dice accidentally sets Sin loose, gives him flesh, makes him formidable. Now she must destroy an even more potent—and irresistible—adversary, before the whole town succumbs to Sin's will.

Only trouble is, she's in love with him.


I wish I could say Swoon blew my mind. That I loved it. Truthly, I didn't. Malkin had an amazing plot bunny which dropped acid and hopped all over the place. Some of her chapters were really jumpy. I ended up lost a couple of times and went "WTF?" a couple of times too. I'm still scratching my head over about three chapters.

Malkin did have an amazing idea. The story itself is good. Dice was a fun leading lady. I didn't like her at first, but she grew on me. I hated Sin. I understand his reason for wanting vengeance, but waiting two-hundred years to do it? Really now. Why Dice loves him is beyond me (and if anyone knows why she loves him please tell me why). I didn't like Pen either - but that's probably just because of Sin's influence.

There is a LOT of sex, drugs, and a little bit of alcohol. I know Swoon's a small town, but surely these kids had better things to do besides getting high and screwing. There is an orgy in this book - which made me wonder why this was in the teen section of my library. I'm no prude, but it was a little to much sex. Although I have to give Malkin applause for not shying away from the drugs and the sex and doing so in a non-judgmental point of view.

I'll probably read another one of her books, but I won't be picking this one up again. I just didn't enjoy this book.

C-