REVIEW: The Hollow by Jessica Verday

Title: The Hollow (The Hollow #1)

Author: Jessica Verday

Publication Date: September 6^th 2011

Publisher: Simon Pulse

Format: Paperback

Pages: 509

Rating: 5/5
Blurb: 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.

Review: This book was suggested to me by one of my lovely friends (in fact, the very same one who’s gotten me into books such as The Princess Bride, Cecelia Ahern and many, many more) and while she was telling me why I should read it, I couldn’t help but think that it sounded amazing- I think there’s always a element of worry as to whether the author is going to present the book in the way you think will work, but fortunately in this case- I really, really enjoyed how Jessica Verday wrote this story.

At the time I was reading this book, I’d never read, let alone heard of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving (though since finishing, I’ve ordered myself a copy). I think because of this, some of the parallels between that book and this one might have been lost on me, though this book does summarise the original story for those who aren’t familiar. It also includes a little bit of detail about the writer, Washington Irving- such as his inspirations for the book and a bit on his life in Sleepy Hollow as well. I do love my historical references in books but even more than that, I love my literary references. Along with Sleepy Hollow, there were other books mentioned within the story (classics, of course) which added to my enjoyment.

Character-wise, I really liked Abbey. I wasn’t sure at the beginning as to whether she would end up getting on my nerves too much but she didn’t bother me nearly as much as I thought she would, in fact- like I said, I really liked her. She seemed quite real, especially her pain and disbelief after the loss of her best friend, Kristen. One of my absolute favourite things was her perfume making- it’s not something that I’ve ever really thought about, but the way in which it was written made it sound so interesting and unique. I also liked Caspian, I mean I really, really liked Caspian. The only problem I really had with him was that I kept imagining him as Ben Barnes (so not that big of a problem, really) which, as you may be able to guess, was slightly distracting. I wasn’t a big fan of Kristen at all, in fact- she was probably the only thing I really had against this book. I felt sorry for her obviously but as the book progressed and we learnt more things about her, I felt sorrier for Abbey than I did for her. Another character aspect I liked was Abbey’s parents but also Kristen’s parents, I thought they were all written really well, and just the fact that they were included rather than brushed off was a big thing.

As for the plot, I really liked all the references to the original book, as I mentioned before. A few reviewers on Goodreads actually criticised the book for not having much of a plot except for romance but I actually think that a big focus of the book was put on Kristen’s death and Abbey gaining the ability to live without her best friend. I mean, I don’t know what I would do without Chami, so I appreciate the fact that Abbey’s thoughts were often drifting back to her friend.

All in all, I really enjoyed The Hollow and would definitely recommend it to all of you. Thank you to my wonderful friend, Laura, for allowing me to borrow the entire trilogy off her so that I can devour the other two books very soon!