The Hollow is the debut novel for young author, Jessica Verday that follows a blooming girl, Abbey on her journey to solve her best friend's disappearance at the bridge near Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Abbey refuses to believe her friend, Kristen is dead, but has trouble convincing herself and others of Kristen's motive for vanishing. At Kristen's funeral, she meets a mysterious young boy, Caspian, who always seems to appear at the most opportune of moments. As Abbey tries to solve the mystery she begins to unveil secrets that make her question everything she ever thought she knew about her friend and the boy she's fallen in love with.
Overall, I thought this was a good first attempt by Verday. I could tell just in the first chapter by the way her sentences were structured and the number of cliches used, that she is a new writer. The plot was weak, but could have been made stronger with more focus on the main storyline. The characters were well crafted, although Abbey had her whiny moments which made it hard to relate to her at times. The chemistry between Abbey and Caspian was nice and I really enjoyed the paranormal element brought to the table.
Reviewer Age:25
Reviewer City, State and Country: Reisterstown, MD USA
