Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Christi

"The Hollow" is a story of a girl named Abbey who lives in the little town of Sleepy Hollow. The story starts off in the middle of the main character at her Best Friends funeral. People are saying nasty things like suicide, drugs, and the like that caused her death. Abbey over hears these things, and knows that it can't be true. The girls had always been drawn to the Sleepy Hollow Cemetary, which also has 'The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow" Author Washington Irving. It is here that Abbey comes, to grieve her friend's death, where she meets a mysterious boy. A boy with a secret that could change Abbey's life forever.

   First and foremost, I want to say that I enjoyed the book. The main character if Abbey was funny, relatable, and had a great sense of humility. She is the kind of Sixteen year old that really does exist, a refreshing voice after pages and pages of fake, posh, teenagers from other YA series. I enjoyed following Abbey around, and listening to her give her opinions on life. I daresay I related with her a great deal. She makes perfume from natural oils, and dreams of opening her own shop one day.
  I loved the setting. Jessica Verday took a lovely legend, and spun it around this novel. I was enraptured, and couldn't put the book down for days.
 However, in some respects I must be honest and say that at times the book ran on a bit. At a hefty 528 pages, 'The Hollow' often swerved off point. Some plot points Verday planted, never were resumed. There were alot of chapters where you follow Abbey through a normal day, nothing in particular happening. The real story in this novel was not revealed until the last twenty pages, and even after the Epilogue your left with a million questions. Not the kind of suspenseful questions, but half thrown together resolutions that don't necessarily make sense.
  Jessica Verday is a new, and very promising Author. I feel that "The Hollow" could have been a little tighter on the story line. I would recommend this book, as it is the first in a trilogy, and I have a feeling the books will get better and better everytime.