⭐️⭐️ / 2 stars
Thank you to BookSirens and Lockegee Books for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
The book is about two siblings who are working together to hunt spirits in the Hollows.
A lot of things in this book are just a mystery to me and I did have some small issues with the book.
First, I was a bit confused with the world and the timeline. It seemed present day with the advanced and steampunk-style technology, but they use horse-drawn carriages. I settled for a parallel world with a different progression, since the region the book takes place is a real one.
I loved how there was a disabled character in the book who wasn’t used as a trope to teach you something about the value of life or was killed off. The sibling relationship is also beautifully written. I would have liked the characters to be more developed though. Often some minor characters seemed a bit narrow-minded and Zora sometimes came across as a child who threw tantrums when it didn’t go her way. Aside from the tantrums she is a strong and independent girl. I was a bit annoyed with the actions of some of the characters and just can’t understand why people kept trying to give hard liquor to minors. Also, we didn’t have to be reminded of the crutched or the albinism multiple times per chapter.
The book was honestly hard to follow at times. The biggest reason for this was the badly explained world and environment. With badly explained I mean not explained at all. I kept reading the book just having questions about everything; what are spirits? Where did they come from? What are the different species? Why are they dangerous? What was the Great Wakening? When did this happen? Some technological terms were also mentioned which I didn’t understand and thus I just couldn’t connect to the story. I was just confused by everything. If there would’ve been an introduction at the beginning of the book or if more was explained throughout the book, I probably would’ve really enjoyed reading this one.
Because I didn’t understand the world they live in, I couldn’t understand why they went on the mission they did at the beginning. This mission was the whole build up to the rest of the story and plot. Like halfway the book they encounter a spirit and they get scared, but why? It isn’t explained why these spirits are so dangerous and what they would do. You just have to believe they would do something terrible if encountered, but you haven’t seen any evidence of it happening.
The map of the villages and the place names added depth to the story. The spirits described were quite unique. I felt like it could be a really rich world with a lot of dept from which we’ve only seen the top layer.
Overall the book had great potential in my opinion but it just isn't a book for me because I just have to many questions about everything which left me more confused than that I enjoyed it.