I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Holly Horror by Michelle Jabès Corpora Series: Holly Horror #1
Published by Penguin Workshop on 8/15/23
Genres: Horror & Ghost Stories, Mystery & Detective, Paranormal, Young Adult
Pages: 320
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
After her parents' painful divorce, Evie Archer hopes that moving to Ravenglass, Massachusetts, is the fresh start that her family needs. But Evie quickly realizes that her new home—known by locals as the Horror House—carries its own dark past after learning about Holly Hobbie, who mysteriously vanished in her bedroom one night.
But traces of Holly linger in the Horror House and slowly begin to take over Evie's life. A strange shadow follows her everywhere she goes, and Evie starts to lose sight of what's real and what isn't the more she learns about The Lost Girl.
Can Evie find out what happened the night of Holly's disappearance? Or is history doomed to repeat itself in the Horror House?
Short and Sweet Review
Evie, her mom, and younger brother, are moving to Ravenglass MA, after her parents divorce. Evie is hoping this will be a fresh start but they’re moving into Hobbie house also known to locals as Horror house. Holly Hobbie is the cousin of Evie’s mom and a couple of decades ago Holly went missing and no one was able to find her. Evie notices that there are still remains of Holly around the house and the more that Evie investigates the more she loses sight of what’s real and what’s not.
When coming to Ravenglass, Evie knew what to expect, she knew about Holly but she didn’t realize how much everyone would want to talk about it. Evie meets Tina a local who’s really into the story of Hobbie house and ends up sucking Evie in to learning about the stories, which in turn makes Evie want to investigate more and she becomes determined to learn what happened to Holly. Evie also connects with another classmate named Desmond and they have a bit of a romance but nothing too serious. When Evie starts messing with Hollys things she begins to act strangely, everyone around her notices the changes but Evie is in denial. We end up learning that Evie is able to see things that others can’t and maybe that’s why she was so susceptible to what’s happening in the house. I did like the mystery of trying to find out what happened to Holly the night she disappeared and we also get some insight from people who grew up with Holly. The writing was great and added to the creepy vibes and was really able to show how the house and the investigation was messing with Evie’s mental state. I didn’t like how absent Evie’s mom and brother were it was like they avoided each other on purpose. I would have liked to see more of Evie’s aunt Martha because she’s a psychic but she’s also able to see things that most can’t and she would have been able to help Evie.
The ending was great and did answer questions about what happened. I really want to see what will happen in the next book especially now that Evie is more willing to accept what she can do. This book was a page turner and I can’t wait until book two is released and see where things go from there!
Speak Your Mind