Review: The Hollow by Jessica Verday

The Hollow
Jessica Verday
Simon Pulse
September 1, 2009
ISBN-10: 1416978933

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.

From the beginning, the reader sees Abbey go through her grief for her lost best friend and the emotion just comes off the page. It's heartbreaking to read how horribly sad she is and how she has to come to terms with not seeing Kristen ever again. When Caspian came into the picture, I was so happy for Abbey. She needs something or someone to help get her through her grief and Caspian does just that. He's a lovely character that I wished I could have read more about but the story is told in Abbey's POV and as such, we see what happens through her eyes. Abbey and Caspian's relationship has that new love sort of feel to it that left me giddy and I just couldn't tear away from the story.

I honestly wasn't happy with the twist at the end. Maybe it's the hopeless romantic in me but - damn, I can't say much without giving away the complete plot! - I just think that the way things went leave little choices for future books (nice and vague!). It's clear The Hollow is the first in a series considering there's a cliffhanger at the end.

All-in-all, The Hollow is a perfect book for a cold winter night to snuggle with. It's a lovely story that I really did like. The characters are nicely developed, and the setting is beautiful. Something Verday is very good at is setting and details which makes for a very good read. I'm definitely looking forward to the next book because I'm very curious about what will happen with these characters next.


P.S.: I said it before and will say it again: The UK cover is a way lovelier than the US one! I just love the purple/gray combination, it's so simple but so lovely. Seriously, I love that cover. It would make a great poster for my room!