Hollow Heathens

"This book, specifically the setting, had so much potential but it just fell flat for me. Probably because the writing was just not great in my opinion. For example, the main antagonist just disappears as we get closer to the end of the story. Some characters are literally written with an over the top Maine accent but other characters have none? Also why would they have a Maine accent if the town stays hidden from outsiders and no one can leave or enter unless the town needs them to? In theory, wouldn’t they have their own accent in that case or at the very least not an overly aggressive Maine accent? The characters overall just felt flat and not fully developed, the love felt flat, the conflict was confusing and all over the place. They are all witches but I don’t feel like we ever saw any of them do a lick of magic besides one character using compulsion and the mention of enchanted wine? Fallon is supposed to be some special kind of moon witch whose parents were both powerful witches from each coven, but her only power is that she can see ghosts and only when they want her to? I didn’t get gothic vibes from this at all but more like Disney Halloween movie kind of feels. For some reason, this novel also gave me YA vibes as I was reading and I kept forgetting the characters were meant to be in their mid-20s and not 16. "

"Maybe 2.5 stars? Idk this was rough for me. World building was messy, the vibes were there for sure but at the same time I wasn’t about the whole insta love thing? Honestly Julian isn’t for me….he was problematic and all the characters acted like teenagers rather than 24-25 year old adults. The story dragged on too long and overall I struggled to actually finish the 600 page thing, but I did and I question whether it was worth it. I didn’t mean for this review to be as harsh as it is but man I struggled when I was really excited for this read! 🫣"

"I had high expectations for this book due to the amazing reviews - which is why I probably got disappointed, but it was ok. Everything about the book is beautiful in terms of writing and the cover art, but the story itself just wasn’t for me. I found myself skipping around a lot halfway through the book. I’m not really into books where the romance is the main plot, and that was pretty much this book. I should’ve have known given the synopsis, but I thought there would be more of other things as well but nope it’s pretty much just their love story. The spicy scenes were also kind of cringy to me and I normally like spicy books. Maybe I’ll read the YA version and have a different opinion. "

"Spice: 2/5 Story: 4/5"

"This book was complex, mysterious, romantic, tragic, and beautiful. So well written and always kept me on my toes. I could see the scenes playing out in my head and I never wanted it to end. The ending was a masterpiece and was not rushed in any way. The new Romeo and Juliet book and it was better than I knew it could be. We start with one thing in mind but then somewhere along the way we find ourselves in love and feeling in tune to Julian and find ourselves wanting to experience life as Fallon did. 10/10 would recommend to anyone. "

"This book read like poetry, with its intricacies the smooth and eloquent writing was sinisterly classical even though it had a modern setting. There was so much depth to the main characters and it was masterfully written. There was a light sprinkling of erotica in the adult version that made my black little heart absolutely ache in the best possible way 🖤"

"⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5"

"I’m still thinking about this book days later. I loved the vibes."

"Perfect"