The Hollow by Jessica Verday

Title: The Hollow
Author: Jessica Verday
ISBN: 9781416978930
Publisher: Simon Pulse

Summary:
"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."
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First Lines:

"They said she killed herself. Everyone was saying it."
Page 1
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Review:

There are several things I loved about this book:
1. I really adored the fact that Abbey had such a clear hobby - the making of perfume. It's easily translated in the story to something the reader can imagine, feel, and experience throughout the book. It's also wonderful to see that both of the main characters had some seriously creative outlets to turn to. Drawing, making jewelry, creating perfumes, etc... it's just wonderful.
2. I also really loved that the whole story of The Sleepy Hollow ran throughout the book. I do realize that is necessary as the story takes place in Sleepy Hollow, but it gives the book a certain edge of mystery and intrigue.
3. The cover is absolutely beautiful - it's eye catching and uses the things from the story pretty well.

All that being said, this book was HUMONGOUS! I mean, seriously... 500 pages?! It was double spaced, too... which made it seem like the book could be half that size. I do get that those Twihards out there probably get prickles in their fangs about the size of the book.... but seriously. Ahem... anyway.

I really did enjoy the story here. It may have dragged out a bit longer than I had really anticipated, but it was good. There were times that I really wanted Abbey to snap out of her love-haze (but this might be a symptom of my having read too many teen romances lately).
SPOILER:
One thing that bothered me a little was how long it took for the story to get to the whole "ghost story" portion of the book. I mean, it's one of the main subjects for this book... but you barely get used to the idea before the book ends. Though, I do understand that the author is working on a second book with the same characters. So maybe this will be fleshed out a lot more in the next book.

You should really check out the author's website. I was just clicking around over there and realized I could purchase the scents from the book! How cool is that?!? I'm seriously thinking about it. I also had a little heart-flutter when I saw that Verday is living in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.... that's so close to where I'm from! Soooo cool!
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Other Blog Reviews:

The Book Smugglers
J. Kaye's Book Blog
Karin's Book Nook
Harmony Book Reviews
The Book Bug