TW: Rape, harrassement, physical and sexual assault, murder, blood, graphic violence, gore

This book follows a Romani's girl, who is the apprentice of the village's powerful witch and healer, Drina. After having some harrowing experiences of harassment by the chief's son Silas, whilst being en route to the marketplace to sell her potions. At the stall next to her, she meets a golden-haired boy who is an outsider to her culture,

When on perilous night, as foretold by an intense vision from Drina, Silas and his group of croonies assaults Bethan and leaves Martyn for dead, the plot turns into a revenge story whilst trying to save the person that she cares about. I would describe this as a dark and gritty horror, so if this is not your type of book, know that going into it. For me, I read for those delicious witchy parts where I felt like I could be rubbing my hands with glee and truly enjoying the story.

Our main character, Bethan was extremely compelling and I really liked how the author explored and played the good vs evil forces within her, how she was portrayed as almost a sort of morally ambiguous character. I felt like I could feel for her, feel with her. This was probably due to the descriptive writing that Monahan was able to pull off, It's extremely atmospheric, and it paints the creepy nighttime vibe onto every page where that was necessary,

I thought that this handled the topic of rape and Romani heritage very well(as it was ownvoices and treated with sensitivity and nuance). Rape was treated like a mortal sin throughout the book, and every one of the participants got severe consequences for their actions. Bethan was never blamed by anyone other than the rapists themselves, and any notion of victim-blaming was shut down firmly by her grandmother. Also in the author's forward, there was a warning that there would be a rape scene, off-camera and not graphic, however it just made me think about how every book should have trigger warnings t the beginning. That's just the way that it should be done.

My one complaint was that the pacing of this book seemed off. There was so much anticipation that was built up to the climax scene, but the first one hundred or so pages has explanations and info=dumps within conversations that Bethan was having. For me, at least, this would have been a five star read, as it was much enjoyable as it could be with the content that it presented.

**Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.**

** spoiler alert ** I would like to compare this to book to Thinner by Stephen King. I liked that she stood up to her incident. I liked her Gran. I liked that the boys had what was coming to them. I liked the gypsy culture and learning more about this world. I knew that something bad was going to happen to the boys since the rape. This book kept my thinking about family, magic, and learning to read. Overall a great debut.

The Hollow Girl is a dark and gritty novel about vengeance. The author does a superb job at bringing to light sensitive but important issues, and builds the type of tension that slowly fills up before it explodes. Readers are going to be siding with evil- even if it is the type of evil many would frown upon.

One thing that stuck out to me the most is the fact that this story can easily play out in the mind of it's readers. You may not want to be in the situation that the MC is in, but you're going to be anyway. It's kind of like being stuck or pulled into the movies I Spit on Your Grave or The Last House on the Left. You can't help but be a part of it.

Overall, this is a solid novel and it certainly going to be a hit amongst many- young adults, adults, and the horror fanatic.

Powerful story of family, trauma, and magic

Content Warning: As the author mentions in the forward, there is sexual assault in this book.

Disclaimer: I do not identify as Romani, so I cannot speak on the representation of the Romani culture. The author is Romani #ownvoices and has a wonderful note on the making and inspiration of THE HOLLOW GIRL.

In a clan of Welsh Romanies, Bethan loves being the apprentice to Drina, her Gran, though she wouldn’t mind if they could move on from the herbcraft and go to spells. The two make a small, happy family, but there is one upset in Bethan’s life: the continual harassment from Silas, son of the chieftain. One dark night, Bethan and her friend, Martyn, are viscously assaulted by Silas and his group. With Martyn left on the edge of death, Bethan and her Gran prepare for a spell that will bring him back…for a price.

Hillary Monahan’s THE HOLLOW GIRL is a powerhouse of emotion, darkness, family, and magic. Each line rings with a strong voice that first gently draws you in, then fiercely grabs your attention and doesn’t let go, commanding it long after the last page is (bittersweetly) turned. Bethan is an incredibly nuanced protagonist whose journey wrecks emotions in more ways than one. Here is the kind of story where you find yourself laughing and crying alongside the characters and begging, begging, begging they find as much peace and happiness as possible because they feel as dear as family within a handful of chapters.

The central themes of THE HOLLOW GIRL are crucial and moving. Bethan and Drina prove the size of a family is no equivalent to the amount of love in a family. The effects of trauma are different for everyone, and Bethan’s journey presents a much needed discussion about rape culture.

THE HOLLOW GIRL is a force that leaves words hard to find. Important on so many levels, brimming with stunning narration, and full of heart, this is not a novel to miss.

https://anovelhaul.wordpress.com/2017/08/08/the-hollow-girl-by-hillary-monahan/

Bethan Jones lives alone with her grandmother, Gran, who is the drabarni (magical practitioner) of her clansmen. To Romany people, the drabarni is the wise women of the clan and Bethan is next in line. To Bethan's disappointment, Gran says she is not ready to learn spellcraft yet and insists she go to the local village every day to sell herbs to the villagers, but her world turns upside down.

Martyn Woodward is a local farmer, a diddicoy (of Romany blood), and a gadjo (an outsider), who is forbidden in Bethan's life. However, Bethan finds him handsome with a pleasant disposition and will ask her Gran if he could teach her to read.

Silas Roberts is the chieftain's son and wants Bethan for himself at any price and will use force to do it.

One night Silas and his friends brutally assault Bethan and leave Martyn to die. When Bethan asks her Gran to save Martyn's life, Bethan is told that she must exact revenge on the boys that attacked her and Martyn.

This is a story of magic, betrayal, revenge and inner strength, and it contains quite a bit of violence so beware. The story is unique from the Romany perspective, and it had a strong heroine who preserves her beliefs even through horrendous and mind-shattering situations. However, I felt that the story dwelled on the revenge aspect too long and ended too abruptly. I was expecting more about Bethan's internal conflict, than the revenge plot itself.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, but would probably not recommend it to a friend.

Thank you to Hillary Monahan, Random House and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book.

Bethan is an apprentice to her Welsh Romany Gypsy Clan's Drabni (Healer). She spends her days learning the healing arts and Spellcraft, selling Gypsy charms and avoiding the advances of her Clan Chieftain's son, Silas.
Silas and his friends brutally attack Bethan and her friend Martyn. Bethan would do anything to save Martyn. She soon learns that saving Martyn means using powerful dark magic that requires a grisly sacrifice; an eye for sight, fingers for touch, a nose to smell the air, teeth for taste, an ear for sound, plus blood, skin, and hair. Bethan and the clan Drabni, Drina, offer Silas and his friends a choice: apologize or face the consequences.
The Hollow Girl is extremely dark and creepy. Monahan forewarns the reader about the attack on Bethan in the introduction but does not describe it in great detail. She does provide the gory details about the gathering of the ingredients needed to save Martyn. Bethan is empowered by using this dark magic but is conflicted about using it too. The Hollow Girl is a gory but powerful story that will hook teens and keep them turning pages until the end. The Hollow Girl is a great read for teens who enjoyed The Asylum series by Madeline Roux or The Diviners series by Libba Bray.

This made me so mad in a good rage fueled by a captivating plot and with a main character I’d fight to protect. The Hollow Girl has a story that touched a personal nerve with me and takes us all on a ride of redemption and the pain of moving on.

Bethan’s clan of Welsh Romanies have come into town for the fall, like they do each year. But there is something different about this year, specifically this month, as the harassment from the son of the chieftain, Silas, seems to be hitting a dangerous high. While she is apprentice to the clan healer, and maybe witch, that has protected her so far, but there’s something in the wind. Something is going to change, and Bethan along with it. One night Bethan is assaulted, the results of Silas’ fixation and possessiveness, along with her half-Roma protector Martyn. In order to save Martyn, she must make a deal. A magical exchange that will require blood, sacrifice, and a touch of revenge.

So I’ll just start this off with the trigger warning for rape here. Monahan begins with an author’s note which also addresses this, so it isn’t a huge surprise. I am so glad of this, because if it had been out of nowhere, I think I would have been very upset, as this particular warning is personal to me. Her author’s note also delves into the personal motivation of the book in an insightful way that gives the following story a personal touch. But back to the story. While the author’s note prepared me, I was, by no means, spoiled. If anything, it only heightens the suspense, the ominous fear in the pit of my stomach. It almost becomes palpable – this growing shadow looming in the background.

This book is a horror book, according to Goodreads. While I’m not so sure if it’s straight horror, because normally I can’t deal with that, it is full of mystery, tension, fear, and a little gore. Even if it is, which I have no complaints with, it is something even more. In a way it is darker, more complex, and more satisfying. But what transforms this book into that something more, for me, is the subject matter and the characters.

Bethan is a character I would fight for. She is compassionate, kind, and also conflicted. She wants desperately to be taught magic. When Bethan goes to market to sell her herbs, she desires to actively discourage the stereotypes associated with her culture. And it’s so hard, because she also has a birth mark which people associate with the devil. To say Bethan is a character you can, and as a young woman, identify with is clear.

(Don’t even get me started on the precious character Martyn is. He is kind hearted, able to see beyond society’s image of Bethan, and fiercely loyal. Also Bethan’s mentor, her Gran, is such a compelling character. She is unapologetic, has the potential to be both vicious and tender, and is scarred in her own ways. I especially appreciated the story twists in relation to her character as it lends a sort of cosmic pattern to the story).

That’s why Bethan’s fate and eventual use of magic is so bitter, and a tad ironic (to be clear, I am not suggesting there is anything ironic about rape, only Bethan’s desire for magic). While magic is something she always wanted to know, her introduction only begins as Silas’ threats become more dangerous. It is almost like in order to combat the injustice of her harassment, she is now given the protection magic offers. It was described to me as a feminist horror story, and you can see the parallels between her situation and today’s society in a variety of ways.

Not only is Bethan afraid that she will be accused of ‘instigating’ her own harassment and assault, if she speaks up, she is acutely aware of the shame that will befall her if she is seen acting ‘inappropriately’. Additionally, there is this toxic excusing of Silas from the beginning from his father, the chieftain – a figure of immense authority – that is disturbing. We are also assured that he can change, that he might learn, and that he’s not a bad child – even until the end. Suffice it to say I found nothing redeeming about Silas nor his father.

Because of this descriptive portrayal of Bethan’s fears as a girl in society, this book becomes transformed from one of horror to one that seems to echo the struggles women face today. Then it becomes even more telling that Bethan must exact from each of her assaulters something to bring Martyn back from the edge of death. In some ways it becomes this cathartic quest for vengeance – that resonates, in some ways, for me. Yet Monahan does not let us off the hook, nor does she give us an ending that satisfies this ‘manhating vengeful woman’.

Instead Monahan interrogates it, and challenges it. There is such a lure of succumbing, letting this trauma turn you bitter, and thriving on fear. But Bethan just feels hollow, numb – which is something I can personally relate to. As the reader, we want justice, we want the perpetrators to pay because it’s something that is often denied to us in society. However speaking as a rape survivor, there’s also my intimate knowledge that vengeance, if it ever occurs, won’t make you whole.

To say I immensely enjoyed The Hollow Girl is an understatement. There was so much depth and complexity to this storyline and the characters within. Not only that, but the story meant so much to me personally. It is a book that acknowledges the difficulty of moving on, the price of vengeance, and the toxic consequences of when someone’s transgressions are overlooked in the name of maintaining the status quo.

The Hollow Girl is a pretty dark, powerful book. Bethan is a young Romani girl who lives with her Gran, a witch. Bethan has spent her life wanting her Gran to teach her the craft. She is often times feared by people. She was born with a large birthmark covering half of her. One half light, one half dark. Her own people torment her or turn away. While she’s selling charms/herb packs, she is bothered by an older man. A boy, Martyn, makes him leave and starts talking to Bethan who he decides to call Bet. Martyn is kind to her, helps her sell everything she has, and isn’t put off by her birthmark.

Being a Romani in her community, she is to remain pure until marriage. Even speaking to this boy can be frowned upon, but she finds herself liking him. However, the local chieftain’s son, Silas, has decided that he wants Bethan to be his. He finds her with Martyn and gets into a fight with him. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only time and he has plans for Bethan and her new friend.

One day, he has the help of four other boys in the market. Silas starts a fight with Martyn. Bethan runs, but finds herself drug into the field by some of the other boys. They beat Martyn close to death and then hang him up like a scarecrow to die. The boys hold Bethan down while Silas rapes her.

Bethan has to work a dark spell to bring Martyn back from the dead. It requires body parts of the boys, a lot of blood, some death, and a lot of emotion. Bethan has to decide how far she can be pushed and what she’s willing to do to save Martyn and also get revenge on the boys who hurt her.

I thought the author did a great job with the story. I loved reading about all the blood magic along with the payments when using it. The rape and beating scene was tough to read, but not too overdone. I flew through the second half of the book and didn’t want to put it down.

I gave this book 4 1/2 stars.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley for review.

This book was amazing! Definitely one of my faves so far this year! There is something about revenge stories that I just really like! It is more than that, though. This book is an emotional ride that had me invested! I loved the bond between Bethan and her Gran, and the same between Bethan and Martyn. This book was fantastic!