In this gripping novel, a car accident shatters sixteen-year-old Morgan’s family. When Morgan stumbles upon an old camera in an abandoned hospital, her luck takes a dark turn. Each photo she takes corrupts her classmates, leaving them hollow. Determined to save her sister, Morgan must reverse the camera’s curse before her fragile family collapses completely.

This book was... strong. Intense? Insane? I'm not sure what the best word is but it was BOLD. So many heavy topics but with a horror element, too. I read 3 car accident books back to back when I picked this up but out of all of then this one stood out the most. Could have been the creepiness but I really think it was just how hopeless everything seemed.

3.5 stars
This was intense. There are some serious topics in this book including death of a child, car crash (descriptive), and the R-word, I would definitely check trigger warnings for a full list. Some of it was actually pretty difficult for me to read and affected me on deep, personal levels. The message behind the story though is a necessary one and these traumatic events all play a role. I still don't understand some things though like the point of the camera that the MC, Morgan, finds. I understand the role it played, but not why. I don't understand the abandoned hospital either. Does it represent something and I'm just missing it? I also didn't like how a couple of times things were just kind of wrapped up/figured out quickly and with no real reason or explanation. The characters sometimes seem childish (they are teenagers so I can kinda understand as I'm sure I was the same at that age). If the characters were older and more mature though, I think I could've given it another star. It was a good story, maybe a little forgettable besides the really hard hitting stuff though. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I am sorry, I tried to get into it but it wasn't for me. I couldn't get interested in the characters or plot. The cover is what drew me in but the story was a letdown.

This follows Morgan, a high school girl who is struggling with vicious rumors and a tumultuous family life in the aftermath of a family tragedy. One night, she finds an old camera in an abandoned hospital. Being a shutterbug, she enjoys taking pictures with this new find. Soon she taking pictures of classmates and is shocked to discover that anybody caught in the lens immediately becomes hostile.

First things first. This was an incredibly interesting plot and I did enjoy the supernatural/paranormal aspect to it. Although, I did not appreciate calling a polaroid camera "old" as I remember using them as a kid. I guess that makes me old now.

All that being said, I found the first two-thirds of the story really drawn out and honestly a bit boring. I felt like there was more that could have been done with the family aspect to Morgan's story. I also did not care for the ending as I think there should have been more to it. But that's more of a personal preference and has nothing to do with the writing itself.

So I finally managed to finish this one. It had so much potential and truly the first 50% of the book was great. But it was almost like someone different wrote the second half. Great premise, good character development and suspenseful. But for whatever reason the second half of the book just dragged on and left me quitting and coming back more than once.

A good book. It lacks some depth. I wish it built on the characters more and it was longer to provide more substance.

First thing first, I would like to take a second to thank Netgalley for allowing me a copy of this book for review.

This book had so much potential. I read this up to the 50% mark and was so invested in the story that after the horrendous plot twist I just wanted it to end. If I try to even attempt to explain what this book is about, I would fail miserly. I thought this was going to be about a girl who went through some tragedies and finally finds herself. However, this was so confusing. I don't understand how it went from hard-hitting to paranormal in a sense. Very. VERY. CONFUSED.

Minor spoilers

This is pretty dark for a YA novel. Of course there are loopholes, but the first person person perspective is fast paced with a cold narrative.

The story revolves around Morgan, a high school student who is constantly bullied. Family life isn’t much better-a car accident killed her brother and left her mother paralyzed. Ironically, I attended high school with a student very similar to Morgan, and reading about this character brought back painful memories and left me feeling empty at times, Let’s face it, even with social media and cell phones, there will always be a forgotten classmate. High school sucked for most of us.

Anyways, Morgan acquires a camera from a hospital that turns out to have evil powers, and we really don’t get more background info on this device, but it doesn’t tarnish the other ideas behind this character study.

this was a really touching story, the characters were great and I really enjoyed reading this. I felt so bad for Morgan.

I was really excited about this one because it's been so long since I've been able to read a good horror. Unfortunately, this didn't do it for me. It wasn't bad, it was well written, I just personally didn't like it.

Sadly, this book didn't really work for me because it didn't really feel horror. It had some horror elements but I was expected something completely different and was left kind of confused.

I hadn’t heard about this book until I saw it available on NetGalley. Horror and a cursed camera? Hello please sign me up.

The story feels more atmospheric and psychological on the horror spectrum, but it didn’t feel fully developed—perhaps due to being pretty short. I wanted to know more about the cursed camera, the creepy hospital, and the people whose personalities became twisted. Morgan’s depression could have been explored deeper as well, but was well portrayed in what was shared.

All in all, an entertaining and spooky read.

CW: discussion of rape, sexual assault

I was so excited to read this book, with such an interesting premise! It did not disappoint - it had me hooked right from the start, I read it in two nights. Great character development and commitment to the story all the way through. Have already recommended to friends.

The vibe of this book is kinda spooky/horror themed. Parrish let us know her world by giving us time to understand and read her works. The book is good for readers who wants to try new horror genre. The story is kinda slow paced for me and there were times when I got stuck to a different scenarios in the story. Nevertheless, Hollow is a great read, quick written story that is recommended to everyone.

First off, the premise sounded awesome. And that cover is fantastic!

Hollow is about a girl in highschool, dealing is all the normal high School drama. As well as having a mom and wheelchair, a brother who died, and a shity ex-boyfriend. 

From the beginning, we hear about the condemned hospital near her house that she grows up hearing creepy stories about. Accidents have happened and people have died. Her only solace is her best friend, running and photography. So when she finds an old camera in the hospital, she is beyond excited. What she doesn't know is this camera can steal people's souls and turn them into darker versions of themselves. And even her family isn't safe. 

Without going into too much detail and ruining the story for you, I really enjoyed this book. It was a page-turner, and a quick read. It kept me interested the whole time and I was always wanting to know what was going to happen next. The characters were believable and relatable, and you could feel the highschool vibe without it feeling too young.

I would recommend this book to anyone just getting into his psychological thrillers or anyone that just wants a fun quick read.

I was granted access to this title by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I found this book difficult. To start with, from the blurb I thought that this book would fall more into the genre of Horror, but it leaned distinctly closer to YA with some supernatural elements. Secondly, it felt that we didn't get nearly as much character development as I would want to see from a book that finds itself treading into the YA camp and that was a little disappointing. When I reached the end, I wasn't nearly as attached to the characters as I would have liked.

However, the story is fun and original with some great moments of tension but it didn't leave me with that creepy feeling that would have pushed it into a truly great supernatural story, for me.

Thank you to the publisher and to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book!

I am a huge horror buff so I am always looking for the next horror book to read and I loved this book. The atmosphere was everything I wanted it to be. I loved the plot and storyline in the book. I loved the characters in this story. It gave me all the feels I was looking for when I started reading this. I highly recommend this author. I loved the writing. I will be looking for other works in the future from this author.

Trigger warnings: sexual assault (on- and off-page), loss of a family member/child, grief, depression, difficult mother/daughter relationship
Representation: depression

There was a lot that Parrish packed into Hollow. But because this was such a short book I think it left something to be desired.

Hollow is marketed as a horror story. And while the book does deal with a sense of creepiness, sorrow, and darker atmosphere I wouldn't be recommending this for those chasing a scary story.

Overall, this is a story that explores a girl's attempts to deal with grief and the breaking-down of her family after the loss of a little brother. It also deals with dealing with assault from someone present in one's everyday life.

Everything else in this story - the abandoned hospital, the cursed camera, the creepy bird - they just didn't feel fleshed out enough to matter. These components felt forced and separated from the rest of the story.

I think there was a lot of potential in Hollow. Had it been approached differently, with a more in depth exploration and development between the different story components this could have been a standout for me. As it is, however, I'm just left wanting something more.

Thanks to Net Galley for the Arc. This had promise based on the blurb, but it does not pay off. I didn’t connect with anyone. It just seems rushed. It feels like it needed another pass for clarity and to build up the characters. I hate to crap on anyone’s art, but I just couldn’t get behind this.