This book drew me in right away. A newly divorced woman trying to figure out her next steps ends up helping her uncle run his museum, The Wonder Museum. Things are going well until a hole is discovered in the wall. And then things just got crazy.
I loved all of the characters, they felt so real, even Beau the cat. The imagery that the author created made the whole story work. I could not turn the pages fast enough to find out how it was all going to end. I honestly have no complaints about this book. Go get a copy!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

A unique setting and loveable oddball characters are the heart of this story, which balances a sense of adventure with moments of genuine, profound horror.

**spoilers ahead**

I started out really liking this. It’s a lot more lighthearted than I was expecting (as someone who judges a book by it’s cover) with a lot of humor from both Simon and Carrot. If I could, I would give this 3.5 stars but I just can’t do 4. The author made the otter thing so obvious, I just wanted to shout at the dang book. It was like watching dumb teenagers in a cheesy horror movie.

I really enjoyed the ride of this story and developed some real love for the world building done here. The way this book was woven together to tell this story was truly beautiful and creative. I loved that it had so many aspects of being young, and fun, but still dark and creepy at times as well. It was a thoroughly enjoyable book.

I had a lot of fun reading this book since it is a unique story with two fun characters exploring a weird paranormal occurrence. I wouldn't say I like to give away much, but many exciting things happen that would be fun to see in a TV episode or a movie. A pet peeve of mine is firing away the creepy or spooky surprises in books. The two main characters are fun together, and their banter is enjoyable. For fans of paranormal stories, pick up this book! I am sad this is a single book. I would love to read more of the two characters and other supernatural adventures that they have together.

TW: Divorce, graphic dead body, death of a loved one, dead kid ghosts

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book: Kara finds these words in the mysterious bunker that she’s discovered behind a hole in the wall of her uncle’s house. Freshly divorced and living back at home, Kara now becomes obsessed with these cryptic words and starts exploring the peculiar bunker—only to discover that it holds portals to countless alternate realities. But these places are haunted by creatures that seem to hear thoughts…and the more you fear them, the stronger they become.
Release Date: 10/06/2021
Genre: Horror - Thriller
Pages: 352
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

What I Liked:
• The banter of the writing
• The curious nature of a door hidden to a room
• I seriously liked Kara

What I Didn't Like:
• Nothing!!

Overall Thoughts: I loved this book! I loved the portal and I loved the different worlds. Kara seriously made me laugh out loud! I liked that Kara and Simon are friends. Simon seemed like a real person and not just a random sidekick while Kara falls in love with [insert generic random stranger guy] and forgets him. The school bus with children reminded me of Trick or Treat, the movie. It also reminded me of House 2 and Gravity Falls.

I loved all of the references of Narnia.

Final Thoughts: Such a fun ride of a book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Saga Press for the advanced copy of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Sorry it took me so long to read this book. 🤪

This book was such a delight. I love fantasy and the "magic portal" riff, as treated here, was wonderful. This is a creepy, at times, troubling book but I thouroughly enjoyed reading it. The character development and the relationships between characters was great. The use of language was very good, as well. This was actually a book that, on the surface, could be called a fast read but if you take the time, it's a very rich experience and, to me, that is the best kind. I would recomment this to anyone.

🌾A Total Creep-fest 🌾

I immediately liked our main character Kara when she revealed almost instantly her appreciation of physical books over ebooks & was so sad that in moving it was much easier to pack an e-reader. All she brought were coffee mugs, travel magnets & books. I believe that if it were only me & my vehicle the first things that I’d make sure to have are all of the above mentioned things as well and my fur- babies, memorabilia, a couple of my favorite Funko Pops & clothes. Anything else is just a bonus.

Kara is getting divorced from her husband Mark & making her way to live with her Uncle Earl in a little place called Hog Chapel, North Carolina.

“...A few months ago I had been a graphic designer, with a house and a husband, safe and stable...”

Her uncle owns what is known as The “Wonder” Museum aka “Glory to God Museum of Natural Wonders, Curiosities, and Taxidermy” that sits between a clothing boutique & a coffee shop, also owned by Earl. Her uncle, who refers to Kara by the nickname “Carrot,” is beyond excited to see her, not only because he missed her but because his health is deteriorating & he can’t get around like he used to. He needs a break, which she is more than obliged to give him. But, what neither of them realizes is that after he takes his leave of absence & a new box of goodies arrives to sell, everything at the museum is about to change.

One day, she & friend Simon from the coffee shop find a hole in the wall & are befuddled as to what could have caused it. What they find is a land of willows with a variety of islands & doors, some leading into blackness & others revealing much more.

“Something was moving in the willows.”

I went into this book blind & it was truly unsettling! I don’t want to say much more because I want you to have the same experience. It was definitely a unique ride & I’m glad that I choose to join this buddy read with my other Overbooked Book Club friends. It was an experience like no other.

“Come on, there’s a hallway that can’t exist and a giant locked door at the end...do you WANT to get eaten by monsters?”

3.5 ⭐️ Rounded up for Goodreads & Netgalley.

Flabbergasted, what did I just read?!

Thank you to T. Kingfisher, Gallery Press/ Saga Press and Netgalley for my gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is one interesting story that takes you places you have never imagined you'd ever go. I had no idea what I was getting myself into but all of a sudden I found myself in the strangest of places.
This story starts you off when Kara has decided to help her uncle out while he's getting some surgery. She heads to his strange little place of business, a place she spent a ton of time in growing up and knows everything about, and gets herself settled in. However, one day she find something she never knew was there. A strange little hole in the wall. She and a friend decided the smartest thing to do is explore this of course!
Eventually this leads to a door and as you know a door can never lead to anything good. Especially a door that is discovered down a long hallway that doesn't make any sense. Eventually they have to go through this door and they find so much more than they could have bargained for. A world not fit for the likes of humankind, especially when there are creatures who can... I just can't bring myself to tell you! You need to read it to find out.
I know the synopsis for the book tells you a lot more about what they find behind the door and everything but I can't tell you. I don't want to be the spoiler of all the things! So much happens but the things that happen are things you really need to read for yourself. It's so much creepier and just makes the book better that way.
I liked this book. It had characters that were very well written and easy to like and cheer on. It had times where I found myself drifting out of the story just a little bit but then something would happen that would pull me right back in. I thought the plot was just a tad shaky but by the very end things seemed to come together enough to pull it all off with ease. It's a good story.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Netgalley, the author, and anyone I may have missed for the chance to receive an advance e-copy of this book. I appreciate it!

Kara and Simon were great characters to follow along with on this journey in The Hollow Places. It was a great mix of creepy, funny, and suspenseful.

I found the plot to be super interesting and not over or under explained. Which is important to me with supernatural things and I feel like it was done perfectly in this book.

I found The Hollow Places to be a quick, intriguing and creepy read. I absolutely loved the main characters (especially Beau!) and loved that there was a humor element to this disturbing story. The friendship between Kara and Simon is very well done and the writing is very descriptive. Only con I can say is that the explanation of the willows and other elements seemed rushed and I'm still kind of confused. But when you're dealing with interdimensional and world travel, that will happen :D. Will definitely read more by this author in the future.

I received a e-arc of this book from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Any links to purchase the book included in this review will be affiliate that will earn me a commission if you use them to purchase the book. This review contains spoilers, probably, because I have no idea what counts as spoiler. Read with caution if you have not read the book and prefer a reading experience without much known.

Horror isn’t a genre I am well-versed in. I only recently got into, and I am still finding my footing in the genre. I picked up the Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher, the the author’s previous horror novel, at the start of the year. I, admittedly, thought it was this book when I first started the audiobook because I was, at the time, trying to catch up on ARCs. I fell in love with it and just knew I needed to read more books like it.

The Hollow Places, a fantastical horror novel, follows a young woman who after her marriage falls apart moves in with her uncles and helps him run his museum of curios. While he is away recovering from surgery, she discovers a hole in the wall that leads her to another world, one that is barren and strange and roamed by monstrous creatures that are not always hungry.

Pray they are hungry. She, along with the friend that followed her through the hole in the wall, reads etched into the door frame of another bunker they find in this strange world. Combined with the eeriness of the world, the emptiness that is felt not in what is described but what is not, it sets a chilling tone, one that primes the reader for a nearly biblical horror. Nothing is known about the creatures, Not what they look like. Not what they can do. Not how they move. Nothing of that sort. In fact, the only piece of information given is right before, they can hear you think.

The world itself is given some more attention. I imagined it almost in gray scale. Muted shades of green, brown, and blue with black and grey accents. I did not imagine a bright blue sky or a blinding sun but instead an intense grayness premating it all. Oddities in the sand are described. The trees, all a sort of willow, are described. The occasional shriek of a killdeer or an odd humming, almost like a gong, is noted. Late, fish are mentioned to live in the water. There is a distinct lack in the world.

It made me wonder. What happened here? Where is everything? It set me on edge, giving me goose bumps in a way that few other things had. It was a thing that built and built and, while it was occasionally undercut by humor in order to offer some relief, kept building until the climax of the story.

Really, the atmosphere of the novel is what matters. On storygraph, it is listed as action-driven. And where that isn’t factually wrong, it does feel wrong. What drives the story isn’t character or action but the world and the ever-building tension, the story itself seeking some sort of relief to that. While there is action and wonderfully realized characters, those are not the draw of the story or even the focus. It is instead on the horror of this world, on these creatures and on what they do. And that is a terror I cannot recommend highly enough.

Eerie and atmospheric, The Hollow Places is a perfect listen or read for a good Summer Scare! Set in an oddity museum and alternate realities beyond there’s a creepy something for everyone.

I volunteered to read this book, through netgalley in exchange, for an honest review. This book is well written and the characters are described well. You guys, you have to read this book. It will keep you captivated from the first page. It has the creepy feelings to send a few chills down your spine. But it has a whole lot of fantasy in it also. It is in stores now for $16.99 (USD).

I normally don't read books of this subject matter but the synopsis gave me Narnia vibes so I had to pick it up.
I found this to be fantastic! What a book to start out with - monsters and jump scares, to say the least! As someone who doesn't read horror, this one made me want to look into the genre more, then again, this must be a rarity of the genre if I enjoyed it.

***SPOILERS***

The Hollow Places is a unique blend of horror and fantasy/sci fi. The creatures in it are truly fearsome, and I thought they (They?) were presented well, and when you think about it, these creatures are terrifying. They're attracted by your thoughts when you think of them, they're more or less invisible, they can move through the time space continuum, if they're hungry they'll eat you, but if they're not, they'll just toy with you to see how you tick, so no matter what kind of mood they're in, you aren't safe. Horrifying!

I've seen some reviews complaining about the protagonist being immature, and on one hand, I get that, but when I started looking at the novel as kind of a love letter to older millennials, I was able to enjoy her a lot more. Kara is the precise embodiment of an older millennial: fanfiction, bad attempts at humor in dangerous situations, constant consumption of coffee and Chinese takeout, etc. When I looked at her as not just the protagonist of a horror novel but as an older millennial stuck in an unearthly situation, I felt like I understood her more, if that makes sense.

Overall, I enjoyed The Hollow Places. I got an ARC of The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher and read it back before it was released, and I remember appreciating the horror creature elements of it, too. I'm looking forward to seeing more by this author!

I think this is one of the fastest times I've ever read a book. Honestly less than 24 hours. It was totally addictive. I loved this setting. That cute little museum filled with all kinds of weirdness managed to somehow be both creepy and adorable. The owner was likable and I really enjoyed Simon and Kara. I think this is the first time that I've ever truly read a book that manages to be funny, weird, creepy, and yet still managed to give you the warm feelies! I really feel that the author did a wonderful job with the characterization. The banter between them was real and lifelike I still can't believe this is only her second book. I look forward to reading a 3rd. Well done!

Finding a portal to another world, check. Walking through it to see what's on the other side, not a good idea. This story started out strong with pages of nail-biting suspense. It fell apart somewhat towards the end but I stayed along for the ride.

The Hollow Places" was my first novel by the wonderful T. Kingfisher but it most assuredly will not be my last! Holy cow, where to begin? The impending sense of dread that she is able to throw out into the story AND the ability to maintain its momentum was one of my favorite things about her plot development. It never seemed misplaced or even over the top in a novel that is definitely in the "suspension of belief may be required" category! Lol! Her characters are just perfectly rendered and lend an innate believability to a story that at its core is centered around a small North Carolinian museum in a town named Hog Chapel (because of course it was!) called the "Glory to God Museum of Natural Wonders, Curiosities and Taxidermy" (BECAUSE...OF COURSE IT WAS!!) What transpires there is a trip to...another place? Another time? Another world?? Suffice it to say, if you are a fan of "LOST" or "Stranger Things" you will feel right at home!! Yes, indeed.🙂🙃

This novel is just so unexpectedly real, chilling, and funny in its quirkily believable unbelievability that I'm really reluctant to say too much more. It is just one of those gems of a read that going in blind storywise seems to be right. It allowed this reader, at any rate, to quickly identify with the main characters, as well as to share their growing sense of horror at each new turn of events presented to us during our time at the Wonder Museum!

❤LOVED❤THIS❤NOVEL❤

I would like to sincerely thank NetGally for the privilege of reading an advanced digital copy of "The Hollow Places." But most of all CUDOS and many thanks to T. KINGFISHER (a.k.a. Ursula Vernon) for transporting this reader and hopefully many, many more future readers, to another place, another time, another universe if just for awhile through the alchemy of your words about worlds near, far, and inbetween!!

#TheHollowPlaces
#TKingfisher
#HugoAwardWinningAuthor
#SimonAndSchuster
#NetGalley
#readthisbooknow

The Hollow Places is a scientific fantasy book of parallel worlds, portal fantasy, and terrifying creatures with a hint of horror and Comedy.
The story starts when a young woman Kara, goes to live with her Uncle Earl. After a painful divorce without having any aid, she had nowhere to go. When her uncle earl offers her to work at his Museum, Glory to God Museum of Natural Wonders with a place to stay, she gladly accepted.

She was happy having her life back together but soon it turned upside and down When Earl has to take a leave for a few weeks to get knee surgery and leaving Museum at kara's hand.

This story is full of adventure taking readers into a fantasy world with unexpected horror. This is my first reading by T. Kingfisher and I enjoyed her writing style, characters/world building. But I wish this story has more creepy/horror elements.

Overall I enjoyed the story and recommend it to anyone who likes to read fantasy books with light horror.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for this free copy to read and review in exchange for an honest opinion.