Child soldier Silvie loses her magic in the line of duty, ending her life as she knew it. She’s sent to the far-away canal city Arteria where she’s apprenticed to alchemists, forced to begin again. Azura, the alchemist's daughter, has always been among the wealthiest and most comfortable of Arteria’s society. She and Silvie are vastly different, but the two are drawn to one another, trapped by the circumstances of their birth.

All the while, Arteria is plagued by the high cost of its magic use: the cadaveri - walking corpses that prey on the living. When the city comes under threat, Silvie and Azura must decide if they are even willing to save Arteria.

The story starts off a little choppy as the psychic connection between Silvie and the other child soldiers with the wolves wasn’t fully developed yet. The first 75-ish percent of the book is character development and establishing their places in the story arch. The setting is richly vivid and draws the characters together smoothly. The veritable smorgasbord of human emotions the characters experience, and in turn, the reader experiences through them is exquisite.

The relationship between Silvie and Azura is a well done twining of two fully envisioned characters in the slowest burn. They each have their own struggles to define themselves outside of the expected roles they’ve been forced into, and yet come together in vulnerability - which is its own strength. The writing is lyrical and paints a picture of strife, power, and sacrifice in a world filled with hope and redemption.

This is zombies and witches high fantasy and a must read for anyone who loves magic, sapphic romance, and a dash of the morbid.

I got halfway through the first chapter and I could not continue. I loved the premise but the writing was so lacking, I couldn’t get past the first chapter. Would not recommend.

I very much liked the premise of this book and the combination of different supernatural beings however, the pace was much too slow for me and the delivery of the plotline felt robotic at times and not much emotion could be felt. Overall, this book has great promise but it undelivered for me.

The Hollow Witch by Mary Borsellino is a masterpiece! Pure art in book form.
This book?? Chef’s kiss. Total emotional rollercoaster. From the very first page, it drags you into this amazing world that feels like a dream you can’t (and don’t want to) wake up from. The storyline, the characters, the vibes — everything just clicks.
Mary Borsellino spun something truly magical here.
I want to read it again already. 10/10, no notes.

The idea of the world and the magic system is interesting but underexplored. It would be great to focus more specifically on some aspects of it more, and maybe also give a little more specific info sometimes. And I wish the writing had been more flowery so the flow of the story would be easier. The writing feels a little stiff and robotics sometimes. Since that are the things that could be achieved by practice, I hope the author won't stop writing.

Mary Borsellino does a fantastic job in writing this type of book. I was engaged with what was going on this universe and how the characters worked overall in this story. I loved the idea of this concept and thought the use of zombies were so well added to this world. I enjoyed this as a fantasy novel and thought the world was really well done. I'm excited to see where Mary Borsellino goes from here.

The idea of the world and the magic system is interesting but underexplored. It would be great to focus more specifically on some aspects of it more, and maybe also give a little more specific info sometimes. And I wish the writing had been more flowery so the flow of the story would be easier. The writing feels a little stiff and robotics sometimes. Since that are the things that could be achieved by practice, I hope the author won't stop writing.

Thank to NetGalley, the publisher and the author, for giving me the arc

The combination of magic, zombies and characters came together perfectly in this story! I was never once bored or drifting from the narrative because the pacing was fantastic.

I got this as an arc on Netgalley and it has since come out. I was enthusiastic because I like queer and disability rep, and seldomly you get both at once, but it wasn't for me. It was well written and a good story but I personally couldn't connect with it. 3 stars.

I really wanted to love this book, the premise sounded so interesting! The pacing felt a little bit off for me, which made it hard to stay engaged.

I read this book through NetGalley. I think a more accurate rating would have been like 3.5 stars, but there was enough that I enjoyed about this book that I will bump it to 4 stars

I love the world of this book, the Italian-like setting, the zombies and how they tie into the magic system. Related, I was fascinated by the dark history of this world involving witchcraft. I grew to really love Lena, and her relationship with Myles. I love the details put into the disabled representation with Sylvie. I really love the final line of this book, although at first I was like "WHAT? THAT'S IT?!" But really, I'm not sure what you could write immediately after that ending. I love the friendship between all 4 characters.

I think it's weaknesses come from the book being too short to really flesh out certain elements. For example, the wolf magic of the sentries really felt like set-dressing. There's other plot elements too that speed by, which makes it feel like there isn't a lot going on in the story until everything goes to shit in the last 40-ish pages.

I'll focus on the romance between Silvie and Azura because it was very sudden. It starts out slow from Azura's side (and there was this brief kiss scene with Myles that confused me) but then she realizes that she likes Sylvie--this was alright but also happens real late in the book, like there's roughly 60 pages left in the book when the "Oh.." moment happens. And then we gotta rush her and Silvie getting together when I never had the impression Silvie was interested in Azura that way?

But overall I did really enjoy this story! I would totally read more in this universe, maybe something in the far future.

The book was slow moving and at times I was losing interest, I had to put it down and then come back to it. The ending definitely left you thinking and felt it was missing more.

My favourite parts of this book were the LGBTQ+ representation, and the spookiness of it.
Unfortunately at times the pacing was off, it was hard to follow, and things seemed to happen in short random bursts, so unfortunately I didn’t completely finish this book. That’s completely to do with me though, as it’s not a book I would usually read! The baseline idea of it is great and I do think this could be a great series if the pacing was adjusted.

There were a lot of aspects to this book that drew me in enough to request an ARC: particularly references to alchemy and 'ex-soldier' characters. Once I'd finished reading, my feelings were pretty mixed.
First some things that I loved! Catacombs! They were creepy as hell (I really want to visit the ones in Paris). In fact, overall loads of this book had the eerie and macabre threaded through it, particularly with the Venice-inspired setting. The ghouls that are determined to keep coming at you no matter how you fight them? Yeah that's so cool. Also that the ghouls were tied into this capitalism/magic debt/ethical quandary really worked for me. Had that whole 'fighting society as well as magic' dilemma going on.

Other than the intriguing spooky aspects of the book, I think perhaps it would have been better suited to a two book structure. For me, there were just too many parts of the story that got brushed over or crammed into only a few lines. For example, the whole wolf plotline right at the start which didn't really add into the plot later in, or the way there was no overarching plot (you know where things start 'getting worse' or there start to be attacks happening more frequently etc). I think that because of this lack of stepping stones, when we reached the 'big reveal', I was not particularly convinced.

So ultimately had fun but felt it lacked something

I'm always looking for new sapphic fantasy reads, so I was super excited when The Hollow Witch came out in December. I love the idea of magic having a cost since it gives every decision so much more weight. It was easy to get immersed in the world and to become invested in the lives of Silvie and Azura. Admittedly, I did not read the entire synopsis before reading and the zombies took me completely by surprise! I haven't stumbled across a novel featuring zombies in years, so it was a welcome change that kept things interesting for me.

My only complaint is about the pacing. For the first 70-80% of the story, it felt like things were dragging on at times. The later half of the book felt rushed since the bulk of the plot advancement happened at once. Regardless, I still really enjoyed myself and would recommend giving it a read!

The Hollow Witch
Rating: 3/5

The Hollow Witch is an intriguing blend of fantasy, zombies, and queer representation, making it a unique addition to the genre. The novel does a great job incorporating LGBTQIA+ characters in a way that feels natural and well-developed, while the supernatural elements add an exciting twist.

However, the pacing is a bit uneven—some parts move too quickly, while others drag, making the flow of the story feel inconsistent. Despite this, the overall experience is enjoyable, with interesting world-building and engaging characters.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this book.

I liked the worldbuilding of the story, of the zombies and I wish we had gotten more with the sentries and their connection to the animals. I really liked Silvie, but the others kind of felt...meh. I don't feel like there was a lot plot wise until like the last 20% of the book, then it felt like I was reading a completely different story. Also tag warning for childhood sexual assault and pedophilia. That part caught me off guard so...fair warning.

Thank you to Netgallery and the publisher for the book.

I really like that the zombie type creatures are the main conflict of people using magic as an everyday thing, I just wish there was more to them in the story. I was curious about the sentry aspect and how they melded with animals and such but its never really talked about once Sylvie loses her magic.

The romance felt a little lackluster at times, I did like Sylvie but I had a hard time liking Azura but the overall romance wasn't really there for me. I did enjoy some of the other characters.

I just wish there had been more to this book, maybe if it had been longer some parts could have been written out better, some parts could have been edited out.

I saw the potential in the book but it gets a 3 star from me.

There was some good and some not so good aspects of this book. I appreciated the world building, the queer and disability representation, and who doesn’t like zombies?!

On the other hand, the story felt like there should have been more to it, or at least maybe have a sequel? Some sections didn’t seem fully flushed out and a lot of character development and plot progression seemed stagnant and choppy.

First few chapters were confusing and felt thrown in which made it hard to understand at first. As it went on through things start to piece together as the characters and world are built. At about 50% more started to happen but did feel a little rushed by the end.

There was no one character I was drawn to whilst reading. I would have liked more background of the characters whilst also more exploration of the relationships as this like the storytelling felt rushed.

However overall the premise I enjoyed however would have just liked some more!