I wanted to like this, I really did. But it just fell flat. Azura wasn’t particularly likeable, the romance felt way too quick (went from 0-60 in like 2 seconds), the interesting part (the ghouls) felt really underutilised. The book didn’t really pick up plot wise until the last 25-30% of it. There some very questionable writing in parts as well - saying that because the character was vegetarian meant she found sucking a cut on her own finger repellant had me rolling my eyes. And why did the author need to make the queen get married when she was 2?

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me access to this book.

3/5

I don’t know if it was because I started this book at the worst time - i.e. during a billion exams - but I continuously contemplated DNFing and I don’t DNF books.

Why did the book get so interesting in the last 30% of the book? It may require a reread but not anytime soon.

While the world building was excellent and I enjoyed the interactions between the characters, I was a bit bored regarding the plot line. Such as how it took over half of the book for the interesting Zombies/Ghouls to appear. One part I was horrified at was that Lena was made Queen at 2 years old. My jaw literally dropped to the floor, Holy Crap why? Why make her that young?

I loved the complexity of the characters, especially Lena. I was guessing why she often acted like she does and constantly tried to understand why the Little Queen was ruthless. In my opinion she was the only character who experienced deep flaws and I wouldn’t mind a spin-off where she goes full terminator on her kingdom without being stopped. She deserved a book to be written about her.

I liked Sylvie a lot, she was forced to become ordinary and human despite living with magic. Her deafness allowed her to change her experiences and become who she was at the end of the book. Myles was also an interesting character even if we barely see him. I kinda disliked Azura a little, I tried not to, but I kept thinking, “huh, what is she going to do?”, I don’t know if I actually missed something while reading but she kept bothering me.

I loved the Sapphic representation and how normal it was for the characters and not experience stereotypical hatred that can be found in books. I love how normalized LGBT+ representation is becoming, especially for a younger generation who probably want to seek more books that they can semi-relate to. I wish I had that, I still don’t but I’ve expected that.

(Cross-posted to Fable and Goodreads and StoryGraph)

Good premise but it didn’t catch my attention too much. It left me with some questions about it, it had interesting choices of words that different from other fantasy books

A cute, short fantasy with a sapphic couple as the main coupling. I like this story for what it was. It is a great pallet cleanser in between more in depth fantasy books to give your brain a break. I would have liked to see more conflict around the zombies, and less of a romance that goes from zero-one hundred in like two pages. Overall, a good little story though. I would definitely read more from Mary Borsellino in the future!

Silvie is a sentry, part of a group of child soldiers who can mentally bond with wolves in order to kill the reanimated corpses that attack. These corpses are a consequence of the use of magic. Azura’s father is the royal record keeper and alchemist, and she chafes at his well meaning but ultimately misguided rules and feelings.

After Silvie loses her magic, her hearing, and her balance in an attack with a ghoul, she is chosen to apprentice with Azura’s father. She struggles to let go of the past, and Azura struggles with the idea of taking her father’s role in the future. They are thrown together, and slowly learn to appreciate the other.

The entire time I was reading this book, I felt a sense of tension between the characters which was very well crafted. I think the beginning was slow, but I felt that it made the later parts of the story come together more cohesively.

I do think that Silvie and Azura would still have a long way to go to understanding each other, and I felt as though the extent of their romance moved faster than I would have expected. However, I think this book packed so much world building and character building into such a small package that I was impressed.

This was quite enjoyable ! The world and the magic system were very interesting, I really liked having a natural consequence to the use/abuse of magic in the form of resurrecting corpses. The characters were interesting and complex, while I didn’t always agree with them they felt real.

My one complaint is with the overall pacing and the ending. It felt both rushed and too slow, not leaving enough time to let things simmer but also like nothing happened. I personally would have liked to see what happens after the ending, but that’s mostly because I don’t like such open endings.

3.75/5

I had a lot of difficulty getting into this book, and honestly DNF. Lots of long sentences with dependent clauses, and so many character names introduced with no context made it hard to follow and be absorbed by the story. What's a sentry? Silvie seemed to enjoy bonding with the wolf in the brief moment before the Ch. 1 attack, but what was the purpose and history of the role? Seeming disconnects--in Ch. 1, Silvie decides not to admonish another child for using "ghoul" instead of "cadaveri", but in Ch. 5 "frankly Silvie didn't see why it made a difference what you called them"-- and repetitions of scraps of information (christallo cause problems when used, evidently; magic requires latent ability) made it unclear what's important. At times, the narrative relies very heavily on dialogue that doesn't seem to move the plot forward, while at other times the world's rules are helicopter-dropped in.

I think there's probably an interesting world underlying this fantasy story, but I had trouble understanding both it and the intended plot line.

I received a free copy from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I thought there were some good aspects to this book, I like the idea of a fantasy setting where zombies are the primary conflict, and I think it was underutilized since they really only appear a couple of times.

I liked Silvie as an mc, but on the other hand I didn’t really care for Azura since she didn’t really have any character development despite the fact that her flaws are a major part of her character.

The romance was cute at times, but it felt a little rushed since we hardly get any indication that Silvie was interested in Azura at all until right before they get together.

I do think the biggest problem was the pacing, since some ideas were introduced but not fully fleshed out. The most enjoyable part of this book for me was the friendship between Azura, Sylvie, Lena, and Myles. Lena ended up being my favorite character.

i didn't enjoy this novel as much as I thought I would, but I was still surprised just by how original it was. the whole premises was interesting, and I would even say nicely done. However, I couldn't really get into the story because I didn't care for any of the characters (i straight up hated some of them).

one of the main characters was just boring. her backstory was great, and the representation was impressive, but she didn't do nothing the entire novel, and she barely showed any kind of emotion.

the other main character, azula, was just annoying. even though she was supposed to be 18, she acted like a spoiled brat. she reminded me of people who try to force their opinion on everyone else because they believe theirs is the only correct one. the entire time, she was just insufferable. anytime she said something I wanted to punch her.

i really liked the side characters, the princess and her guard. even though I saw the plotwist coming, I still enjoyed it and the ending was quite sad. we needed more worldbuilding, but since this was an under 200-page novel, it's understandable why the author rushed it a little.

As an avid reader of supernatural and romance books, I had very high hopes for this one, because the description made it seem amazing and I was super hyped to read it.
Unfortunately, I struggled with this book.
The worldbuilding seems very rushed. when I first began reading, I was extremely lost. I know It's common for that to happen in the beginning of a book, so I carried on. It did not get better.
I was very much clueless and had to come up with my own explanations for things that didn't fit.
What kind of magic are these people using? why are the dead rising? Why is it blamed on the mankind? what are the mixed races? who are they mixed with? What's up with the sudden, uncalled - for bullying of people wearing yellow furs? How was silvie saved, exactly?

Ok, next up_
The characters are all over the place.
one minute I see Silvie as this brooding never-trust-anyone type, but the next- she's.... a shy teen?
herr chemistry with other people is confusing for me, because she acts like a normal teen who overshares with people she just recently met. And why is she so cool with the royalty?
Additionally, silvie and Azura barely spend any time together, but suddenly Azura's jealous of other people having more things in common with Silvie? And the absolutely unacceptable things she says in her mind are baffling and insulting to What Silvie had to go through. It felt way too artificial.
I couldn't develop any sort of bond with the characters, because they all seemed too one-dimensional and their actions were too... much.
The action scenes are another sources of headaches. oftentimes I had to re-read some scenes to make sense of who did what, like in the beginning, when some drink men, for some reason, started cussing out silvie, getting all up in her space and... Actually, I had to quess from here, because in the middle of the scruffle Azura appeared? And they fell.. someplace that for some reason is very dangerous for magic users. It was so confusing I turned off my brain.
Then there are some weird phrasings that I would word differently, I guess. sometimes I had to read a sentence again just to understand what It wanted to convey.

In conclusion, worldbuilding is a major problem for this book, followed by character Inconsistencies, hard to read action scenes and many questions that are left unanswered.
If I were youunger though, I probably would have liked this book.
Unfortunately, It didn't live up to my expectations.

2.5 / 5 stars

Oh I wanted to love this so much, but it never managed to really get me invested in the story or the characters. There isn't really a actual plot for 85% of the story, and the romance between the two main characters also doesn't really get started until about 50%. In a longer book, that may have been fine, but with a novella length story like this, it just means that the romance almost feels insta-love-y because of how quickly it goes from maybe to serious. It also makes the ending feel very tacked-on, as if it were an afterthought, instead of the logical conclusion to the story. There were obviously morsels of the plot scattered throughout, but when the thread between them is revealed at the end, it doesn't feel satisfying or compelling, it's just "meh". The magic system is quite interesting and probably the thing I liked best about the story, but it still feels kind of half-baked, since it's never really clarified what exactly magic can and cannot do. I was also very put off by the whole 'sentry' thing, because I never quite understood what they were, they hunt down the cadaveri, yes, but apart from that? Is the projecting into animals unique to them? Can they do more than just that projection? Why are they so despised by the common people? I also really struggled with the ages of the main 4 characters, as they were all described as 'young', but also they weren't all the same age, I think?
There's potential, certainly, but in its current form I really can't justify any score above a 2.5.

Witches and world-building... what's not to love?! I really enjoyed reading this book. I loved how Mary Borsellino really leans into the personal costs of magic that a lot of fantasy books tend to gloss over. PLUS, it's a queer book! There is an awful lot to love about this book and I really look forward to more books from Borsellino! :)

If people come from The Wolf House to this, they are going to find something that may be quite different to what's expected. While the former has a focus on snappy dialogue and a host of characters, this one is much more centred on world building. Because of that, I think it's a slower book to start before we even really start getting to know the four main characters and, particular, the two PoV characters.

We see Sylvie very briefly with magic before she loses it in the same incident that injures her leg. She's not much use on the front lines after that and ends up being sent for by the alchemist of the far off city, Arteria.

It's here that she meets our other PoV character, Azura, as well as her friends Queen Lena (who is queen in name only) and her body guard Myles.

The most similar book to this with its sapphic love story and zombies/necromancy plotline that I can think of is the very well known Gideon the Ninth but, although I struggled sometimes to understand what was going on (I'm not a huge consumer of the zombie genre overall) I enjoyed this one a great deal more.

This is a book that is queer, disability and survivor friendly all at once. I don't think I've so aptly seen a story that discusses the issue of people doing bad things out of a terrible thing that happened to them in childhood in such an empathetic way. Just loved the resolution of this story.

The Hollow Witch is a solid YA read that has strong characters and even stronger world building. Actually, the world building regularly takes precendent over the characters and plot which messes with the pacing and can make the reading experience less enjoyable.

Around 70% the author truly commits to the plot and rushes forward with answers to all of the readers' questions.

There are some serious themes that are touched on but not explored. I don't believe it's a bad thing but rather see it as being sensitive to readers with triggers.

An overall good read.

This touched on a lot of important topics. The writing was generally okay, but I thought the pacing was a bit meandering at times and way to quick at others. The characters were well developed and the relationships were solid. I just did not fully believe the issues

Silvie is a sentry, one of many children abandoned at infancy or childhood for being different — left handed, mismatched eyes, odd colored hair or skin, birthmarks, anything that marks them as not meeting a certain standard of personhood. The lives of sentries are ones of privation, hunger and cold, hard work, and suspicious gazes; called names by ‘normal’ people, viewed with hostility, they are the front line defense between humanity and the ghouls, the cadavari who rise with a hunger for human flesh.

When an accident causes to Silvie lose her magic and the hearing in one ear, leaving her with permanent vertigo, she cannot help but think her life may as well be over. Instead, it’s simply a new chapter, as a respected doctor from the palace has been looking for someone like her — someone with no magic — to be his apprentice. So, leaving everything and everyone she knows behind, Silvie embarks on a new adventure where she meets Lena, the widow queen; Myles, her bodyguard; and most important of all, Azura, the doctor’s daughter.

Silvie knows her real purpose is to be a lure to draw Azura back to her father’s side, to make her jealous enough of the apprentice she was supposed to be that she will push Silvie aside. But that’s alright. The few skills Silvie learns here might be enough to help her live a useful life when all is said and done. But Azure doesn’t want to replace Silvie or be a doctor. The rivalry is there, but it’s not the way Silvie thought it would be. Instead, Azura is offended that Silvie is growing close to Myles, Lena’s bodyguard. Azura and Lena have been friends ever since Lena was brought in as a child bride to the old king. Myles has always been an annoyance, but now that Silvie and he are becoming friends, just as Azura is beginning to understand her own feelings for Silvie, it’s all becoming just a bit too much.

The world building in The Hollow Witch is interesting, and is really a highlight of the book. Here, magic is as common as ice in a drink, fire on a cold night, or medicine for a headache. It’s an easy and accessible part of daily life. However, there’s a price to be paid for using it, and that is the cadavari. When magic is used, especially in great quantities, it raises the dead. And for the most part, people are willing to deal with that, to lose a few people every now then to ghouls, because lights in the dark, clean clothing, and straight teeth are worth it.

Because there are so many cadavari, there is a need for sentries, like Silvie, and Guards, other unwanted infants and children. However, the life expectancy of these two castes is so high that they need replacing, often, so the list of things that make a child unsuitable gets longer and longer. And strange how, in the royal city, Silvie sees many people with dyed hair or gloves to hide their hands, flaws corrected by magic for people of a certain social standing.

Silvie is infinitely aware of her status, having in essence jumped castes. Azura, on the other hand, is not. She has always been privileged, and while she’s not entirely aware of how awful it is for those less privileged than herself, she is not without suffering. Her parents argued often during her childhood. Screaming, shouting, and hints of more physical altercations, until her father sent her mother away — and Azura never saw her again. Even now, he expects her to come to her senses and be his true apprentice, even as he chastises her for not excelling in schoolwork. He doesn’t ask why Azura struggles, why some lessons come more easily than others, he just assumes she will be able to do the things he wants her to do.

Azura and Silvie both come into this with subtle prejudices. Silvie has an idea of what a privileged, rich girl must be like, while Azura has no idea what Silvie’s life must have been like, and doesn’t actually want to make any effort to find out. And yet, as they get to know one another over the course of the book, they find a kindred spirit in each other. Silvie is patient and kind, Azura is defensive and confrontation avoidant. She wants things to be fine, just … fine. No shouting, no arguing, no yelling, no unpleasantness. She wants Lena to be happy, she wants Silvie to be happy, she wants her father to understand her. Silvie just wants to belong. They match each other’s energies so well, once they actually start talking to one another. They balance one another, and the pair of them work well together. Which is good, because they have to stop the world from ending.

The other character in this book, though given no POV, is Lena, Little Magdalena, the Widow Queen. She’s a bright, brittle young woman (all three of the girls are teenagers) who has great plans and a clever, political mind. What she wants, she intends to get. She’s a good friend and a quixotic, charming young queen, and her story is a tragic one.

All three characters, throughout their lives, have had the freedom of choice taken away from them. Silvie, as a sentry, has been more property than person. Azura, her her eyesight corrected magically when she didn’t want it corrected, now wears glass lenses in protest. Lena was married to the king when she was four, and has never had a choice in her life that wasn’t fraught with consequences. Even at the end, there is no easy path; Lena and Silvie both make choices, for good or ill. Azura’s choice is simpler, but no less world changing, as she decides to love Silvie in a world that doesn’t accept same sex relationships, and in a household where her father doesn’t approve.

This book was almost a four star read for me. I was enjoying the world building, the slow reveals of character motivations, and the way Silvie’s disability was portrayed. She suddenly began to need a cane and went from able to hear to being deaf in one ear. Vertigo kept her from doing many things she wanted, and the loss of her magic kept her from being able to do small, mundane things that everyone else could do. And it’s not just a mention and then gone; these are things that affect how she handles every situation, from climbing the stairs to entering a catacomb, to not being able to hear when danger is approaching. She feels weaker, more fragile, but never helpless.

However. There’s a scene at the end that makes absolutely no sense to me. After the climax of the book, Silvie calls to Queen Eve (who was queen before Lena) to help her. And I want to know why. Nowhere was it mentioned that Queen Eve was someone Silvie felt a connection to or even had any knowledge of. It’s a random moment with no foreshadowing that comes out of nowhere — and because it comes so late in the book, it’s one of the moments that I remember most clearly. And it ruined what could have been a stronger book because now I’m stuck trying to figure out what this moment, what this nothing of a character has to do with anything. I’m sorry, but the ending drops this nearly a full point. It’s not a strong moment or a clever twist. It’s confusing, frustratingly so, and feels obviously set up to be a segue into the next book, but because of how it was handled, I’m not certain I want to pick up the sequel.

Trigger warnings for mentions of child abuse and neglect, mentions of spousal abuse, mentions of rape, mentions of the torture of children, and suicidal ideation.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 /5 (Rounded up to 4)
# Pages: 210
Publication Day: 12.15.25

🧟‍♀️ YA High Fantasy
🧟‍♀️ Sapphic
🧟‍♀️ LGBTQ+ Rep
🧟‍♀️ Zombies (Cadaveri)
🧟‍♀️ Child Soldier
🧟‍♀️ Disability Rep
🧟‍♀️ Witchy

The Hollow Witch by Mary Borsellino is a YA high fantasy sapphic novel. The world building/ character building is beautiful. However, there’s definitely dark and eerie elements in there too. I wish it could have been a little longer because some of it did fall flat. It’s a great start though and I think it could flow into a series. It was slow in the beginning but picked up and became a page tuner. A very unique story and worth the read.

Silvia (child soldier) and Azura (alchemist daughter), FMCs, have different backgrounds with their upbringing. However, they’re drawn to each other and thus their story begins. I enjoyed reading about their interactions. Their love story, very slow burn, is more of a sub plot feel.

Overall, it was a great short read. I would like to read more from the author and watch her grow within her writing. Thank you netgalley and Clan Destine Press for this ARC read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Clan Destine Press, Inc. for allowing me a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

I agree with other reviews in that this book feels like a draft rather than a finished story. I feel the author wasn't sure of the tone of the book, that they wanted to address so many things that none were explored that in-depth. I do think this story had potential. There are some really good points, some quotes I really liked, but overall I feel the text felt a little bit disjointed. Like everything was silly antics and the next this dramatic talk and the next silly again and then traumatic, but it felt kind of episodic and the important issues weren't properly addressed.

There's this ongoing theme in the book of Azura feeling kind of left out because of her sheltered life and feeling bad about caring about these things that seem so little in comparison with what everyone else was dealing with and I both liked it and didn't. On the one hand I feel this reflects our society, how we know the horrible stuff that's going on and then feel stupid that we care about failing a subject or a silly fight. But on the other hand I felt like most of the time she complained just because she could (?). Like check your privilege. Half of the time I couldn't stand her for it because the dead were literally rising and she was like "My life is solved but I don't wanna follow my father's footsteps :(". Like she felt so sorry for herself all of the time it was tiring. But I mean that's realistic, she's a teenager after all, a rich one.

She complains a couple of times about her dad fixing her vision because she didn't need any fixing. And I was there like :/ I've worn glasses since I was little. They're expensive as fuck. Every time I get my vision checked it got worse, so I need new ones. And then we have to think about money again. You see I don't see shit and if I were offered to have my eyesight fixed magically (and for free) I'd jump at the chance. I guess the author wanted to make a point about disability not needing fixing because you're not broken, but this didn't feel like it. It didn't sit right with me. That and Azura being so powerful and so "I don't really like magic" but then using it for everything made me feel like Azura was just a spoiled brat and I couldn't really empathise with her. I feel like I would have liked the book better if it was only told from Silvie's perspective.

I don't like how they handled Lena's abuse either. Like it was revealed in the end (even though it was obvious from the start) and Azura was like it's okay, you're gonna be okay and then the book is over.

Overall there were so many things worth exploring in this book and even though it felt so long they weren't explored and the author chose to focus on the romance instead.

The world building for this book was excellent, and as someone with disabilities similar to those of Silvie, I was very grateful for the accurate representation. The diversity of the characters was a huge plus.
I will say that there were serious pacing issues with the book. By the time I was half way through the book I was wondering if I would have to DNF. I found that there were many times where the world building lore overshadowed the characters and the plot of the actual story. Other than Silvie, most of the other characters felt very flat- and I found myself getting very annoyed with Azura and her teenage angst. I love a character driven novel, but I felt like the plot got lost along the way.

Overall the premise is amazing and I am certain that the book would make more sense in connection with the rest of the series, but the pacing issues were too glaring for me to properly enjoy the story.

I am always excited to see a sapphic fantasy written by and Australian author.

The story follows Sylvie who is an orphan tasked with defending the kingdom from zombie like cadevari. She has lost her magic, been physically injured, and has been assigned as an assistant to an alchemist. In her new role she meet’s the Alchemist’s daughter, Azura, the Dowager Queen, Lena and her Body guard Myles. With the cadevari creating and increasing threat, pressures of expectation in the court, Sylvie and Lena work to identify the threat and try to find a way to belong under the weight of expectations.

I found the pacing a bit slow to start with, but once I reached the critical point, it really took off! What I initially expected to be a high fantasy had a much larger horror and mystery element than I expected, with a very sweet romance woven into it as well.

This could very easily be a series! This was a nice quick read and I will definitely be looking for Mary Boresellino books in the future!