House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2021

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593110348

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook ( Bookshop.org  | Amazon.com )

House of Hollow was shortlisted for the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Young Adult Fiction this year.

Ten years ago, Grey, Vivi, and Iris Hollow mysteriously disappeared, reappearing a month later without clothes, covered in strange white flowers, and with their hair and eye colors changed. Their father, shortly after, died by suicide. Grey, Vivi, and Iris all have the power to seduce people into doing what they want.

Grey is now a model and fashion designer, estranged from their mother. Vivi is a nomadic rock musician. Iris still lives at home and attends school. One day Vivi, Grey, and Iris arrange to meet and Grey never shows. It’s a sign that something is very wrong.

The body horror is strong in this. Girls coughing up decayed plants, flowers growing out of wounds, ants crawling from inside the skin, constant descriptions of rot and decay, flayed bodies. And yet it’s also very much a fairytale, with the girls walking through a portal and finding themselves in a lost place. It’s gruesome and yet also gorgeous, and a horrifying tribute to just how far sisters really will go for you.

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski