He nearly took everything from me, and I almost let him, blinded by my own pride and tricked by his manipulation. But I got away. I was the lucky one—not like the others.
I have to tell my story, but it’s only a matter of time before he finds out. I know what he did. I know all his secrets. And after I expose him, I know he’ll come for me to finish what he started.
HIM
I’ve been watching her for a long time.
Some think I’m sadistic—blinded by both rage and love. But I never meant to hurt her. And even after what happened, I know I can never let her go.
Now I’m her ghost, her hollow phantom driven by vengeance. There’s only one way to fill this void, and that’s to find her and finish what I started.
**Heart So Hollow is a dark romantic suspense suitable for ages 18+. Please read trigger warnings on the author's website.
3.5⭐ for this 800+ pages book! I think I can say I am officially out of my reading slump (maybe not)
It was so dark and twisted. Initially I was very much intrigued but as the story progressed I was able to guess the plot-twist but that didn't stop me from reading it.
‼️CHECK THE TRIGGERS‼️
There is some ow/om drama but it's complicated and I don't want to spoil it.
Okay, I think I am more than qualified to judge this book on 70% mark.
So there are two phases of emotion I heavily battled with which can be easily summed as the follows:
The first 35 % -had me on my knees, chokehold , fucked my sleep schedule so bad I was half hallucinating and I thought to myself »WOW, am not even halfway done yet it’s going so good «.
*fangirling so hard thinking I got myself a new go-to author.
Hence the fat disappointment AFTER THE 35% mark- when I first started reading the signs of Heroine’s thirsting after her stalker and that she likes his attention so much but actually pretends not to I ignored it. Completely. Happily.
Thought it was a fluke or two and that the story would pick up its original pace after sometime but the more I divulged into the story the more it became a reality and less of a nightmare I wanted no part in.
So I acknowledge this is as a me problem. I like the general idea of a strong willed heroine and I just lost interest whenever she salivates over a dick (much less two)but just can’t seems to accept it. Because let me tell you this two male in her story are both COCKY AF and arrogant and literally in the periphery of being psychopaths.
And I completely understand that for either of them to be in any kind of relationship, the heroine has to be borderline dumb to think with her other lips and simultaneously have a hint of darkness that sparks to life whenever she comes in contact with them. Enough darkness to overlook all his manipulation and gaslighting to work. And dumb enough to take him back with open arms regardless.
Both of her male characters didn’t give me a very good first impression and now I don’t have any patience to see their last.
GOOD SIDE THOUGH: I loved the way she writes. Her storytelling is really interesting and addictive.
TBH when I thought this would end differently- as naive as I was- I was comfortable loosing my beauty sleep over the satisfaction of reading them eat their own dust. But knowing now what I know now. I can’t conjure enough willpower to waste any min here let alone any seconds.
Brett, I know it’s tough and you were curious as to what happens next. Most likely going against your instinct and saying mad up shit like « Maybe it wont be as bad, who knows he can do a completely 360 after seeing my dashing kitty. And I already love a toxic dick anyway🤷🏼♂️ »
But this is where you cut the bud right off dear. No adrenaline good or bad is worth your peace of mind. Here,let me show you how.
4.25 ⭐️ Wow - I did not expect a lot of what happened in this book! Reading Heart So Hollow is like being in one big dark and twisted mind fuck where the plot twists just keep coming and coming. It did take me a little bit to get in to the book with multiple POV and timelines, but the plot kept me reading and also the suspense in this book was written beautifully. After I was about 70% done, I needed to know what was going to happen in the end!
This book might be long, but definitely an intriguing dark romance with lots of mystery! If this sounds like your cup of tea, it will release on July 23rd and you should definitely check it out!
Thank you to Emily Nealis for the ARC of this book! All opinions are my own!
Heart So Hollow is one seriously, deliciously dark, ominous, fucked up book. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever read.
What’s impressive is that it’s a thick book, so we would expect some chapters to drag, but not at all. To be able to sufficiently build the suspense, to keep on increasing the drippingly heavy atmosphere that lurks us in right from the very first chapter is quite a feat. I’ve read books half the size of this one that tended to contain unnecessary bits, yet that’s not the case here. That book was toxically hot and sometimes uneasy. I didn’t want it to end, we could cut the tension with a knife. The characters were complex and well fleshed out. Along with Brett’s, my sanity was eluding me at times. The smut scenes were also delightfully dark, bordering on cunningly devious. I truthfully relished in Heart So Hollow, the storyline was interesting to a fault.
The timeline gripped me efficiently as well: one year ago, present, college flashbacks. How it was strategically all over the place made it so easy to fall into the suspense, it built it up superbly. Every chapter left me with more questions than answers and I was eager for my suspicions to get either confirmed or thrown out the window. I think that’s all you need to know before diving in.
Heart So Hollow felt like the perfect dark Summer read, taking course the majority of the time outdoors or in a place surrounded by woods and… predators.
Thanks so much to Emily for the arc, I had a stressful yet amazing time reading 🖤😂
Wowza. 722 pages of psychopaths, sociopaths and mindfucks. Battle of the brutes for sure. So good and will definitely read her next book! Imagine wrapping things up in a nice and tidy bow but still leaving us wanting more with SEVEN HUNDRED PAGES. Wild.
This book hands down the best dark romance / thriller book I have read this year!!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Emily Nealis, I’m soo glad I was able to read this early & I can not wait for the rest of the world to read this masterpiece. Love your beautiful mind, like whatttt??! How did all this come to be?! Because I’m honestly amazed!!
This book is not your typical average stalker romance it’s also a thriller / murder mystery type of book. & the way the author wrote the different timelines and they beautifully came together👌🏻👌🏻 Also bringing the characters to life🤌🏻🤌🏻
This book takes you on a rollercoaster you never know what the heck is going to happen next there’s always a twist or some sort of freaking surprise that leaves you with “whaaattt noo wayyy??!” & sometimes gasping in disbelief or wtf moments.
It’s a pretty long book but if you get hooked like me you’ll finish it tops three days!! I mean I could’ve finished it in two or less but I’m a mom so I do my reading when I can😅😅 POINT IS DONT LET THAT SACRE YOU OFF!! 😆
Anyways!! 100/100
Def recommend this book!!! Check trigger warnings though!
Dark romance meets thriller. This book was so good. I was absolutely confused (in the best way possible) I was left with tons of questions after every chapter. I absolutely loved the different timelines that we got: present, college, and one year ago. This book is quite long but I ate up every single chapter 🥰 The characters were very complex but Emily did an amazing job portraying them. This book had me SCREAMING!!!
This. Freaking. Book. If you're into dark romance suspense, and a detailed storyline look no further. I was hooked for all 700+ pages. The only reason for 4.5 instead of 5 is the ending seemed rushed as opposed to the rest of the book. But wow. This is a must read
I dont wanna rate it cause i know I'll like it. But i think i need to come back to it a different day. Im not feeling it right now. I'll come back to it!
I was a fortunate ARC reader and this book took me on a whirlwind of emotions! It’s without a doubt the best book I’ve read in the last couple of years. The page count looks intimidating but man was it needed. The small details and stories connect like a pinboard for a murder case in this story.
The romance is absolutely heart wrenching and takes you on highs and lows throughout the entire book! The spice in this book is absolutely 5/5! If not more! It has an extensive TW list so make sure you read those and get ready to step into a world of murder, mystery and love in the darkest way!
What the actual fuck (in the best damn possible way)!!??? You need to run and read this book if this genre is your jam because it’s one of the most well written books I’ve read in years. Hats off to Emily Nealis because she hit a homerun with this story.
This book was just incredible. Between the writing, the plot, the character development.. I think I experienced every emotion reading this book. After finishing, I kept finding myself going back and re-reading parts that just absolutely blew my mind. I can’t wait to have a paper copy of my shelf to mark up all my favorite, and crazy 🤪, parts!
This book was everything I want in a dark romance with psychological thriller vibes. Like, this story was so well written it felt real to me. Like a story you’d hear on the news, but this one with a happy ending 🙃
This, without a doubt, the best written book I think I’ve read in the last 3 years. It broke my star rating system.
I will never recover.
This unexpectedly well written dark romance / suspense story starts out with a girl named Brett. We are thrown between her past and present, never knowing what might happen next, or what happened in her past to put all the pieces of what’s going on in her present.
This is a story of two parts: Colson Lutz, and Bowen Garrison. The author gives you snippets of each, and intertwines them to help you figure out the picture and what is real and what is not.
This book is 100% going to be a smash. I am so lucky I signed up for an eARC because this book is insane. It’s so good and twisted and I don’t ever want it to end. If you haven’t added it to your TBR, but you like dark thrillers, dark romance, unexpected twists- and unhinged men who will do anything to keep you…
Get. This. Book.
I’ll never recover.
6.0 / 5.0 (yes it’s so good it broke my star system).
This book was incredible. It kept me guessing for so long that I often found myself going back to search for clues. I was completely captivated. Colson and Brett were perfect together—Colson’s unhinged and dark nature made him intriguing, and Brett was irresistibly drawn to him. Bowen appeared perfect initially, but his true evil nature eventually came to light. I was thoroughly invested in the mystery and the story's outcome. It was difficult to put down.
𝓢𝓹𝓲𝓬𝓮 - Good girl - Rough Play - Bondage - 🔪 - This book is LONG and it takes AWHILE to get to the super spicy bits - There is a LOT of non spice you have to read before you get to the spice, but then the spice starts and HOLY HECK ITS ALL THE SPICE for a few chapters - Then it goes back to being all the plot
𝓠𝓾𝓲𝓬𝓴 𝓢𝓾𝓶𝓶𝓪𝓻𝔂 - Brett is attempting to rebuild her life, but complications arise when the source of her trauma returns.
𝓣𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼 So I started reading this expecting it to be a dark romance, and I QUICKLY realized I needed to change my expectations. While it definitely is accurate to describe this as a dark romance book, it is much more similar to a thriller. There is a heavy focus on romance and relationships, but the style and the way it is written and the overarching plot is much more thriller than it is romance.
I loved it. It wasn’t like insanely shocking and wowed me because I wasn’t expecting things. The twists were pretty obvious even when I hoped there would be more to them, but the suspense and emotion are what really drew me in and kept me hooked. I could guess what was going to happen eventually, but I loved learning all the little details on the characters journey.
If I could write a two page essay on how AMAZING this book was, that probably still wouldn’t be enough for me to tell you just how much I loved it. I had not read Emily’s previous book before sitting down and opening this story. I just had some snippets from her on her instagram and a vague idea of what was going to happen, but I still was not ready for what transpired between these pages.
Heart so Hollow tells the story of not just one person, but three, whose lives have intertwined because of tragedy and violence. Emily leads you on a journey of twists and turns that have even you as the reader second guessing what is about to happen.
It’s rare that you come across a FMC like Brett. Someone who has shortcomings but also is someone that fights to have that control that we all value in our lives, but it makes her strong. Emily’s way of writing characters that seep into your bones and feed your soul will make you devour this book simply because you’re going to need to know more. You’re going to not want to put it down as you’re trying to figure out the mystery that lies between the pages.
The world that she immerses you in is rich and detailed and for a minute there, you will feel like you are truly involved in what’s going on, solving the mysteries right there along with everyone……plus who doesn’t love mentions of Amy Lee and Rina Kent?
If you love dark romance, stalkers who do whatever they can to protect you, murder mysteries and LOTS of dirty scenes, I cannot recommend this book enough. I promise it’s a must read for anyone who loves the darker side of romance.
Heart So Hollow by Emily Nealis is a dark romantic thriller novel. Wow just wow that was one twisted mind warp but in a good way. Emily Nealis I loved this book! It truly was everything a dark thriller should be and more. Every time I said oh yeah I got it the author said oopsie throwing in your next twist and turn. The main characters were developed well and the chemistry was full steam ahead. The timeline was sporadic which was great because it kept you on your toes. The book was VERY long but honestly I did not notice I was so engrossed in the book. Check your CW/TWs. Then check this book out it’s good!
I went into this book blind and you should too. Holy shiz the twists and turns are simply magnificent. I will say no more other than you need to absolutely add this to your TBR!
Wow, I don't even know where to start this review... This hauntingly soul crushing story was beautifully written. I felt lied to and manipulated through the whole book. I swear at some points, I felt like I was going insane right along with Brett. Without giving anything away, this book was amazing. It couldn't have been written any better than it already is. For everyone wanting to read this book, everything is not what it seems. Lies, manipulation, murder, and stalking. Everybody has their own secrets and hides behind their own masks.
Emily Nealis, I am amazed, creeped out, and LOVE the way your mind works. I don't want to say too much but if you love thriller/suspense (the kind where you feel the need to never stop reading), dark romance (& I don't mean just stalking), and want to invest your soul into a great book, I highly recommend 🤌 This story does have multiple timelines and multiple POVs, which at first seemed daunting but it reeeeaallly adds to the suspense of it all 👀
"Fear will make her impressionable and compliant. Or so he thinks. It can also make her reckless and wild. I’m hoping for a good combination of all of the above."
"Your coincidence is someone else's plan. You just don't know it."
Tropes: - Stalking and obsessive behavior - Praise and Degradation - Trauma - PTSD - Dub-con - Revenge - Murder - Knives, guns, and coffee ☕️ are the weapons of choice, and our drink throwing arms are NOT in play. - Sociopaths - Multiple POV
Quick thoughts: Listen, I don’t know if I should say this because when I started this book I really didn’t know what to expect.. I didn’t read the blurb, the tropes, the warnings, or literally anything else I just blindly followed Alex into this ARC but this MMC could probably replace half of the book boyfriends I’ve encountered. LISTEN THOUGH LINDA the man is a psychopath, which honestly is probably what makes him so attractive 🥵 but the way he is obsessive and caring and speaks the words, all the words 😏 it’s hot ngl. The FMC is just out here trying to live her life but it’s a struggle for her from the start and you’re gonna need a strategy map or a murder board to get through all the theories that you’ll derive while reading this book. Once you think you figure it, I promise you’re wrong.
*Please be mindful of your own trigger warnings before reading any books that you feel may contain content that may be harmful to your mental health. Identifying subject manner is written in a clear manner to help readers feel more prepared, better informed, and more safe within the confines of these books. Happy reading babes!
Dateline meets a dark romance. This is one of the best books I have read all year. It is so incredibly fucked up in the best way possible. But even if you took away all the dark romance tropes, it would be an amazing book. The “whodunnit” of it all grips you, and leaves you wanting more!
After receiving the paperback, I went in wondering if the commitment would be worth it. Let me just tell you, it is! Minus a marathon read or two, this is the fastest I have consumed this thick of a book. And she is THICK.
Sometimes different timelines can get clunky or confusing, but Emily delivered this beautifully. There were multiple POVs, some from a mystery person. They helped further the confusion (in a good way) of the story.
All of the characters are complex and interesting. There is no one dimension to these people. We had 4 main characters Brett, Colson, Bowen, and Gaslighting. It had me second-guessing what I had read. I think I went through every possible emotion throughout this book.
Run, don’t walk to read this book. It is so good.
**Check your TWs please. There are a lot of dark themes in this book.
This was MIND BLOWING. I devoured this thicc baby in record time because I could not put it down. My mind had to keep going even when it was absolutely exhausted and broken. This book will break your brain.. if you're a fan of the ravenhood series because of the way it's written of past and present, where everyone knows what's going on but you're the outsider trying to catch up??? You're guna LOVE this. I actually hated the ravenhood series because it broke my soul and I couldn't enjoy the brilliance of the authors plot.. but this book had all the mind blowing plot and strategy without making me sick and breaking blood vessels crying so hard (that's not to say this book didn't make me cry and sick a bit, there is heavy, graphic detail so read the tw). I'm sitting here blown away because of the events of this story and the way the author was able to mess with my head. My hat is off to this author because she literally played me so good and even when my theories started turning out right, I STILL COULDNT BELIEVE THAT I WAS RIGHT 🤣 I felt absolutely insane for 80% of this story. It was magical. Please, please read this.
Wow. This was the perfect dark romance/psychological thriller l've read recently and I am just speechless. literally trying to form words for this review as I write it. This book was SO GOOD. Also, the DEDICATION. Immediately yes. I literally felt every emotion possible and there was never a dull moment while reading it. Also had me questioning myself at times but l'm so here for it. If you're a fan of dark romance and can handle some heavy trigger warnings, | 100% recommend you read this book because you will not be disappointed. It is a wild ride from beginning to end😈
thank you so much @emilynealisauthor for allowing me to read the ARC. I will now be patiently waiting for the remaining books in the series and anything else you write❤️🔥
This was such an amazing ride. I started this expecting lots of dirty and not a ton of story but what I got was the exact opposite. Beautifully written naughty times but the bulk of this story was an incredible, wild plot with twists and turns I did not expect. I absolutely loved it!
Thanks so much Emily Nealis for allowing me the opportunity to read this ahead of publication. I cannot wait for the next one!!
How did this get so many good reviews!?!? I love dark romance and the book started off promising. However, it just turned into a jumbled mess! Confusing beyond all get out! Not only with the characters names, superfluous descriptions, and the back and forth, but half the time I wasn't sure who was who. Ugh. So angry right now. I wasted time reading this nonsense. 🤬 Such a good idea. Just wasted. 😡