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The Hollow (The Hollow #1)

Jessica Verday

3.75 · Rating details · 18,968 Ratings · 1,569 Reviews

A love like no other...

When Abbey's best friend, Kristen, vanishes at the bridge near Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, everyone else is all too quick to accept that Kristen is dead...and rumors fly that her death was no accident. Abbey goes through the motions of mourning her best friend, but privately, she refuses to believe that Kristen is really gone. Then she meets Caspian, the ...more

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Hardcover, 513 pages

Published September 1st 2009 by Simon Pulse

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Apr 06, 2011 Nataliya rated it it was ok

Recommends it for: People who actually enjoyed "Twilight"

Shelves: 2011-reads, the-hype-is-overhyped, first-in-a-series

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Despite Washington Irving references, about 90% of this book focuses only on the lovestruck gazing at a mysterious friendly boy who likes to hang out at a cemetery - ~~Casper~~ CaspIAN. Not a 'friendly ghost' at all, why'd you ask???

Yup, I just gave away the big plot point of this book. Which everyone, except the protagonist, is able to see from a mile away, with all the anvil-sized hints the author drops.

Now, the idea of this story sounded interesting - our teenage protagonist Abbey knows that her ...more

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Sep 12, 2009 Nancy rated it did not like it

Shelves: 2009

I barely made it through one third of the novel. And that was ENOUGH for me. It wasn't suspenseful, as I expected ghosts and the supernatural variety, but instead, was met with the mysterious Caspian who was more boring than mysterious. I mean, he pops in and out of nowhere, with one or two words, and it's supposed to mean something?! Add to his enigma? It's just annoying to me. Get to the story, already. All this build-up is pretty pointless if it takes forever to get the plot rolling, which, b ...more

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Mar 23, 2011 Wendy Darling rated it did not like it

Shelves: eye-bleeding, paranormal-general, annoying-main-characters, pn-ghosts, young-adult, read-2011

Embarrassingly lacking in depth, emotion, intrigue, and plot. Also, the boy is named Caspian, for heaven's sake!

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May 09, 2011 Judith (Judith'sChoiceReads) rated it did not like it

Shelves: fantastic-covers, un-finishables

Goodreads Summary

A love like no other...

When Abbey's best friend, Kristen, vanishes at the bridge near Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, everyone else is all too quick to accept that Kristen is dead...and rumors fly that her death was no accident. Abbey goes through the motions of mourning her best friend, but privately, she refuses to believe that Kristen is really gone. Then she meets Caspian, the gorgeous and mysterious boy who shows up out of nowhere at Kristen's funeral and keeps reappearing in Abbey

Goodreads Summary

A love like no other...

When Abbey's best friend, Kristen, vanishes at the bridge near Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, everyone else is all too quick to accept that Kristen is dead...and rumors fly that her death was no accident. Abbey goes through the motions of mourning her best friend, but privately, she refuses to believe that Kristen is really gone. Then she meets Caspian, the gorgeous and mysterious boy who shows up out of nowhere at Kristen's funeral and keeps reappearing in Abbey's life. Caspian clearly has secrets of his own, but he's the only person who makes Abbey feel normal again...but also special.

Just when Abbey starts to feel that she might survive all this, she learns a secret that makes her question everything she thought she knew about her best friend. How could Kristen have kept silent about so much? And could this secret have led to her death? As Abbey struggles to understand Kristen's betrayal, she uncovers a frightening truth that nearly unravels her - one that will challenge her emerging love for Caspian, as well as her own sanity.

My Thoughts

Where to begin? 'The Hollow' had me at its great cover and back story, I mean mysterious good-looking strangers and weird deaths are the stuff of greatness, right? Nope, I'm afraid I was wrong on that one. I really tried my best to get into this read because I hate not finishing a book! It makes me feel like I've given up and I'm an optimist so there's always that hope that somewhere along the pages it WILL get better. Wrong. The romance was not believable for me as I felt the 'connection' between Abbey and Caspian was weird with a capital 'W' and creepy with a disco ball Sparkly-Cullen.

I mean good-looking guys are all good and well, but seriously? One who randomly appears right where I am in the BASEMENT of my supposed 'dead' friend's house, one he claims he didn't know, and also at the CEMETERY for said friend's funeral?? It's perfect that he asks her to meet him there the next day, it solidifies his creepster status, but also portrays Abbey as the girl who eagerly rushes off to meet him there.

She doesn't even know the stud well enough and hurriedly FOLLOWS?!! No. No way. It was unrealistic and too sudden, so much so that Abbey looked desperate. There, I said it. The writing at the beginning was good enough, even a little quirky and had me chuckling a bit, but as It went on I just couldn't do it.

I get that she lost her best friend and Verday did an excellent job of portraying her loss, but really can't the protagonist be a little more interesting? I picked up 'The Haunting' and wanted to read that, but from my experience with 'The Hollow' I don't think I'll bother. Plus, the image of Caspian's hair was impossible to summon! A single black streak across white hair?! I think I got a headache from just trying to grasp that image...oops, there the *snap*,*crackle*,*pop* of my brain frying goes again! Maybe it's just me but this wasn't one to talk about. Sorry Verday! ...more

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Dec 22, 2010 Suzanne rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites, romance, young-adult, paranormal, books-i-own

I loved this book! The story is amazing and the writing is wonderful. I also have some favourite quotes from this book that I need to find again.

The story is centred around Abby living in a small town called Sleepy Hollow where her best friend Kristen has been missing for many months. I really liked how the writer focused the story around the town and its legend (The Sleepy Hollow) aswell as the people within the town.

The story builds up with Abby dealing with Kristen no longer being around an ...more

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Jan 01, 2009 Yan rated it it was ok

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I must admit I’ve been dying to read this book since last year when word leaked out. In some areas The Hollow impressed me but in others, it fell short.

First off judging from the summary you can presume that the story will heavily revolve on the death of Kristen or some feature of her correct? Sadly it was about 10% Kristen and 75% Caspian swooning, 5% Sleepy Hollow legend, and 10% daily life activity.

Just chapters after the funeral with Kristen, Abbey somewhat falls in love with Caspian. I was I must admit I’ve been dying to read this book since last year when word leaked out. In some areas The Hollow impressed me but in others, it fell short.

First off judging from the summary you can presume that the story will heavily revolve on the death of Kristen or some feature of her correct? Sadly it was about 10% Kristen and 75% Caspian swooning, 5% Sleepy Hollow legend, and 10% daily life activity.

Just chapters after the funeral with Kristen, Abbey somewhat falls in love with Caspian. I was a bit shocked and miffed at this development. Even more so when Kristen is practically dismissed for the next couple of chapters while Abbey continues to swoon over Caspian. Verday though manages to deal with Abbey’s grief in the middle of novel of Kristen while inserting several flashbacks of their friendships throughout some chapters. We then get a peak of Kristen’s secret diary and a mystery “D” whom Kristen falls in love with. We dealt with that for about a chapter then nothing more until seemingly the last few chapters (only about a line or two). It’s all very much frustrating.

I enjoyed the little tidbits of how Abby creates perfumes, the fact that the author talked about the Legend of Sleepy Hollow for readers who may have never heard of it, and the many twists. The old couples? Yup. Caspian? Yup. Abbey running away when nothing makes sense? Definitely yes! Seriously I’m tired of people poking their noses into things that you shouldn’t. You know those scary movies where you’re screaming at the screen “No! You stupid idiot, run! Don’t open that door!” From that moment on I gained respect for Abbey (too bad it was like the last chapter when it happened).

And finally Caspian. I liked him in the very beginning with his weird, funky do (very pale yellow with a jet black streak) but then he plummeted on my “like” scale when he confessed to Abbey that he never loved her. Wow. You suck. Can’t believe you led her on for…24 chapters just to shoot her down. He started out promising; kind, sweet, a bit secretive for my taste, and edgy. The twist in the end I should have expected….

The secrets and mysteries of The Hollow are never fully answered. It just builds and builds, up until the point where I’m frighten that Verday may not be able to answer them all...or at least to the expectation that the readers may want.

Overall: A many missing holes. ...more

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Oct 22, 2011 Anastasia ｼ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites-loved, i-own, 2011-reads, authors-v, book-boyfriends

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 15, 2010 Rebekah rated it did not like it

Shelves: young-adult

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I'd known about this book for months before it ever came out. I'm even on Verday's mailing list. The premise sounded cool and the cover looks awesome. But it is true what they say, you can't judge a book by it's cover. The story was boring and rather dumb. so let me save you from five hundred pages of tedious description and boring day to day activities...

****SPOiLERS FOLLOW. ****

There are three main parts to the story's plot.

1) Abby's best friend Kristen disappears. A few months later her body I'd known about this book for months before it ever came out. I'm even on Verday's mailing list. The premise sounded cool and the cover looks awesome. But it is true what they say, you can't judge a book by it's cover. The story was boring and rather dumb. so let me save you from five hundred pages of tedious description and boring day to day activities...

****SPOiLERS FOLLOW. ****

There are three main parts to the story's plot.

1) Abby's best friend Kristen disappears. A few months later her body if found in the river. It's supposedly a big mystery why she was even at river at night and how she fell in. So Abby's going to find out! About half way through the book she finds a secret journal Kristen kept that talks about a secret boyfriend, D., that she never told Abby about. Abby feels very betrayed. And that's about all on the mystery aspect of the plot. We find nothing else out about Kristen or why she' was at the river or who D is. Abby doesn't even try to find out. And seriously, who would just put the first initial of a person's name in their journal? anyone? unless the whole entry was short hand, i don't think so.

2) Abby meets a boy named Caspian at Abby's funeral. He's kind of creepy in my opinion since he's just kind of there and doesn't answer her questions. And he has skunk hair. But to Abby, he is Hotte (her word, not mine). Which is pretty much the only thing I could figure she sees in him. Anyway, they meet up a lot here and there, mostly at the graveyard or river. Abby spends a lot of the time wondering what is going on with him, as was I because nothing was going on. Their romance really fell flat for me. Then at the very end, we find out that Caspian is dead. He died two years before in a car accident.

3) I'm sure that the story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is supposed to be an important part of the story, but besides visiting Irving's grave a whole lot and Abby loving the story so very much, there really wasn't much going on. Abby meets an old couple in the graveyard and she really likes them but then at the end she finds out that they are the Headless Horseman and Katrina. Irving kindly changed the end of his written story to protect them. But really, that's all we find out. Nothing else. Like the Headless Horseman was already dead by the time he fell in love with Katrina, so how is that working for them? They're both old now. And both dead (i think).

So all of these three plots are really sparse in the FIVE HUNDRED PAGE book. The bulk of the book is about nothing. What Abby ate, how she does her hair, trying to figure out what to wear to meet Caspian, walking by the river, visiting the graveyard, who she talked to at school. over and over and over and over and over again. All of which had nothing to do with the almost non-existent plot. And she makes perfume and gets a job. All of which have nothing to do with the plot. And made the book so extremely BORING.
And then there is Ben. i am very confused about why he has so many pages in the book. Is this supposed to set up a love triangle for the next book? Because I felt like all 500 pages was a set up for the next book since NOTHING HAPPENED!

I want Abby to get a backbone and be the heroine in her own story. To define her relationship with Caspian after a month, not after seven months and only after she finds out he's dead. I want her to care that her friend had a secret boyfriend that she fought with a lot and who made her promise not to tell anyone about their relationship. Who is he and what did he have to do with Kristen's death? Take an active roll in finding out, gosh darn it! I wanted her to talk to the old couple in the graveyard and find out what is going on, not run away to her aunt's.

I wanted her to take a stand on something, ANYTHING, instead of drift through days having meaningless arguments with her mother about the prom and having nightmares that had no purpose in furthering the plot.

So I didn't like this book. Which I am so sad about because I really wanted to like it. I read all FIVE HUNDRED PAGES even though I was bored after the first fifteen because I wanted to have something happen that would redeem the book for me. Nothing ever did. It just got worse ...more

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Aug 30, 2010 Kiki rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Young paranormal romance readers

Recommended to Kiki by: Borders

Shelves: ya, awesome-ya, could-have-been-worse, awesome-heroine, i-hate-that-i-love-you, lolwut

I liked this book. Not because the story was in any way symbolic, deep or profound; not because the characters were rounded or ever properly explained, not even because the setting convinced me; no, it was simply because no matter how hard I tried to pick fault with this book, tried to tell myself it was a bad YA crap-out by a lazy author, I couldn't. I enjoyed it too much.

It was fun, original and kept me entertained for a good six or so hours. The pacing was fine, and I liked that it was based ...more

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Jun 27, 2014 ☣Lynn☣ rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: what-the-hell-was-i-thinking, bored-me-to-death, despised-more-than-anything, fantasy, hated-it, i-like-big-books-and-i-cannot-lie, insta-love, just-meh, pnr, re-read

The last time I read this I was still in my 'Twilight phase' and I gave this 5 stars and a fangirl review that had a lot of OMG CASPIAN IS SO HOT bullcrap. It's funny how you read a favorite you haven't read for a good 6 years or so and end up hating it. I hate when that happens I really do, but this book was so full of insta love and so fucking boring that I can't help but hate it.

I can see why I loved this years ago though. It's pretty much like Twilight. Although Twilight actually has some pa ...more

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Jan 13, 2012 Giselle (Book Nerd Canada) rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: bought-in-store, 2011, 1-star, age-young-adult, genre-paranormal, genre-fantasy, genre-romance, genre-romance-instant-love, genre-ghosts, genre-supernatural

*nervous laughter* umm I don't actually think I read a story, because for some reason I was looking for one and couldn't find any. Unless you call instant love with a boy named Caspian (!!!!!!) after a month of barely knowing each other a "romance." And you could see the big reveal from miles away. It wasn't even a big deal! I thought this book was going to be about Abbey trying to find out how and why her best friend died, but there was nothing but romance and Abbey going on her daily life, wat ...more

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Oct 05, 2009 ~Tina~ rated it liked it

Shelves: paranormal

I can see why not a lot of people liked The Hollow. It was slow paced and very detailed, but in this case that's why I liked it. It was a very vivid book filled with a lot of sorrow and regret. It was a charming tale that put a good spin on The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The characters grief wasn't dulled down, so it made Abby more believable. Caspian (great name) is mysterious and alluring.
All in all this was a decent read and I'm looking froward to reading this trilogy!

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Feb 02, 2011 Jude rated it really liked it

http://inbetweenwritingandreading.blo...

I was walking through borders, [Before it went RIP] and I saw the cover of this book [the old one] and I just picked it up and bought it without reading the summary.

Once home and reading the summary I just dived in and I LOVED it! I saw a lot of reviews in which they argued the slow pace of the book, but, to be honest I just jumped into the story and it refused to let go until the very end.

There were so many things circling the story! Abbey's best friend m ...more

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Dec 11, 2010 Kristy rated it liked it

Well, I'm torn on this one....
On the one hand:
It was extremely original.
It was about Sleepy Hollow.
It dealt with real issues and emotions.
The Characters were believable.
It was a pretty fun read.
The information on the perfume was kind of a neat, off-beat topic.
The descriptions of gifts and objects were inpecable.
The Town

On the flip side;
It was extremely long, I felt like it took forever to read.
Some of the dialoge was really bad and unrealistic.
It was sad.
I didn't get enough sleepy hollow, i got ...more

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Mar 28, 2011 Marzie marked it as to-read

I'm reading it on principle. You can read about why here:

http://jessicaverday.blogspot.com/201...

and here:

http://jessicaverday.blogspot.com/201...

Oh dear, Trisha Telep made a big mistake and Running Press and Constable and Robinson did too little, too late, and too ambiguously to correct it. Oh dear, Jessica, I'm buying your books not the ones she's editing. Oh dear, I hope this garners you a lot of press and gets people to realize that oh, dear, gay people and bi people are allowed to have YA s ...more

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Aug 03, 2013 Rusty's Ghost Engine (also known as.......... Jinky Spring) rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: annoyed, f-a-i-l, fantasy-or-paranormal, uncleaned-cesspit

What a FUCKING disappointment! This shitload of shit was nothing but a pure disaster and once again not the exciting type!

I can't understand why this book is tagged as "paranormal" or "urban fantasy" cause 90% of this crap was about Abbeys normal everyday life! I'm not making that up unfortunately!

I'll just let the pictures say what an absolute disaster this book was!

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Sep 16, 2011 Ceitidh rated it really liked it · review of another edition

More reviews at http://dazzlingreads.blogspot.com/

The book was there on the shelf with a facing display and a the girl with Gothic makeup caught my attention. She looked at me, and somehow, I saw my own reflection. Then, I read the book title; The Hollow. This picked my curiosity so I took it from the shelf and started to read. It was something about a romance in the town of Sleepy Hollow and that was enough. Seconds later, I was running with the book in my hands toward the cash line.

This is how ...more

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Jun 08, 2009 Kate rated it liked it

Update June 2010: I change my rating for this book. After reading MANY books over the past few months, I realise The Hollow was actually not as good as I initially thought. The writing may be good but the plot was icky. Not much character development and no questions answered. I can rattle the names of many authors who expertly wrote books in trilogies with good plots and a least some questions answered.

---

Initially I did not want to post my review so early but since everyone is excited about H Update June 2010: I change my rating for this book. After reading MANY books over the past few months, I realise The Hollow was actually not as good as I initially thought. The writing may be good but the plot was icky. Not much character development and no questions answered. I can rattle the names of many authors who expertly wrote books in trilogies with good plots and a least some questions answered.

---

Initially I did not want to post my review so early but since everyone is excited about Hollow, I decided to post it earlier. The moment I finished reading the first chapter on Jessica's website, I was hooked! I wanted to know more, more about Abbey and Kristen. I was lucky enough to get an ARC for The Hollow a few weeks later.

When I finished reading The Hollow, my first thought was Oh My God. It was ~~so freaking good~~ absolutely wonderful! I was very impressed by Jessica's writing. Her descriptions were very vivid. Here's a teaser (nothing spoilerish):

He was wearing a seventies-style brown paisley shirt that did not flatter this portly frame in any way and, unfortunately already bore the faint marking of a sweat patch under each arm. (pg 56)

Maulsoleums and crypts, with faded names that I knew by heart, rose majestically from the earth. Their outsides, although ravaged by the effects of time, still provided a safe place for the bodies that rested inside, and I nodded my head as a sign of respect to those once graceful homes of the departed. (pg 71)

His smile was breathtaking, and heartbreaking, all at the same time. (pg 120)

Hope you enjoyed the teasers. ;) You can see how much I love Jessica's writing! She's a really good writer. I was quite surprised to learn that Abbey made perfumes. I wasn't expecting that but I found it really cool. Makes her character very unique from all the others that I have read.

As this book is the first book in a trilogy, there will be unanswered questions. Definitely makes readers want the second book once you're done with the first.

I'm trying to make my review spoiler free so I will keep this short. The Hollow is definitely a book you do not want to miss. A must read! The next two books in the trilogy come out in 2010 and 2011. I can't wait! The Hollow comes out September 1 2009. Preorder it now on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Visit Jessica Verday's blog and Lee Verday's blog as well.

Gold Star!

View the review with a VIDEO on my site: click here! ...more

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Oct 20, 2009 Joanne rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya-urban-fantasy

I didn’t like this book. It starts off with Abbey at the memorial service of her best friend, Kristen, and it’s quite intriguing. Abbey doesn’t believe she’s dead, but she has no clue what happened. Questions spring to mind automatically for the reader, but you’ll have to wait a while for even a smidgen of an answer. Then Caspian enters, and Abbey falls for him. The only problem is, he’s hot, then he’s cold, and Abbey never really knows what’s going on with them.

That’s pretty much the story; wha I didn’t like this book. It starts off with Abbey at the memorial service of her best friend, Kristen, and it’s quite intriguing. Abbey doesn’t believe she’s dead, but she has no clue what happened. Questions spring to mind automatically for the reader, but you’ll have to wait a while for even a smidgen of an answer. Then Caspian enters, and Abbey falls for him. The only problem is, he’s hot, then he’s cold, and Abbey never really knows what’s going on with them.

That’s pretty much the story; what happened to Kristen and what’s happening between the two of them? Things start picking up around the last 40 – 30 pages. Perhaps there will be some meaning in the next book in the series, but most of what happens in this book – walks through the cemetery, Abbey making perfume, going to school and coming home – it doesn’t really play any real part, and drags. I suppose you could say that it helps to build characterisation, and you could be right, but it just wasn’t interesting, in my opinion. I always read on author sites that scenes should make the story progress. For the most part, in my opinion, they didn’t in The Hollow.

The characters; I really liked Ben. Who is Ben? A secondary character you don’t see very much of, but the only one who seemed real to me. Abbey and Caspian just don’t behave like normal teenagers. A lot of my friends are teenagers, and I watch American teenage movies; teenagers don’t behave the way Abbey and Caspian do. Abbey reads far too much into what Caspian says, and reacts more like a younger teenager, say 12 – 13, rather than a 16-year-old. Caspian is around 20, and nor does he say things someone his age would say, nor what guys would say generally – or at least not in the way Caspian says them. Neither character was all that believable, and I didn’t feel anything for them. I didn’t relate to them, and I didn’t care about them.

On a positive note, the description in this novel was amazing. You can really see in your mind’s eye all the places Abbey goes to, and they sound so beautiful! Especially the cemetery! The setting of Sleepy Hollow for this novel is just awesome to imagine.

For anyone expecting an action packed urban fantasy, be prepared to be disappointed. There is no action, and the only fantasy elements make an appearance in the last 40 – 30 pages. There aren’t really any concrete answers to the questions brought up throughout the book. Overall, I was pretty disappointed with The Hollow, especially as I was really looking forward to it.

The Hollow wasn’t for me, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be for you either. Read a few other reviews before you make a choice. But I think I can safely say I won’t be picking up the sequel when it comes out. ...more

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Aug 09, 2012 Brigid ✩ Cool Ninja Sharpshooter ✩ rated it liked it

Shelves: ghosts, young-adult, fantasy, paranormal, romance

Actual rating: 2.5

Abbey lives in the small town of Sleepy Hollow. You know ...

... That one.

Recently, Abbey's best friend, Kristen, disappeared near a bridge. While most people believe that Kristen's death was an accident, Abbey suspects that something fishy is going on. Then things start getting weirder, when some mysterious boy she's never seen before shows up at Kristen's funeral ... and then, naturally, starts stalking her everywhere.

(You can probably already see where this is headed.)

So, it ...more

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Mar 17, 2010 jesse rated it it was ok

Shelves: partly-read

Abbey's best friend Kristen dies or so the whole town believes, because the body hasn't been found yet. She finds consolation in doing the things she would've done were Kristen with her. Hanging out at Sleepy Hollow's cemetery. Talking to (dead) Mr Irving. Looking for new things. There she also meets ~~Casper~~ Caspian, who seems to be more than meets the eye.

I read 3/4 of the book and skimmed through the rest. The pacing of the book was kind of off. Slow. Not that much suspense. Mrs Verday must've ...more

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Feb 02, 2013 EmilyViolet rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: annoying-main-character, face-palm-moments, oh-god-never-again, stupid-funny, rocks-have-more-personality, avoid-if-sanity-is-valued, ya, whats-the-big-deal

Ah- I- no- My god- SO BAD!

I am honestly astounded how BAD this book was. I was really looking forward to reading it for some reason, but this book was seriously the biggest let down I've ever read.
I'm really mad, so instead of ranting, I'm going to list. Yes, lists are my friends.
-Main character with almost NO personality.
-Main character with only the trait of BLOODY ANNOYING AND SLAP WORTHY
-Main character trying to be distinguished by one tiny thing that just DOES NOT WORK
-Main character random ...more

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Sep 16, 2015 Farlene rated it did not like it

Shelves: september-2015

Actually 1.5⭐
When I read a book I want to get emotionally involved. I want to be taken on an adventure, get frustrated, sad, angry or explode with happiness... I felt nothing but boredom.
This story didn't peak till the last 30 pages or so...It was stagnant for 480 pages! And what disappointed me even more is that I knew what was coming, so it wasn't even a surprise for me :(
The name of the book is The Hollow, where is the thrill? Where is the horror? The setting is Sleepy Hollow for crying out l ...more

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Sep 03, 2009 Allybal rated it it was ok

Shelves: vampires-and-other-night-creatures

"...This sequestered glen has long been known by the name of Sleepy Hollow."

When I received The Hollow in the mail I nearly threw my other reading selections aside, their bookmarks noting my reality of being rather far from completion, and I happily welcomed this exciting, inviting take on an old classic.

You are greeted by obviously beautiful cover art, and a well chosen font style but then you open the rather large book to see nearly 500 pages of a much larger then necessary font.(Oh, the waste ...more

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Aug 19, 2009 Krystle rated it did not like it

I picked up this book because I was intrigued by the incorporation of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow into the story and the very striking cover. Sadly, picking a book mainly on the merits of its cover was not a smart thing to do.

It was a chore to read this book. Most of this story revolves around the day to day where it seems like the plot was nowhere to be found, nor was it actually moving forward. I couldn’t help but scream to myself, “what is the point of all this!” Her life consists of Caspian, ...more

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Aug 29, 2011 Ichigo rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.♥♥♥♥♥♥ It was SUPER awesome!!!!!!!!!! I COULDN'T STOP READING ITS AWESOMENESS IT WAS SO GOOD THAT I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO DESCRIBE IT! O_O I CAN'T WAIT ILL THE NEXT ONE COMES OUT

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Jan 30, 2012 Bern rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2011, tedious, waste-of-material, ya, stupid-mc-can-go-mary-sue-herself

So, the story takes place in Sleepy Hollow (which just so happens to be the city in which Washington Irving's short story named The Sleepy Hollow happens - shocking) and tells the story about Abbey, a girl whose best friend Kristen has just killed herself under mysterious circumstances.

While dealing with her loss, Abbey meets a boy named Caspian and is instantaneously attracted to him, and as her feelings for him grow stronger, Abbey starts to think that the happiness that he makes her feel wi So, the story takes place in Sleepy Hollow (which just so happens to be the city in which Washington Irving's short story named The Sleepy Hollow happens - shocking) and tells the story about Abbey, a girl whose best friend Kristen has just killed herself under mysterious circumstances.

While dealing with her loss, Abbey meets a boy named Caspian and is instantaneously attracted to him, and as her feelings for him grow stronger, Abbey starts to think that the happiness that he makes her feel will be enough for her to forget about her best friend's death. But Abbey is going to find out that in Sleepy Hollow, nothing is what it seems to be...

Ok, so, after this brief synopsis (which btw is much better than the official one, you're welcome), i'll review this book in three parts: beginning, middle and ending. The beginning of the book is great. It shows you Abbey's grief in a way that doesn't get you bored and it also establishes a connection with the reader and Kristin, who despite only making flashback appearances is still a very charismatic character, and you'll end up wishing she hadn't died, just like Abbey does.

Almost by the middle of the book, Abbey starts to find out things that make her question what is it exactly that happened to Kristen, why did she die, was it really a suicide, among other questions. This far, the book is great, amazing even.

And then it all goes downhill. The plot leaves the mystery of Kristen's death behind and focuses on the new relationship between Abbey and Caspian, a mysterious guy she meets at the town's cemitery and soon starts swooning after him. This part of the book supports itself entirely on the fact that the reader is interested in this newfound romance, but there is cause for alarm:

1)they barely ever meet each other, which means that Abbey spends more time praying to god for that to happen than actually spending time with Caspian.

2)Caspian is not a charismatic character, not in the least. He isn't so bad you'll end up asking yourself "he's so boring, what the hell did she see in him?", but he is simply not interesting enough to hold your attention, which is strange since there are approximatedly 180 pages of Caspian, and Abbey yearning for Caspian, and Caspian not showing up, Caspian being mysterious, Caspian in the cemetery, Caspian not in the cemetery...

The final part of the book finds its pace in time to save the book from being a complete failure, since it's about Abbey finding out about what is it that goes on in that strange town of hers, why Caspian is so mysterious and why does he act so strangely whenever he is close to Nikolas, this nice janitor guy who works in the cemetery. Still, nothing else about Kristen is said and if you wish to know what the fuck was it that drove the girl to kill herself (or die a horrible death, whichever), you'll have to get the next book.

Now, some ranting, because it wouldn't be a review, and it wouldn't be one of my reviews if there was no ranting: this book could've been way better. If you've ever seen the movie Sleepy Hollow (or the animated disney version, which i found to be just as scary when i was like ten or something lol), then you know that this story is disturbing and creepy, and The Hollow being almost completely based on the short story by Washington Irving, Jessica Verday could've made better use of the legend. The result could've been much better and, who knows, way scarier.

As it is, the reader is left with a book that had everything to succeed, starts incredibly well but plunges into boredom halfway through it. Oh, and a underutilized legend. Have I said that already? ...more

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Dec 29, 2010 SimBim rated it it was ok

Verday's writing style is beautiful for a debut author and I really enjoyed this first and foremost. I also really liked the protagonist, Abbey; a refreshing change from some other annoying proagonist's I have read about in YA.

I could also really connect with the book; Abbey losing her best friend Kristen. The emotions, Ms.Verday puts into her book are torrid and undestandandable. I honestly felt Abbey's pain whenever she thought about Kristen. God knows what I would do if I ever lost my best fr Verday's writing style is beautiful for a debut author and I really enjoyed this first and foremost. I also really liked the protagonist, Abbey; a refreshing change from some other annoying proagonist's I have read about in YA.

I could also really connect with the book; Abbey losing her best friend Kristen. The emotions, Ms.Verday puts into her book are torrid and undestandandable. I honestly felt Abbey's pain whenever she thought about Kristen. God knows what I would do if I ever lost my best friend!

I also really liked Caspian, which was a surprise to me, because I checked out the reviews to the Hollow, on goodreads before I had read this book. From what I got, Caspian was a 'nice' boy, mysterious and frankly a bit annoying. Personally, I didn't find him annoying at all! I thought he was sweet, and sexy, the perfect blend of personalities for Abbey, with his boyish charm and mysterious aura! I fell for him wholeheartedly!

The plot of the book was based on the Legend of the Sleepy Hollow, which I thought was quite nice. It travelled on and the content maintained a high standard. Thankgod, there were no werewolves of vampires involved. I've had quite alot of books with shapeshifters and vamps, and I really wanted a break from that: I got it, alright! This book focused on ghosts. Nice. Original. My kind of book!

I also really liked Abbey. She wasn't annoying liked many protagonists and every emotion she felt, I believed she felt justly. HShe was genuinly funny and at times, quite witty. She wasn't purposefully 'feisty' (aka stupid) and I think she really stood out from the crowd of pretentious YA heroines.

However, the reason it got two stars was because it was nothing new, and I actually got pretty bored reading the book. I was hoping for something fresh and new concerning the plot line...the reason it didn't get more than two stars

So generally, a nice fast flowing book, with a good plot, good, deeloped chracters and nice male and female leads This book was quite a good way of spending my time (in Paris for the holidays) and I hope to read the second book of this series, soon. ...more

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Jun 24, 2011 Jess rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2011, ya

Well.. I'm not entirely sure what to say about this one.

Basically, a girl named Abbey is living with distress of knowing her best friend Kristen is dead. The beginning goes over this in brutal detail repeatedly. Yes, Kristen is dead.. she died in a river.. we get it. Anyway, Abbey is trying to navigate through life while she is constantly having nightmares and is unable to truly accept her friend as being dead since no body has been found. She finds herself returning to their favorite hang out ...more

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Mar 05, 2009 Sharon rated it it was ok

Shelves: debs2009, review-copy

The Hollow began with a promising start. I found it very easy to relate to Abbey as she deals with this loss of her best friend Kristen. The story started to go downhill for me when Caspian was introduced.

My problem with Caspian is that there was just far too much of him in the book. Based on the summary I was expecting a mix of both mystery and romance. Instead the book became 95% Caspian and 5% mystery. This isn't to say that Caspian isn't a swoon-worthy character because he totally was! I jus ...more

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was anyone else suprised that caspian was a ghost	50	129	Nov 29, 2017 05:41PM
In real life would you prefer Ben or Caspian?	4	6	Nov 12, 2017 10:53AM
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Did you like the ending of this book or not?	1	4	Oct 07, 2015 01:37PM
Do you like Katy or Nicholas better?	1	2	Oct 07, 2015 01:36PM
Did you like this book or not?	1	2	Oct 06, 2015 04:09PM
To read or not to read	30	113	Nov 01, 2014 07:22AM

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About Jessica Verday

Jessica Verday

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Jessica Verday is the New York Times bestselling author of The Hollow Trilogy, published by Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse. She wrote the first draft of THE HOLLOW by hand, using thirteen spiral-bound notebooks and fifteen black pens. The first draft of THE HAUNTED took fifteen spiral-bound notebooks and twenty black pens. THE HIDDEN took too many notebooks and too many pens to count. Find out m ...more

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“At that moment - in that small, concise, perfectly clear moment of time - I knew. It was that moment I fell in love with him. It actually caused me to stop, and time froze for just a second. But that feeling was so right, and so strong, that I knew I wasn't wrong.” — 138 likes

“I decided right then and there to make a snickerdoodle perfume to wear, so that one day he would sniff me like that.” — 100 likes

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