This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.
Book Evaluation:
Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
World Building:🌎🌎🌎🌎🌎
Cover:📔📔📔📔📔
Hero: 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Heroine:🦸🏻♀️🦸🏻♀️🦸🏻♀️🦸🏻♀️🦸🏻♀️
Intimacy Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Relationship Building: 💒💒💒💒💒
Heart & Feels:💞💞💞💞💞
Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: 😂😂😂
Page Turner Level:📖📖📖📖📖
Narration:🎧🎧🎧🎧🎧
Ending:🧧🧧🧧🧧🧧
Overall View: ✨✨✨✨✨
First Impressions
Hollow Heathens is the first installment in the “Tales of Weeping Hollow” series. This is also my very first Nicole Fiorina novel. This is a novel that I have been wanting to get it, and to be honest I hear “Bone Island” is epic but due to the world-building, certain aspects make more sense upon reading “Hollow Heathens” and I was so intrigued by this one and I knew I wanted to save it for this time of year. And if you are looking for a highly atmospheric read for fall time, this book must be on your list. In fact, if you love real writing talent, this is an author you need to pay attention to. I was completely floored by this book and the writing style that was portrayed within this story. I have never read such writing like this that has such attention to detail, the world builds so intricately and the chemistry between our couple is vibrant and real. Hollow Heathens is a gothic paranormal romance. It’s set in a small town and has a forbidden touch to the romance. It’s a story that is epic and packed with lyrical meaning and packs such an intense punch and will literally spook you within each chapter. It’s a book I can’t recommend enough and I admire the author in what she was able to create in this timeless romance.
First Line
Things that lurk in the darkness; monsters, ghosts, ghastly supernatural beings tethered by bottomless energy to keep them there, pinned to the earth and walking without direction.
Summary
Fallon was taken away from her childhood home as a form of protection and has lived away from Weeping Hollow majority of her life. She has now returned after exchanging letters with her grandfather who is in need of her. Her grandfather is her only family left and she is determined to get the answers to what happened to her mother and the mystery behind her past but also hopes to find herself and find a place of acceptance. Fallon has always been different which sets her apart from everyone else. When she comes to Weeping Hollow, there is so much mystery surrounding the people who live there. There is a magic in the air that is sometimes dark and twisted, and she is drawn to one of the four Hollow Heathens, Julian, who is forbidden to her. Julian is cursed as is his fellow Heathens and has to wear a mask over his face or those who see his true face will die. The coven has determined that Julian is too dangerous and he can’t get near Fallon. But Fallon is the only one who truly sees Julian as more than a cursed Heathen, she sees the man he is on the inside and quiets the turmoil in his head. But Fallon and Julian were never meant to find each other, but can their connection be the key to freeing Weeping Hallow and his closest friends from a curse they were dealt?
What I Loved
Hollow Heathens is a story I wasn’t expecting to be as good as it truly was. I do recommend if you can, getting this in audio. I am telling you the experience will be even more elevated. There is a very strong lyrical feel to the writing that Nicole Fiorina implements within her story here, and the narration really brings out that quality so well. So Hollow Heathens is a story that will instantly captivate you. I was so quickly drawn into this story and the mystery behind it all. I do think this is a book you need to take time with in order to get the full scope and vibe of the story. I read this one all day because I knew I wanted to get more time with it. I am really happy that I took the time reading this one and didn’t rush it because its not a story that is a quick read, you definitely want to ease into it. I even kept my audio narration at 1.4x speed to just really enjoy it a bit more. The story is captivating and we get multiple POV’s in this story. Mostly from Fallon and Julian, but we do get a sideline story of the origins of the curse and why its so vital to the story. This POV is short, really only a couple of pages a few times throughout the story and added such dimension into the background of the curse.
I think what I was drawn to the most is the atmosphere of this story. If you want a story that will literally awaken your senses, then this book will do that. I guarantee that it will take you on a ride you won’t be expecting. There is a talent that this author has that is so different from what I was expecting with this one here. What this author writes in the attention to detail is so crafty. The world-building is such that is so complex but not too complex that you get lost in the story. It’s slowly built with such detail that it’s an enriching experience. Then we have the cast throughout the story. I will say that it can be overwhelming for all the characters that are involved here, my best advice is to be patient with it and take time to learn them all as they all have roles within the story. The primary characters Julian and Fallon are so vibrantly portrayed. Their journey together was intimate and so haunting. You immediately feel the connection that these two have together. And even though Julian has such mystery surrounding him, you also sense his tortured past and the way he gets treated is so heartfelt throughout the story. Fallon is a heroine you can easily get behind. She is a fighter for the relationship and will do anything to protect Julian. Julian is very protective of her, but he is also in a tough spot because he knows his future fate and doesn’t want to take Fallon down with him. He also knows that their love has been forbidden. He isn’t allowed 50 feet within her space but they have a bond that is worth fighting for. There is a intense magnetism that rises between them that borders the line of life and death.
There is also a beautiful captivating mystery that is implemented and the paranormal elements that are drawn into this story is so mystical. I was so enraptured by these darker magical elements and seeing what our characters are having to deal with and the dark forces that are trying to destroy them and Weeping Hollow. The different events that build up to the crescendo and climax of the story just add to the tension and conflicts that arise within the story being told. And the ending that we have, well I couldn’t have written a more epic finalizing ending that delivers all the heart and feels and capitalizes on the built-up storytelling and the author definitely delivered a true masterpiece here.
What I Struggled With
Nothing really, the writing can take some getting used to, but keep with it and take it easy and slow and you will be captivated!
Overall View
Hollow Heathens is a timeless romance that stuns the reader with heart-achingly sweet intimacy, gothic mystery, and magic that is woven within the pages of a brilliantly mastered story to captivate the heart and deep abiding truths of the soul…
Book Details (also in my shelves)
Sub Genre: Paranormal Romance, Gothic, Dark Romance
Character Types: Alpha Male, Bad Boy
Themes: Small Town, Gothic, Magical
Tropes: Forbidden Love
Book Perspective
Multi POV's
Relationship Conflict vs Plot Conflict
A Mix of Both
Song This Book Inspires
Middle of the Night by Elley Duhe
Recommendation For Reading Order
Yes
Steam/Spice Explanations
Steamin' up the room -the sexual content is more explicit in the language and tone, heavier amount of sexual scenes.
Narrators:
Lilly Drake
Vincent Skye
Zara Eden
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Popular Highlights in this book
And the cruelest is love. Long after death, love has the power to turn us all into the darkest of monsters.Highlighted by 846 Kindle readers- “I’ve tried to ignore it, but I can’t. No matter what they say, you were always mine, and you always will be.”Highlighted by 744 Kindle readers
- I believe this world is filled with nothing of the normal, that we are all monsters and freaks, and if my beliefs are true, we can come out of our hiding places and find one another. I believe something more hideous and cruel than us has put us there, in the dark corners of our minds. Something that isn’t normal itself, for normal is the lie to keep all the monsters and freaks tamed.Highlighted by 239 Kindle readers
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Reviews with images
Greasy fingerprints
Ordered this book along with 5 others in a bigger order. They all arrived with greasy finger prints smudges on them. Can’t seem to wipe them away either. Just sucks for a “brand new” book.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2023
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Top reviews from other countries
kimkybooks
A forbidden, timeless and haunting love story.
Reviewed in Germany on April 14, 2023
ann
the perfect, most beautifully written spooky read!
Reviewed in Spain on November 1, 2021