The Hollow and the Haunted is the first book of a YA romantasy duology by Camilla Raines. Released 22nd Oct 2024 by Titan Books, it's 384 pages and is available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents. Book 2 (The Forsaken and the Fated) due out mid 4th quarter 2025 from the same publisher.
This is a well written queer romantasy with a psychic who has prescient visions of the death of a young man from a rival family. The setup and execution of the plot are surprisingly well done and the author uses the enemies to lovers trope effectively. The story plotting and pacing are well done. There are some issues with the characterization and the dialogue especially skews toward the younger end of YA, with lots of snark and unnecessary hostility that lessens the realism (it would never fly in real life). There are odd cultural references throughout the book (Twilight, etc) which are a bit jarring and anachronistic for a story set in the modern day. The adults are standard for the YA genre (i.e., so immature and useless that it's a minor miracle they made it to adulthood without major mishaps).
All that aside, it's a good readable book, and impressively polished for being a debut work. The target audience is likely the young end of YA.
Three and a half stars. Worth a look for fans of the subgenre.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
No comments:
Post a Comment