The Hollow Inside
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4.7 • 3 Ratings
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
Sadie meets The Glass Castle in a smart, gripping, and twisty YA debut about a girl seeking to reveal the truth about her mother-and herself.
Seventeen-year-old Phoenix has spent much of her life drifting from town to town with her mom Nina, using their charms to swindle and steal to get by. Now they've made it to their ultimate destination, Mom's hometown of Jasper Hollow. The plan: bring down Ellis Bowman, the man who ruined Nina's life.
When Phoenix gets caught spying on Ellis, she spins a convincing story that inadvertently gives her full access to the Bowman family. As she digs deeper into their secrets (and begins to fall for daughter Melody), she finds herself entrenched in the tale of a death and a disappearance that doesn't entirely line up with what Mom has told her.
But there's even more to this story Phoenix doesn't know. Who, if anyone, is telling the whole truth about what happened? Debut author Brooke Lauren Davis explores the murkiness of right and wrong, of choices and consequences, of heroes and villains, in an eerily compelling and thought-provoking small-town saga.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sixteen-year-old Phoenix has been on the road ever since her father's girlfriend, Nina, stole her away at age nine; subsequently, the two have survived by stealing necessities and camping out each night. Now Nina has a plan—to return to her hometown and force renowned author Ellis Bowman, her ex-lover, to confess the sins of his past—and she needs Phoenix's help. After arriving in the quaint Ohio mountain village and scoping out Bowman's house, though, Phoenix gets caught. Believing she's a homeless orphan, Ellis, his wife, and two teen children take her in and treat her as part of the family. Enjoying the comforts of home and becoming infatuated with Ellis's daughter, Phoenix's loyalties are torn. She doesn't want Nina to hurt Ellis's family, but she can't betray the woman she calls "Mom" even as Nina's attempts to spook Ellis grow increasingly violent. Interspersing a recounting of Nina's harrowing teenage years with Phoenix's present-day, first-person narrative, debut author Davis creates a complex, suspenseful story about small-town secrets, vengeance, and compassion through the cued-white cast. If Nina's antics seem larger-than-life, other aspects of the novel, including characterizations of Ellis's children, who both have secrets of their own to hide, come off as chillingly real. Ages 12–up.
Customer Reviews
amazing page-turner
i definitely could not put this book down!! it had everything i needed, and still kept on surprising me up until the last moment.