The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The Hollow Places is super WEIRD and extremely well written. I just adore Kingfisher’s style.
I think it’s really hard to nail weird, yet she does it.
The humor and heart she is able to bring to her stories is absolutely top notch.
If you haven’t read anything by Kingfisher yet, this is a great place to start.
Okay, with the low-key fangirling out of the way, let’s get into the story, shall we?
Recently divorced, Kara, known as Carrot by her family and friends, returns to her beloved Uncle Earl’s Museum of Wonders to live, lick her wounds and help him out.
The museum, think smaller version of Ripley’s Believe It or Not, is her Uncle’s pride and joy.
He has spent years curating the various items, including a vast collection of taxidermy, and tends to it all with care and dedication.
Carrot’s favorite piece is an elk head, known as Prince, which her Uncle has now placed in her room above the bed to make her comfortable.
With Carrot around to help, Uncle Earl finally plans to have the knee surgeries he has been in desperate need of.
As he heads off to hospital, Carrot falls into a groove of running the museum on her own. Along with her cat, Beau, it begins to feel like a home.
She even kindles a friendship with the barista at the coffee shop next door, Simon.
After a tourist knocks a hole in the wall of the second floor of the museum, Carrot, definitely lacking the skills to repair such damage, enlists Simon’s help.
As they peer through the hole, Carrot and Simon discover more than they ever could have bargained for. A portal to another world.
As anyone would, they explore.
Narnia from hell. That’s what they find, Narnia from HELL!!!
Let’s call it the Willow World, scenes from which chilled me to the bone.
I refuse to tell you more, you will have to pick this one up and discover for yourself.
Kingfisher’s writing is so much fun. Her characters are hilarious. As frightening as this got, there were still many, many times when I laughed out loud.
One of my favorite things about her writing is how real her characters seem; and how likable. They also don’t magically turn into superheroes who can overcome all obstacles with grace and without breaking a sweat.
Carrot and Simon, although not helpless, were bumbling around trying to figure this out just like you or I would.
I mean, unless you know how to defeat mysterious monsters and close the portal to hell before it swallows your entire town.
Maybe you do, who am I to judge?
In summation, as you can clearly tell, I want you to read this book.
I loved this book and if you are into weird and scary things, I think you will too!
Thank you so much to the publisher, Gallery Books, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. I truly appreciate it.
This was one of my most anticipated books of the year and it didn’t disappoint for a second. I will read ANYTHING Kingfisher writes.
