The Hollow Inside by Brooke Lauren Davis Book Review

Title: The Hollow Inside
Author: Brooke Lauren Davis
Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
Release Date: May 25, 2021
Pages: 352

Phoenix and mom Nina have spent years on the road, using their charm and wits 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.

After Phoenix gets caught spying, she spins a convincing story that inadvertently gives her full access to the Bowman family. As she digs deeper into their secrets, 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. Who, if anyone, is telling the whole truth?

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My Thoughts

**Thank you so much to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for sending me an Advanced Reader's Copy in exchange for an honest review!**

Phoenix and her mom have spent many years living on the road, stealing things to get by. When they arrive at Jasper Hollow, Phoenix is tasked by her mom to help get revenge on Ellis Bowman, the person who ruined her mother's life many years before.

Then she turns on her heel and strides off, boots crunching over gravel, and I trot behind her like I'm attached by a rope, a boat being towed to shore.

Everything about Ellis seems completely different from the way he was described to Phoenix. When an opportunity comes for her to enter the Bowman household, she takes it up to carry out their plan. 

Her mouth had responded in a strange way, with a smile, but a tight one, like she tasted something sour. Because it's mine, she said.

Things on the surface aren't what they seem. Secrets hidden from the past will soon be dug up. What is the truth?

Star Rating: ★★★★☆ (4)

I liked how there were many layers to the story, each slowly unfolding as the story went on. It alternated between the past and the present, which I thought was a nice touch. The characters grow and you see how they aren't at all perfect as they seem to be.

There were many plot twists I didn't see coming and I was very excited to continue reading. The book kept me engaged and it was over before I knew it. 

Overall, The Hollow Inside was a great story about secrets being revealed after many years. It kept me engaged throughout and I really enjoyed reading it.

About the Author

Brooke Lauren Davis is the author of THE HOLLOW INSIDE (Bloomsbury YA /May 25, 2021), and she never quite knows what to say when people ask her where she’s from. An unruly child in suburban Virginia, a surly teenager in rural Ohio, and a bewildered college student in small-town Indiana, she’s now a hopelessly book-obsessed adult in Louisville, Kentucky. She loves stories of all kinds, from plays, to ballets, to TV shows, to memories rehashed over the dinner table. When she’s not writing, she can usually be found annoying her pets, haunting bookstores, or shouting Jeopardy! answers at the TV.