Hollow by Rhonda Parrish

Hollow

by Rhonda Parrish
Published: Tyche Books, 2020
Genre: Horror, Young Adult
Amazon, Goodreads

That moment of absolute clarity, of peace, becomes a weapon in this world which seems to thrive on people's pain and suffering. Not a physical weapon, like a sword or a gun, but a weapon just the same. I feel it. I am it.

About the book

A car accident shattered sixteen-year-old Morgan's family. Now her brother’s dead, her mom's paralyzed in more ways than one, her dad lives at work and her seven-year-old sister Amy tries too freaking hard to salvage everything. What’s more, high school is its own special kind of hell, where her ex-boyfriend delights in spreading rumors that shred her reputation and make her feel like a loser. When she finds an old camera in a creepy abandoned hospital, it seems like her luck is finally changing. And it is changing--from bad to worse. Because of course it is. Each time Morgan photographs one of her classmates they become corrupted versions of themselves. It's like the camera steals their goodness, their essence, and leaves them hollow. Then her sister uses the camera to take a selfie. No matter what the cost, Morgan will find a way to reverse the effects of the cursed camera and save Amy, before her already-fractured family completely self-destructs.

Review

Morgan is an average teenager whose live was changed forever when a car accident killed her little brother and left her mother paralyzed. Several months later, she’s battling with guilt and shame when she finds an old Polaroid camera in an abandoned hospital. Morgan soon discovers that with each photo she takes, those pictured become angry… VERY angry and aggressive, like they’re becoming corrupted versions of themselves. In order to save her friends, Morgan must face her own guilty conscious.

Hollow isn’t a bad book, but it is just OK. I mean, it’s an overall fast, enjoyable read. My main complaint is that the story is slow and the plot is thin. I’m also confused how a photography obsessed teenager doesn’t know the name of the Polaroid camera, but that’s just me being nick-picky. 

The theme of the novel is what liked the most. Morgan must first face her fears and the guilts over the car accident and her failed relationship with Keith before she’s able to save those around her. I feel like this epitomizes the importance of forgiving yourself which is one of the first things I learned in therapy. You can’t control everything that happens to you but you CAN learn to control how you react to it. For this reason, I’m giving Hollow a higher rating than what I was planning originally. 

RATING (out of five puppies)