Bittersweet in the Hollow
Ratings4
Average rating4.6
In rural Caball Hollow, surrounded by the vast National Forest, the James women serve up more than fried green tomatoes at the Harvest Moon diner, where the family recipes are not the only secrets.
Like her sisters, Linden was born with an unusual ability. She can taste what others are feeling, but this so-called gift soured her relationship with the vexingly attractive Cole Spencer one fateful night a year ago . . . A night when Linden vanished into the depths of the Forest and returned with no memories of what happened, just a litany of questions—and a haze of nightmares that suggest there’s more to her story than simply getting lost.
Now, during the hottest summer on record,another girl in town is gone, and the similarities to last year’s events are striking. Except, this time the missing girl doesn’t make it home, and when her body is discovered, the scene unmistakably spells murder.
As tempers boil over, Linden enlists the help of her sisters to find what’s hiding in the forest . . . before it finds her. But as she starts digging for truth—about the Moth-Winged Man rumored to haunt the Hollow, about her bitter rift with Cole, and even about her family—she must question if some secrets are best left buried.
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2 primary books#1 in Bittersweet in the Hollow
Bittersweet in the Hollow is a 2-book series with 2 released primary works first released in 2023 with contributions by Kate Pearsall.
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The family! The sisters! The secrets!
This kept me guessing about the secrets. I was wrong multiple times throughout the book. I was a little right on a couple things, but overall, the solutions were a surprise.
I loved their magic and the family relationships. That made the story special.
I received this book from NetGalley and Penguin in exchange for an honest review!
This was exactly what I was looking for! I loved that it was spooky and mysterious without being over the top. I thought the story was super interesting and I liked that there was folklore in there as well. It really added to the whole atmosphere of the book.
My favourite part of the book was the characters though. I am a very character driven reader and I thoroughly was invested in these characters as whole. I thought Linden was very likeable and I was really invested in all her relationships and what happened to her. I really enjoyed the dynamic between the whole James family as well. Especially with the sisters! I'm not going to lie, the sisters could've been a bit more diverse in personalities but otherwise, I loved them! The parents, aunt and grandma were also great characters I could really feel. Cole was okay. I didn't love him as a love interest but I feel like that was because we didn't really see a TON of him. Linden and Cole's scenes together were a bit dominated by Linden, which is fine because I loved Linden, but it did make me not care as much about Cole.
This book grabbed my attention from the very beginning and never lost my interest throughout. I would definitely recommend it!
Ps. the subtle little queer rep at the end made my heart happy.
