Tuesday, October 30, 2018

*Review* The Curse of Crow Hollow by Billy Coffey


Genre: Horror
Published: August 4, 2015
Pages: 414



With the “profound sense of Southern spirituality” he is known for (Publishers Weekly), Billy Coffey draws us into a town where good and evil—and myth and reality—intertwine in unexpected ways.

Everyone in Crow Hollow knows of Alvaretta Graves, the old widow who lives in the mountain. Many call her a witch; others whisper she’s insane. Everyone agrees the vengeance Alvaretta swore at her husband’s death hovers over them all. That vengeance awakens when teenagers stumble upon Alvaretta’s cabin, incurring her curse. Now a sickness moves through the Hollow. Rumors swirl that Stu Graves has risen for revenge. And the people of Crow Hollow are left to confront not only the darkness that lives on the mountain, but the darkness that lives within themselves.


I received an audiobook copy of this book from Audiofile Sync's summer reading program for teens. There was no expectation for a review. I had previously won a copy of the book through the Goodreads First Reads giveaway program, and now that I've listened to the audiobook, I regret not reading it sooner.

The story got off to a kind of slow start for me, building the background of the events that would ultimately take place. But once the action really started, and the mystery started building, I got really interested in the story. I couldn't help wondering what had happened in the past to make the witch hate the people of Crow Hollow so much, and who was responsible for it. I was also curious about her actual powers and what she was hiding in her cabin.

What really kept me reading though was the way the relationships between the townspeople devolved as the terror increased. It reminded me a bit of a Stephen King novel, like Under the Dome, with the way the townspeople turned on each other.

Overall I give The Curse of Crow Hollow 3.965 stars. - Katie 



I write about what I see and wrap a story around it, which often results in characters who realize stumbling through life is okay because it’s still moving forward. That seems appropriate, I think. In the end we’re all doing the best we can with what we have, smiling through the fear we face, and trying to find the beauty in life’s sameness. So I watch and I listen, and what doesn’t end up in a book will usually find its way to my blog, What I Learned Today.

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