Thank you Penguin for this Arc
Trope-y characters, lack of horror, and a fast-paced story all came together to make a book I was so excited to read...a disappointment.
The characters all suffer from being very one dimensional, and a lot of them seem more reminiscent of tropes than actual complex characters. There is typical bleach blonde mean girl, and a lot of her dialogue seemed better suited to an 80s movie then to a teenager. In terms of "romance" there is your typical popular athlete, and him and Evie have maybe two interactions before kissing. They don't have any chemistry, and I really didn't even understand why it was included. Cringey at best, the conversations and interactions are not anything like how teenagers actually talk. I know the length of the book was probably a hindrance to creating more character development and lending less shallow relationships between them.
I am the world's biggest weenie when it comes to horror. I typically can't even read wikipedia summaries of scary books or movies without getting freaked out and needing a nightlight. I think the length of the book contributed to the lack of build up, and any scenes that were intended to be scary, didn't feel that way at all. Basically all the scenes were just missing the imagery or pacing necessary to convey the mood. I just kept waiting for horror, or to be scared. I was sorely disappointed. There isn't a lot of action going on, I felt like I was waiting and hoping for more creepy things to be happening.
A lot of the blame rests on my shoulders. I was so excited when I saw the authors name, I assumed a horror story with diversity and great BIPOC writing was in store. That was not the case. The BIPOC characters were painful to read, and it seems no research or time was put into making sure they actually read like BIPOC. There are a few characters where we get a one word descriptor, or maybe a last name that hints at diversity, but take that away and nothing about them reads anything other then white.
The writing style really surprised me. It was very easy to consume and simple, it would be better suited to a middle grade audience then a ya one. It made it really difficult to stay engaged, and a lot of times I felt myself just bored with the repetitive prose. I read an incredibly engaging middle grade book (I only mention this to show that my issue is not with different age group books, but just this one)earlier, one that is suited well for all ages and audiences, and Holly Horror does not share the same tone that I would recommend for the ya that it is being marketed for. If it was instead targeting a younger demographic, I believe it would find an audience more appreciative of its story.
I do like the cover, it's gorgeous, and is really creepy!
I personally would not recommend this book, nor would I read anything by this author again.