Goldilox and the Three Scares Classic Horror Week Review: Wake the Hollow by Gabi Triana

We're doing something a little different for Halloween this year. This time of year always brings out the monsters. And some of our favorites are the ones from literature. We're looking at retellings and reimaginings of horror classics like Dracula and Frankenstein. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a story that always reminds me of Halloween. Today I'm reviewing an update of that classic tale.

Wake the Hollow
Gaby Triana
Release: August 2, 2016
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ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

Forget the dead, Mica. It’s real, live people you should fear.

Tragedy has brought Micaela Burgos back to her hometown of Sleepy Hollow. It’s been six years since she chose to live with her father in Miami instead of her eccentric mother. And now her mother is dead.

This town will suck you in and not let go.

Sleepy Hollow may be famous for its fabled headless horseman, but the town is real. So are its prejudices and hatred, targeting Mica’s family as outsiders. But ghostly voices carry on the wind, whispering that her mother’s death was based on hate…not an accident at all. With the help of two very different guys—who pull at her heart in very different ways—Micaela must awaken the hidden secret of Sleepy Hollow…before she meets her mother’s fate.

Find the answers. 

Unless, of course, the answers find you first.

Review:
Wake the Hollow wound up being a perfect Halloween week read because it's set in October with leaves changing, cold weather setting in, and the town preparing for a Halloween festival. It's also perfect for our Classic Horror Week theme because in addition to Washington Irving, Mary Shelley comes up in Mica's research. I'm kind of glad I didn't read it in the summer when I first got it - I really enjoyed reading it in the same time it's set.

I liked Micaela and watching her comes to terms with her psychic gift and her family legacy. I loved the local lore and urban legends that infuse Sleepy Hollow and I wonder how much of it is real. I found the actual "Legend of Sleepy Hollow" hard to read with its antiquated flowery prose but I'm tempted to read more about its author after the fascinating mysteries in this book.

But something about the love interests in the story rubbed me the wrong way. With both of them (and with some other characters too) Mica goes back and forth on whether she should trust them and she doesn't always seem to have a reason for changing her mind. I wasn't convinced her feelings were genuine and had a few, "Wait! What?" kind of moments. And the guys were inconsistent in their behavior toward her as well. There were also some elements that could have been explained more clearly when the mystery wrapped up.

Still I loved the atmosphere Gaby Triana created here. I liked the fact that there was a second layer of mystery involving Mica's parents, though again some of that could have been explained better. I think the book would make a great TV show - it has a very Riverdale vibe. Plus, you know, ghosts. Some of which might be headless. If anybody at the CW is reading my reviews, you need to adapt Wake the Hollow.

Recommended for fans of: Riverdale

   

 3 Stars