Bumpy Oak Books

**I was provided an electronic copy of this book from the publishers through NetGalley post-publication in exchange for honest review.**

3 stars

T. Kingfisher’s most recent novel, The Hollow Places, is a modern horror in the form of a portal fantasy inspired by Algernon Blackwood’s The Willows. Readers follow Kara who is recently divorced and moves in with her uncle who happens to own and operate a museum of oddities and taxidermy. Kara is looking forward to using the opportunity to get back on her feet when running the museum turns out to be a lot more than she bargained for.

I found T Kingfisher’s writing style to be accessible and fast-paced. The work was very readable and it was easy to be drawn into the story. The otherworldly bits had good atmosphere about them and the descriptions of those items went a long way toward making the book a page-turner. Kingfisher managed to create a generally unsettling environment and the inspiration from The Willows was both clear and utilized well.

Kara was relatable and inoffensive, if a bit bland. Simon, our other main character, seemed to have a lot more going on. I felt like the unnatural or otherworldly happenings were not firmly established or explained, particularly with Simon but also in general. As a reader, you have to just buy into what’s happening because there isn’t much time or effort thrown into making it all that believable that these things could truly happen. This, for me, downgrades the creepy factor by a lot, and also downgrades my investment since I never truly felt the stakes were high for Kara or Simon.

Overall, I’m not mad I read this, but am left feeling a bit “meh”. I am still very much interested in reading other works by T Kingfisher, and hope those will leave more of a solid impression.