Title: The Hollow and the HauntedAuthor: Camilla Raines
Series: The Hollow and the Haunted #1
Pages: 384
Publication Date: Oct. 22, 2024
Publisher: Titan
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Fantasy
Synopsis:
Perfect for fans of The Raven Cycle, Cemetery Boys and Sixteen Souls.
Sixteen-year-old Miles Warren hails from a long line of psychics. Resigned to a life in the (not especially profitable) family business, Miles is perfectly happy, thank you very much―except for the part where he’s constantly exhausted from long nights digging up graves, hiding his sexuality from his family, and unable to fulfil his dream of going to art school one day. Perfectly happy.
But Miles’ comfortable routine is interrupted when has a premonition of a violent supernatural murder. He soon discovers that the victim is none other than Gabriel Hawthorne, whose family have a mysterious, decades-long feud with Miles’ own. Gabriel is everything Miles expects from a Hawthorne―rude, snobbish, and irritatingly good-looking―but Miles isn’t just going to stand by and let someone murder him. The two form an uneasy alliance, trying to solve Gabriel’s murder and prevent it from taking place.
The odds are against them; death premonitions are notoriously hard to alter. As they uncover secrets about their families’ feud and dark magic swirls around the pair, Miles is horrified to realize that he doesn’t hate Gabriel as much as he’s supposed to. He might even like him.
Too bad Gabriel is almost certainly going to die.
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October is my favorite month for spooky reads, and The Hollow and the Haunted was at the top of my list. I loved this debut from the start. With its fantastic cast of characters, immersive world-building, and spectacular banter, it was an engrossing and enchanting read.
The grumpy/sunshine vibes between Miles and Gabriel is such a fantastic dynamic, and I adored their slow-building and burning love story. Miles is the empath who always thinks of others before himself. I adored him! He’s shy and anxious and a major people pleaser, and I just wanted to give him a big hug. Gabriel is the grumpy brooder with more layers than even he realizes, and I love how the author slowly peeled all those layers away.
The boys are from rival families, but when Miles foresees Gabriel’s demise, he’s forced to work with him and prevent what’s supposed to happen. Of course, the more time they spend together, the more we see past Gabriel’s prickly exterior. Both characters have such depth, and the banter between them is so fantastic. Their dialogue is witty and sharp, sarcastic and quick, and they play off each other beautifully. I can’t tell you how many times I smiled while I was reading. I also like the progression of their relationship and how they slowly open up to and begin to trust each other.
The story focuses a bit on different kinds of relationships and obligations and how they can help, hinder, and challenge one’s goals, dreams, and values. Family expectations, friendships, and even rivalries impact how Miles and Gabriel live their lives, and as they encounter dangerous situations and deadly supernatural entities and apparitions, they also uncover family secrets and learn more about themselves and others. It’s a unique and dynamically developed cast of characters, both living and unalive, and I especially loved Miles’s cousin who I firmly believe needs her own book. lol Miles and Gabriel’s mothers are fantastic, too, and I like that the secondary characters are as vividly portrayed as the main ones.
The book is described as perfect for fans of The Raven Cycle and Cemetery Boys, and I agree. It definitely has the same vibes, and I would say it also reminds me a bit of F.T. Lukens’s books. It’s heart-warming and touching with a unique mystery, family drama and secrets, supernatural shenanigans, the perfect amount of creepiness, and a very slow-building love story. It’s definitely the kind of story that makes you feel a bunch of feels. And that ending! It left me hanging, and I NEED the next book ASAP! lol
Fate had made their families enemies, bound by death and tragedy. As surely as it had placed Gabriel in Miles’s path, it would take him away.
“Well, at least now I know why you’re so invested in saving him.”
“What — what’s that supposed to mean?”
“Please.” She all but rolled her eyes. “He looks like the handsome-but-tortured love interest in every teen drama ever. Don’t tell me he reads depressing poetry, stares wistfully out at the rain, and he’s mean to you, but in a mysteriously sexy kind of way?”
- rivals to lovers
- grumpy/sunshine
- slow burn
- anxiety rep
- star-crossed lovers vibes
Camilla Raines was born and raised in a small town in Northern Washington with lots of Evergreen trees, seaside fog, and rainy days. Her writing career began in elementary school, where she spent years scribbling down stories for friends that were usually just knock-offs of whatever book she was devouring at the time. As a proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community and someone who openly struggles with chronic anxiety and depression, the most important things to her as a writer are representation, diversity, identity, and acceptance.
When she’s not writing, Camilla is reading to her heart’s content, running local writer meet-ups, living her best PNW life with two spoiled cats in a tiny house on wheels, and hunting down exciting finds at local thrift stores.
I loved this one and can’t wait for the next one!.
Me too!!!
Great review, Julie. It sounds like another great series for you.