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Review

3 stars

The third book in the Hollow Boys series, this is a dark, dramatic, psychologically twisted and confronting story of an emotionless psychopath, and the girl who is obsessed with him. Like the other books in the series it’s raw and gritty and, though a little dark for my tastes, it’s definitely an intriguing read.

This is Thatcher and Lyla’s story, but also a continuation of the storyline from the first two books. So even though it’s featuring different characters, I wouldn’t recommend reading this one as a standalone. Also be aware that when I say this is a dark read – this is a DARK read. It’s loaded with trigger warnings such as torture, death and violence (all on the page), bullying, psychological torment, blood play, brutal death of a parent, grief and all of the other nasty stuff that you would expect from this series, and these characters. Even as a lover of dark romance, I found some of it difficult to read and ended up skimming some scenes. So be prepared.

The Hollow Boys are four childhood best-friends friends, now in college, who were raised and live in gothic-feeling Hollow Heights – a town where girls go missing and murders happen frequently, and nobody really seems to look too closely. The boys are continuing their mission after the murder of one of their own, and they are out for revenge, no matter what it costs.

The Hollow Boys are the antiheroes who refuse redemption because they’re comfortable in their corruption.

Despite each of the boys dealing with their own inner darkness, Thatcher is the darkest of them all. The son of a serial killer, and a self-declared psychopath with his own obsession with killing, he doesn’t need or care for anyone. He has loyalty for his friends, but lives a mostly isolated life, with everybody pretty much just ignoring his need to inflict pain, torture and kill.

Lyra has appeared in earlier books as the roommate and friend of Briar (heroine of book #1, XXX). She’s quiet and a little quirky, with a fascination with collecting bugs, and the prologue of this book shows us a glimpse into her past which changed her life forever, and which ties her to the man that everybody else fears. Lyra has been obsessed with Thatcher since she was a child. Given their twisted first meeting, I could understand how and why she developed a fixation on him, and it’s just continued to escalate as she grows older.

What I feel for Thatcher Alexander Pierson isn’t bad. It’s lovely and unique, something invulnerable that regular people could never appreciate. The emotion he evokes inside of me is the only pure thing I have left.

Thatcher is well aware that Lyra watches him and follows him around, and he tolerates it, but with their friends hooking up and them being brought together more and more as the group continues to investigate and seek vengeance on a local sex trafficking ring, they are suddenly forced to confront this ‘thing’ that is between them.

I know it’s difficult for them to grasp – it’s difficult for everyone to grasp. The connection we share is something private; only he and I can feel it. See it. Understand it.
That’s the way I like it.

It’s a totally twisted dynamic, and actually quite creepy, and I was a bit icked out by their early interactions. It actually takes us a while to see them together, because a large chunk of the beginning of the book is getting to know the characters as they ruminate over how twisted and evil they are. And when we finally do see them together, there are death threats and lots of talk of violence, and I was trying to figure out what the hell was happening. But Lyra is one insistent little stalker.

Whether he likes it or not, I’m going to get beneath his winter skin, until I’m burned so deep in the marrow of his bones he can’t breathe without me.

The more we see them together, the more Lyra pushes, the more she gets under Thatcher’s skin, and things begin to change. The order and control with which Thatcher lives his life is thrown into chaos whenever Lyra is around. He hates it, and though he does his best to push her away, her obsession keeps her close, and things begin to change.

“You’re my ghost, Lyra Abbott. Mine and only mine. You watch me, you exist for me.”

As the story twists and turns through some pretty big extremes, we see a thawing in Thatcher. We see him begin to feel something for somebody for the very first time, we see him touch and be physical with somebody for the very first time, and watching him deal with that and how it impacts him is fascinating.

“There is nothing about you I wouldn’t accept. I will meet your cold with my warmth. I will let your sharp edges do their worst because I was made to bleed for you.”

It’s not a romance, it’s pure obsession at this point, but the seeds have been planted, just in time for the book to end on a nasty cliffhanger. Thatcher and Lyra’s story will continue in the next book of the series, and I’m so curious to see how it all unfolds from here (the romance lover that I am is hoping for a bit more of an emotional punch).

So yeah, a bit too dark for me, but that’s totally subjective. I’m invested in the story and am keen to see what happens for these two.

3 stars.

 

The Hollow Boys

 

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Meet the Author

Monty Jay likes to describe herself as a punk rock kid, with the soul of a gypsy who has a Red Bull addiction. She writes romance novels about insane artists, feisty females, hockey players, and many more.

When she isn’t writing she can be found reading anything Stephen King, getting a tattoo, or eating cold pizza.

 

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