Bittersweet in the Hollow
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3.8 • 4 Ratings
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
In this beautifully dark and enthralling YA, four sisters with unusual talents investigate a mysterious disappearance in their secluded Appalachian town. For fans of House of Hollow and Wilder Girls!
In rural Caball Hollow, surrounded by the vast National Forest, the James women serve up more than fried green tomatoes at the Harvest Moon diner, where the family recipes are not the only secrets.
Like her sisters, Linden was born with an unusual ability. She can taste what others are feeling, but this so-called gift soured her relationship with the vexingly attractive Cole Spencer one fateful night a year ago . . . A night when Linden vanished into the depths of the Forest and returned with no memories of what happened, just a litany of questions—and a haze of nightmares that suggest there’s more to her story than simply getting lost.
Now, during the hottest summer on record, another girl in town is gone, and the similarities to last year’s events are striking. Except, this time the missing girl doesn’t make it home, and when her body is discovered, the scene unmistakably spells murder.
As tempers boil over, Linden enlists the help of her sisters to find what’s hiding in the forest . . . before it finds her. But as she starts digging for truth—about the Moth-Winged Man rumored to haunt the Hollow, about her bitter rift with Cole, and even about her family—she must question if some secrets are best left buried.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
An empath is thrust into a supernatural murder mystery in this sensory-rich, genre-bending series opener set in the Appalachian Mountains. Every year, the town of Caball Hollow, W.Va., hosts the Moth Festival, a long-standing tradition celebrating a local cryptid called the Moth-Winged Man. A year ago, during the festival, rising high school senior Linden James disappeared into the nearby woods and resurfaced the next morning with no memories of her experience except for flashes of running through a dark forest and feeling overwhelming terror. On the anniversary of her life-altering vanishing, she discovers her former friend Dahlia dead in the same woods; rumors begin to percolate that not only is Dahlia's murder connected to the Moth-Winged Man, but also to both Linden's disappearance and a decades-old case of a missing child. Determined to find answers, Linden recruits her diner-owning sisters and their special gifts to uncover the truth. Via intimate first-person narration, debut author Pearsall balances paranormal thrills and the horrors of the central mystery to craft a cottage-core-infused world replete with cozy domestic enchantments, a close-knit female cast, and a captivating romance. Characters default to white. Ages 12–up.
Customer Reviews
Hauntingly beautiful debut
Bittersweet in the Hollow by Kate Pearsall is a story that centers four sisters with unusual magical abilities that they keep hidden from their community in a small Appalachian town. Linden, the main protagonist, can taste people's emotions, allowing her insight into others’ true feelings. The eldest, Sorrel, charms bees to create magical honey that binds promises and strengthens spells. Rowan possesses the ability to detect lies and persuade with words. And Juniper is able to see into different realms and bridge the gap between worlds. These magical touches throughout the story added a magical, mystical touch and atmosphere to what is a murder mystery with plenty of twists and turns that kept me guessing until the very end. This beautiful and haunting debut truly has it all and I recommend it for fans of magic, mystery, and folklore!