Book Review: Wake the Hollow by Gaby Triana

5:35:00 AM

Title: Wake the Hollow
Author: Gaby Triana
Pages: 304
Genre: YA Paranormal
Release Date: 02 August 2016
From Goodreads: "Forget the ghosts, 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."

Thank you to Entangled Teen for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for review!

When Mica's mother dies, she has to return to the town of Sleepy Hollow that she left six years ago in order to piece together the last note she received from her mom. "Lela, please come home. It's urgent." When she arrives, she remembers exactly why she left in the first place, as the small town syndrome rears its ugly head almost instantly. Rumors and old hatred for Mica's mother fall on to her shoulders, as she tries to figure out what her mom wanted and if her death was really an accident. 

Wake the Hollow was such an exciting book to read. I'm a huge fan of all things horror/paranormal, so to be able to read a book that was set in Sleepy Hollow was pretty perfect. The atmosphere of this book was enough to give me chills! Gaby Triana really took this book to the next level with the amount of details woven in to the story. The beautifully creepy pages that started each chapter, as well as the quotes from the original short story really added to the feeling that this book was set in Sleepy Hollow. I felt like I could hear the horseman creeping up behind me and it was amazing!

I had mixed feelings about pretty much all of the characters throughout the book. It was impossible to know who to trust, and who had ulterior motives! At first, I really didn't like Mica. She was really standoffish at the beginning, after first returning to Sleepy Hollow. I suppose I could understand why, with the rumors about her mother going around and her having to now deal with the issues that have been left behind. But thankfully, as the book went on, she kind of fell out of that negative mindset, and I ended up really liking her. Bram, I didn't really trust at all from the very beginning. Even though he was Mica's best friend from childhood, his behavior was just very obsessive and aggressive throughout the whole book, and it was very suspicious. I think I can just throw a blanket of suspicion over everyone from Bram, to Dane, and even Mica's father!

While I got the feeling that there was something of a love triangle between Mica, Bram, and Dane, the book never really went to that point. One thing I dislike in books is love triangles, and Wake the Hollow surprised me by not throwing one in my face. There was a bit of romance between Mica and Bram, but maybe only a small bit of hinted romance between Mica and Dane. So it wasn't what I expected at all, and I really just want to hug the author for the way that she went about writing this love-triangle-that's-not-a-love-triangle thing. Mica did end up going with who I was hoping she would go for, so that was another huge plus! 

I touched on the atmosphere of the book, but not the writing. Gaby Triana had me hooked from the very first chapter. Right as Mica arrived in Sleepy Hollow, there were voices and super creepy things happening and I was already flying through the pages wanting to know what would happen next! The writing was so descriptive, and really brought me into Mica's world. I don't know hardly anything about Washington Irving or Mary Shelley, but I could honestly believe that the two of them had a fling and wrote a book together because of how well-written this book was. 

With a super fun and creepy plot line, writing that will send chills up your spine, and characters that keep you guessing with each turn of the page, Wake the Hollow is a wonderful pickup that is sure to delight fans of Sleepy Hollow and scary stories in general!

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