End of the Headless Hunt!

This is a first – finishing a series while working on this little blog.  So, now I have a dilemma – do I put up a page that spoils it all?  Hmmm….  well, I won’t until this is published anyway!

Thanks to S&S for the galley of this one.  Jessica Verday’s conclusion to the Hollow trilogy, the Hidden was a surprising and pleasant way to wrap things up.

How to find a way to have a happy ending?  Where we left off, Vincent was after Abbey to keep Caspian from being completed, but we didn’t know why.  And while we know more about the revenants it is hard at first to see how Abbey is going to resolve her feelings for Kristen, how she and Caspian will – or will not – find a way to be together and how her choices will all play out.

One of the most wonderful things about this book is that it was in fact the conclusion of the story.  It would be hard to see how this could be changed to be something more than the trilogy.  A different set of books using some of the other characters would be one thing, but we do get the resolution to Caspian and Abbey.  And it was a relief to see that the author didn’t try to find a way to put that off.

After having read all three installments, so close to one another, it was easy to keep in mind a statement that I read somewhere that this is a modern twist to the Headless Horseman tale.  But I must disagree with that assessment.  While the legend of Sleepy Hollow is important to the plot, and we now know (after the first book) that Nikolas is the Headless Horseman from the legend, it’s not really a modern twist.  It’s more like an explanation or continuation of a story using some of the same characters.

The grief is still present, so is the love story.  The action and chase is enough to keep a reader guessing until almost the end.  It was satisfying to see the payoff  – we get answers!  We understand the role of each of the characters and we learn about Vincent’s motivations and who his other half is.  At first, the trip to the asylum left me suspicious that we wouldn’t get the answers, but when we see how that all worked out I was happy that my suspicions proved false.

It was also sort of a relief to see that our happily ever after was based on the choice of a female character strong enough to make a sacrifice.  And while at first, it might seem that she is sacrificing all because she can’t live without a boy, to me, it was bigger than that.  She sacrificed herself for her best friend and to set things right.

Abbey’s passive aggressive mother is one of the most frustrating aspects of the series and the book.  Mom gives her presents and tells her how wonderful she is but she guilts her into things that make it hard for Abbey to deal with her grief.

Finally, I am so very happy with the way this all ended.  It clearly was a trilogy and will stay a trilogy.  So many of the series that were meant to be a certain number of books – but where then stretched to have additional books – are awful.  Because you can tell that the story has been stretched or distorted to add those additional books.  Here, we got an ending, tied up in a nice little bow.  It was such a relief.  Now, I wouldn’t object to different stories with the revenants….  And, the legend of Sleepy Hollow is a must read, either before or after this series (although I would recommend before).  It will bring new appreciation to these books – and vice versa.

Headless Haunting!

More of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow in the Haunted, the second in the Hollow series by Jessica Verday.  (With the review and info on the final installment of the trilogy tomorrow!)

So we get a lot more information here in this middle portion of the story then we had in the first book – although it is still clearly the middle book with more questions remaining unanswered then otherwise. We learn the term revenant (which was new to me this year and now I feel like I am seeing it all over the YA genre, oh well) and shade. We learn much more about Nikolas and Katy. And we Get much more in the way of relationship development between Caspian and Abbey.

At the end of the first installment Abbey is sent to live with a Great Aunt while getting some professional help because she couldn’t deal with the death of her best friend Kristen and she couldn’t deal with the fact that the boy she fell in love with, Caspian, is actually dead. Her parents convince her to come home early to help dedicate a bridge to Kristen’s memory. And the new school year starts. She still struggles but starts to find a few additional friends, including Ben. Turns out Ben had a thing for Kristen.  And Abbey, after a little while, realizes that Caspian wasn’t just a figment of her imagination. We learn that Kristen was dating a creepy guy named Vincent and Vincent is after Abbey for some reason. Abbey coming to terms with the fact that Caspian is dead and moving the plot forward to the point where we can find out what the deal is with Vincent and Nikolas and others is the main thrust of this middle book.

This was on par with the first. It was an intriguing story and the reader knows that there must be something bigger coming in the final third of the story. We see more of Caspian and Abbey and their relationship blossom. And we see Abbey’s grand plans for her future. She struggles still with her grief but she gets back to living. And she struggles with what the future will hold for her.

Caspian is still a little too good to be true, but he comes across as such a genuine and nice guy that it’s easy to forget that teenage boys aren’t usually so sentimental or sappy. And the bond between Abbey and Caspian is so easy to believe. It is such a good glimpse into that first young love….

The quotes from Irving’s story still lead the reader into each chapter and sometimes feel more obvious then other times. But it was a nice progression. There is little payoff though from the loose ends from the first book. They are really almost all left for the final portion of the trilogy. I was glad to see the mysterious D revealed here but his true nature and the details as to where the story is really going is left almost exclusively for the final installment. I suggest, if you are impatient at all, to read all three of these back to back like I did. It will feel less frustrating when you still don’t have much information at the end of this book since you can dive right into the final!

The Headless Horseman!

Having grown up not far from Tarrytown NY where the Legend of Sleepy Hoolow was based! And having visited there while in elementary school, I was intrigued by the idea of a story that use Irving’s story as inspiration. I also must note that I am writing this review after having read the entire trilogy in one sitting (ok, on weekend, but that’s really not much different) so I have the benefit of having the story completed while forming my opinion of each book.

The story of the first book was clearly incomplete. It was such a cliffhanger that I think I would have had a hard time waiting for the second installment. Although, I will say that the”cliffhanger” wasn’t really all that unexpected. It is clear from the instant we meet Caspian that there is something off about him. When writing my synopsis for my log, I had to make Kristen a character even though it is really only her memory that we see since her memory plays such a large impact on Abbey and the events of the story (all the way through the trilogy too).

Kristen and Abbey were best friends from the time they were little. They grew up in a small, albeit famous, NY town that of Sleepy Hollow. Yes! Where the story of the Headless Horseman is set. Then, Kristen dies. But Abbey doesn’t really think that Kristen is dead. She won’t accept it until they find her body. And when they find her body she has trouble accepting that it was an accident. She meets Caspian, a young boy she’s never seen before. They start to meet and spend time together. And they fall in love.  But then she discovers that Kristen was keeping secrets. She was dating someone for quite some time and he didn’t want Kristen to tell Abbey. And then, we find out the truth about Caspian and that he is dead too.

It was easy to feel Abbey’s grief over loosing her best friend.  Anyone who has lost a friend or family member can indetify with Abbey. There were moments when the grief felt so real that I had tears in my eyes because I was reminded of loved ones that I have lost. The emotions shine through.

It was also very easy to feel like we get to know the characters of Abbey and Caspian. And there is enough mystery around Nikolas that it is easy for a reader to stay engaged. Unlike the other YA supernatural love stories it is clear from the moment (at the end of this book) we learn the truth about Caspian that while Abbey and Caspian face a huge problem when considering how to be together, we aren’t likely to get an easy or traditional just kill the bad guys kind of ending.

This book really is an introduction to the story. There is very little payoff and lots of questions asked or raised. While we learn the biggest part of the truth about Caspian, it seems like there might be more to the story and a reader needs to be patient throughout the trilogy to get the payoff as to what that all is.

The quotes from Irving’s story were clever although they sometimes got my hopes up having me thinking I would find something out in a chapter and but then not having the connection be very clear.  And Caspian’s big secret was pretty easy to guess too so I would like to have seen a little more subtly in the foreshadowing ability of the author.

The stuff that felt hard to swallow was how reckless Abbey was after having a friend who just died. And all of the totally swoon worthy things that Caspian says and does. What teenage boy is that awesome?  He is almost a little too thoughtful. But he is adorable at the same time and he is easy to root for. It was easy to see why Abbey would fall for him and at the end, I was left hoping that at the end of the series we would find a way to see Abbey and Caspian together. As for the potential love triangle with Ben, the second book will address this and I for one wasn’t disappointed.

This was a nice start to a new series. I do think it paid to read all three together back to back though. I am not sure I would have enjoyed the characters as much if I hadn’t read it that way. It would have been too hard to remember some of the little details about each character which weren’t really integral from a a plot perspective but were if you wanted to understand the characters and feel the emotions they dealt with.

Overall I enjoyed it. And it makes me nostalgic for a reread of Irving’s great ghost story.