The Hollow Places

To be fair....
This was going to be a 4 star read (at least!) before I even opened the cover on it because I love T. Kingfisher's writing, The Twisted Ones was my favorite book of last year and because I really didn't care what the plot was because I knew I was in good hands.
I was right. I loved it. I didn't 5 star love it, but I loved it a lot. I did no prep work on this book so that I went in cold and I think that may have been what hurt me. I knew nothing about Algernon Blackwood or The Willows. If you don't know there is source material, you cannot appreciate the cleverness it takes to create a whole new story. So, a lot of the clever was lost on me.
Still The Hollow Places is creepy AF and parts of it will stay with me every time I close my eyes. I was enchanted with Beau (is this a Kingfisher/Vernon thing?). I swear no one writes better animal sidekicks.
So, why not 5 stars? It may be me. Cara's crying got on my news. She cries a great deal. Also, the constant complaining about the leg kind of serves one brief, small purpose but it got old reading about how painful it was over and over. Also, Simon shows up at really convenient times and we all know I don't like to see my female protags survive because some man saves her,and it happens multiple times. Also the ex-husband bit did nothing for me, except show character growth? Maybe? I'm being generous here.
That said, The Hollow Places is awesome. I swear, on an animal that has been stuffed and chemically treated, that I will reread this in a calmer year and see if I can amend my review.