The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane

A strange boarding school, a secret society, and an unusual artifact. This has all of kids of great things that I love. In many ways it is what you expect, but Emmy and her friends are fun to get to know.
There were a couple things that were different. I liked that Emmy's mom was a professional parent, so Emmy had pressure to be prefect. The ultimate bad guy was a surprise and the reason why Emmy fell for it makes a lot of sense. I appreciated seeing why she might act the way she did.
I am a little confused about what the adults knew. Maybe that will clarify when I read the next one. It is what you expect it to be as far as the plot goes. The characters are fairly memorable. And I will read the next one to see how it ends.

~Check out all my reviews on the blog over at The Bent Bookworm!~The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane is the kind of book I would have LOVED reading as a nine or ten-year-old. It has strong, independent kids with their own unique voices, an intriguing mystery (that the adults are dead-bent on NOT being helpful with), and juuuuust enough creep factor to make a warm blanket desirable. Emmy's father disappeared when she was a toddler, and her mother is a “parenting expert” that is rarely around and emotionally distant even when she's physically present. At the start of the story, Emmy is shipped off to a boarding school in England, despite having never been there in her life. Never one to remain down for long (however much her mother's actions might hurt her), she acclimates quickly, making new friends with some of the more colorful characters at the school. The mystery of Emmy's father's disappearance is a main theme, as she is (as many of us would be) desperate to find out anything about him, his life, and yes of course his disappearance. It was very intriguing to have all that thrown in with the typical school stuff (reminds me vaguely of Harry Potter here, considering the main friend group is also three people), and it seems the groundwork has been laid for future books in the series. Some questions were answered by the end, but even more were asked! I'm very eager to see when the next book will be released and what will happen to Emmy and her friends next. I did wish there had been at least ONE adult who was straight with the kids, instead of constantly blowing them off or just trying to pretend things hadn't happened. Children are smarter than we give them credit for, and often able to handle things much better than we might anticipate.4/5 stars. Blog Twitter Bloglovin Instagram