So....I wrote a glowing, eager review as I finished chapter four. And then I kept reading and the book was not that. It was not that at all. I felt deceived. Still including it here because I am proud of those paragraphs I wrote and was glad to ask my roommates
Up until chapter four, I thought this was going to be doll horror, and was both, ew, but also excited. This was NOT doll horror. The doll and the song, and the book's tagline are a LIE. Four chapters in, I thought i would be getting something I extremely did not. What a disappointment. There is no reason for me to read the sequel.
The first four chapters also had me thinking this would be haunted house horror. My favorite! Simultaneous doll horror and haunted house horror is a fascinating premise, and I thought this book would do that; I wanted to see how it was done. There was none of that at all after chapter four.

"Slide down my rain barrel into my cellar door." In my generation, and the generation before mine, we called that song "Ceecee oh playmate." Until I read the lyrics in this book, I always thought it went "slide down my rainbows into my cellar door", and that the singer just had a speech impediment. I only recently learned what rain barrels are. Here, the book's tagline is "Playmate oh playmate." I haven't heard the song in twenty-five years or something, so I didn't pick up on it at all. I looked up the song, though, when it appeared here for two seconds. The song started out in 1904 or 1906 and was written by an adult man. I wonder if he was a teacher and it was for his students or daughter or something. Not once did I ever hear the old version. I thought you started the song with the name of the person you wanted to play with you. The girl pulls the string and thinks, "what a weird doll. There's nothing in the song about doctors." Meaning both she and I only ever heard the first verse of the song. I looked it up the moment it was in the book, and the second verse is about the playmate saying they can't play since "my dolly has the flu." The next line instantly got stuck in my head. Haven't heard it in twenty-five years, but -instantly- knew -how- the lyric "boo hoo hoo hoo" would be sung.

I asked my roommates, who are twenty years older than me, about their experiences with the song. By the 1970s, it was "ceecee oh playmate." Roommate remembered: it was a clapping game and she could still do it. She also sang the "come out and fight with me" version. The second verse of the song in the 1970s was "my dolly has the flu, the mumps and measles too."

While all of the above is interesting and I'm glad I learned all about it, the song has fuck all to do with this "Alice in Wonderland" retelling. Why are 2010s kids taking Home Ec? It was phased out in the 1970s. Oh right, that's when the original girl went missing. The symbolism in this book is devoid of subtlety. Once I got past chapter four and realized the doll and haunted house would never come up again, I was able to look for "Alice in Wonderland" clues. Fine. Whatevs. The story doesn't do anything for me so I didn't really care. I wanted to know how the story would handle the missing girl. It does, but not in an interesting way. The white rabbit is the little brother. The 2010s girl's face changes in the mirror. Nothing beyond that. Blah blah boring. The hooded shadowy figure was interesting and spooky. The two siblings didn't even seem to -like- each other, yet MC goes down the rabbit hole (blaaaah, dad joke) to search for him. Not impressed, author. I correctly predicted everything the antagonist would do, and winced when I realized right away what was really in the flower bouquet.

I'm off to try and write a short story of my own with themes of doll horror and references to "ceecee oh playmate" for my own since I think the idea is cool. ( )

This isn't a genre I usually read, but the premise of the book sounded interesting enough for me to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the book. The writing, even though it did have its faults, drew me in and kept me interested. I think there were only a few moments when I thought it was written a bit poorly, it sounded a bit weird or lost my attention for a little bit. But, overall, it was pretty good.

The characters were interesting. Some of them I would have loved to see some more development. I especially would have liked to the relationship between the characters to have been shown more. It feels like there was a lot that was lost there to the main focus of the story, but having it would have strengthened the book as well.

The spooky part of it was mild. I think a bit more could have been added and still would have been okay for those who don't like anything too creepy. It had a decent balance there, so I'm not too upset by it.

I do think this is a series I will probably continue, even though it isn't something I normally like, but I'm interested in seeing where it goes. Yes, the book did end on a cliffhanger, but I would have continued regardless of that. ( )

Holly Horror follows Evie, a sophomore who has moved from New York City to a small New England town after her parents' divorce. Her family moves into Hobbie House where her mother's cousin, Holly, mysteriously vanished forty years ago. When Evie finds Holly's diary, she experiences nightmares and feels like she is being followed by a dark shadow. She begins to question her sanity.
Holly Horror was wonderfully creepy and created a constant feeling of unease and fear. I liked the combination of the paranormal, horror, history and high school life. The Horror House felt like its own character with its dark history and forest setting. The setting of the remote mining town of Ravenglass is atmospheric with chilling fall vibes. The writing is tense creating a spooky story with some unexpected twists and a cliffhanger ending that has me highly anticipating the sequel. Holly Horror is an enjoyable, captivating, haunted house story with relatable characters. Thank you to BookishFirst for a copy to review. ( )

The book title is already calling out to me, and the overall graphic – a skull, hidden under a bonnet which has a (haunted) house in it, is attached to a supposedly body that looks like tree roots – has instantly drawn me into the harrowing journey of Evelyn (Evie) Archer.

Edgar Allan Poe’s quote convinces me that this is a must read for horror and eerie fans like me.

After divorcing, and longing for a fresh start, Mom decides to move Evie and Stan back to Hobbie House that has been in mom’s family for decades and is rumored to be a horror house haunted by Holly.

Shortly after they moved in, Evie starts to feel something unfathomable and uncanny that happens around the house. When she discovers Holly’s diary, some horrifying nightmares keep haunting her and she starts to doubt and lose herself slowly into a deep sinister darkness.

Can Evie find her way out through the murky ghostly shroud of Holly and the unpleasant past?

I was totally engrossed in this spine-chilling HOLLY HORROR that sent me on an unsettling hair-raising journey! I definitely recommend HOLLY HORROR to anyone who enjoys reading horror genre, and I am looking forward to reading Michelle Jabes Corpora’s Horror # 2! ( )

My rating was flip flopping between a 3 and 4 throughout this book, but overall it's more of a 3. The premise and cover definitely drew me in. The story started off strong and I was really into it but then the pace slowed down. The writing was mostly OK but seemed inconsistent at times. I liked the characters a lot and they were developed well. It's an easy and unique story that was mildly scary - I absolutely expected and wanted more creep factor. We could have used more information on patchwork girl, and more of an explanation as to why things happened like they did. The ending was unexpected! I loved the artwork of the girl in the bonnet at the start of every chapter. I'm glad I read this Holly Horror but it wasn't memorable.

Thank you to Bookish First for offering this title in their catalogue. The opinions expressed above are entirely my own. ( )