Holly Horror #1

"Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a digital copy ARC of this book and the opportunity to read and review based on my own personal opinions. Actual rating 3.75 Please note, I am fairly picky about the books I choose to read and don't always jump on the most popular buzz of books being thrown around online. Between the description and the cover, I was very interested in reading this book. This book is said to be a nod to a beloved classic Holly Hobbie reimagined with a dark twist. 😏Color me intrigued... 🌑This YA Horror (leaning more toward younger than adult) revolves around teenager Evie Archer who moves from the big and busy city of New York to the small quiet New England town of Ravenglass, Massachusetts, with her mother and brother after her parent's divorce. This is meant for a fresh start for the family in an old abandoned family home previously owned by her mother's Aunt and Uncle. Her new home however is known in the local community as the "Horror House" and small towns tend to talk. Yikes! 😲 👤The home has a dark past after learning about Holly Hobbie, who vanished from her bedroom one night. This mystery starts to weave itself into Evie's life and a strange shadow starts following her everywhere. What happened to the lost girl? What's real? Things start getting strange as soon as she arrives in this sleepy little town. Trying to fit in as the new girl is hard enough, but being the new girl living in a haunted house is challenging. Her feels mother's disregard to the rumors of ghosts isn’t helpful. 😱Traces of Holly linger in the Horror House and slowly begin to take over Evie's life as she struggles to get answers to her disappearance. A strange shadow follows her everywhere she goes, and Evie starts to lose sight of what's real and what isn't the more she learns about "The Lost Girl". Will she find out what happened or become part of the bad history of this house? Big cliffhanger, and the 2nd book is in 2024."

"Thank you Bookish Insiders for this arc in exchange for an honest review. <br/><br/>"Holly Horror" by Michelle Jabes Corpora follows Evie Archer after her parents divorce moves in with her mom and brother in Ragenglass but discovers that the house she moves into is known as "Horror House" and where a young girl disappeared from. <br/><br/><br/>I would give "Holly Horror" by Michelle Jabes Corpora a 1 star review because, I love the colors on the cover, the description did sounds interesting but as I was reading I could not ignore that this seemed to familiar to the first season tv show "American Horror Story" even with some differences, the writing and character everything felt bland, and it honestly felt more like a middle grade for high school/middle school age readers."