Book Review-Hollow Heathens by Nicole Fiorina

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

About The Book

A forbidden, timeless, and haunting love story.

Once upon a time, there lived a girl named Fallon who was taken far away from home shortly after she was born. 
A home that held more than strange traditions and bizarre superstitions.
Twenty-four years later, she returned to Weeping Hollow, a town she’d only heard about in stories during restless nights under a marble moon, in the middle of the night to take care of her last living relative. 
They called the nosy mortician a freakshow–a ghastly thing.
They said I couldn’t go near her.
Still, there was this aching pull to Fallon Grimaldi that I couldn’t escape.
A nostalgic pull as if we’d been here before.

Once upon a time, there lived a mysterious boy named Julian with a curse as old as centuries wrapped around his soul. 
He was one of the four Hollow Heathens, the very dark creatures who caused the town’s people to live in fear. 
And the Blackwell name was stained with darkness and death.
They called him a monster. Cold and hollow.
They said I shouldn’t go near him.
Still, there was this aching pull to Julian Blackwell that I couldn’t escape.
A nostalgic pull as if we’d been here before. 

I loved her, and perhaps it was a kind of love that wasn’t normal. Perhaps love wasn’t supposed to move something like her, quiet and gentle. Or maybe it wasn’t supposed to move something like me, cruel and unusual. Ours was different—a strange love. A mixture of us. Quiet and cruel, hiding in the depths of darkness before plunging a sharp blade into our hearts.

My Review

First Impressions

Hollow Heathens is the first installment in the “Tales of Weeping Hollow” series. This is also my very first Nicole Fiorina novel. This is a novel that I have been wanting to get it, and to be honest I hear “Bone Island” is epic but due to the world-building, certain aspects make more sense upon reading “Hollow Heathens” and I was so intrigued by this one and I knew I wanted to save it for this time of year. And if you are looking for a highly atmospheric read for fall time, this book must be on your list. In fact, if you love real writing talent, this is an author you need to pay attention to. I was completely floored by this book and the writing style that was portrayed within this story. I have never read such writing like this that has such attention to detail, the world builds so intricately and the chemistry between our couple is vibrant and real. Hollow Heathens is a gothic paranormal romance. It’s set in a small town and has a forbidden touch to the romance. It’s a story that is epic and packed with lyrical meaning and packs such an intense punch and will literally spook you within each chapter. It’s a book I can’t recommend enough and I admire the author in what she was able to create in this timeless romance.

Heart failure. The organ I would follow anywhere, without question, without reasoning. When lost or confused, it was our hearts we were told to trust completely. The speaker of desires, deliverer of feelings, and giver of hope. Yet it still had the audacity to fail us

Summary

Fallon was taken away from her childhood home as a form of protection and has lived away from Weeping Hollow majority of her life. She has now returned after exchanging letters with her grandfather who is in need of her. Her grandfather is her only family left and she is determined to get the answers to what happened to her mother and the mystery behind her past but also hopes to find herself and find a place of acceptance. Fallon has always been different which sets her apart from everyone else. When she comes to Weeping Hollow, there is so much mystery surrounding the people who live there. There is a magic in the air that is sometimes dark and twisted, and she is drawn to one of the four Hollow Heathens, Julian, who is forbidden to her. Julian is cursed as is his fellow Heathens and has to wear a mask over his face or those who see his true face will die. The coven has determined that Julian is too dangerous and he can’t get near Fallon. But Fallon is the only one who truly sees Julian as more than a cursed Heathen, she sees the man he is on the inside and quiets the turmoil in his head. But Fallon and Julian were never meant to find each other, but can their connection be the key to freeing Weeping Hallow and his closest friends from a curse they were dealt?

There was a serenity lurking behind the walls of his madman illusion—a false imprisonment of a wonderland I wanted to wander in. A place I could get lost in.

What I Loved

Hollow Heathens is a story I wasn’t expecting to be as good as it truly was. I do recommend if you can, getting this in audio. I am telling you the experience will be even more elevated. There is a very strong lyrical feel to the writing that Nicole Fiorina implements within her story here, and the narration really brings out that quality so well. So Hollow Heathens is a story that will instantly captivate you. I was so quickly drawn into this story and the mystery behind it all. I do think this is a book you need to take time with in order to get the full scope and vibe of the story. I read this one all day because I knew I wanted to get more time with it. I am really happy that I took the time reading this one and didn’t rush it because its not a story that is a quick read, you definitely want to ease into it. I even kept my audio narration at 1.4x speed to just really enjoy it a bit more. The story is captivating and we get multiple POV’s in this story. Mostly from Fallon and Julian, but we do get a sideline story of the origins of the curse and why its so vital to the story. This POV is short, really only a couple of pages a few times throughout the story and added such dimension into the background of the curse.

They are of formidable beauty, both love and death. Within them lies their immortality.

I think what I was drawn to the most is the atmosphere of this story. If you want a story that will literally awaken your senses, then this book will do that. I guarantee that it will take you on a ride you won’t be expecting. There is a talent that this author has that is so different from what I was expecting with this one here. What this author writes in the attention to detail is so crafty. The world-building is such that is so complex but not too complex that you get lost in the story. It’s slowly built with such detail that it’s an enriching experience. Then we have the cast throughout the story. I will say that it can be overwhelming for all the characters that are involved here, my best advice is to be patient with it and take time to learn them all as they all have roles within the story. The primary characters Julian and Fallon are so vibrantly portrayed. Their journey together was intimate and so haunting. You immediately feel the connection that these two have together. And even though Julian has such mystery surrounding him, you also sense his tortured past and the way he gets treated is so heartfelt throughout the story. Fallon is a heroine you can easily get behind. She is a fighter for the relationship and will do anything to protect Julian. Julian is very protective of her, but he is also in a tough spot because he knows his future fate and doesn’t want to take Fallon down with him. He also knows that their love has been forbidden. He isn’t allowed 50 feet within her space but they have a bond that is worth fighting for. There is a intense magnetism that rises between them that borders the line of life and death.

I would go to him, and I would love him. All of him. Over and over … on repeat. Because I was certain all these things he was made of were the very parts missing in me.

There is also a beautiful captivating mystery that is implemented and the paranormal elements that are drawn into this story is so mystical. I was so enraptured by these darker magical elements and seeing what our characters are having to deal with and the dark forces that are trying to destroy them and Weeping Hollow. The different events that build up to the crescendo and climax of the story just add to the tension and conflicts that arise within the story being told. And the ending that we have, well I couldn’t have written a more epic finalizing ending that delivers all the heart and feels and capitalizes on the built-up storytelling and the author definitely delivered a true masterpiece here.

she buried her face into my neck. I held the back of her head, keeping her here with me. She held on to me. I held on to her.

What I Struggled With

Nothing really, the writing can take some getting used to, but keep with it and take it easy and slow and you will be captivated!

He replaced the darkness with his own kind. I stilled, utterly dependent on him, yet trusting him. He was everywhere, a severe and passionate force of a shadow.

Overall View

Hollow Heathens is a timeless romance that stuns the reader with heart-achingly sweet intimacy, gothic mystery, and magic that is woven within the pages of a brilliantly mastered story to captivate the heart and deep abiding truths of the soul…

So, I kissed the night, got lost in his sky and suspended in his time. I kissed the darkness too, as if it was all I knew because it was a part of him.

Title: Hollow Heathens

Author: Nicole Fiorina

Genre: Paranormal Gothic Romance

Format: Audiobook & Ebook

Source: Self Purchased

Length: 18 Hours and 57 Mins| 524 Pages

Book Links

Amazon| Barnes and Noble| Kobo| Goodreads| LibraryThing| StoryGraph| Literal Club| Author’s Shop

Series Order

Hollow Heathens-Pub 2020 #1 in the Series

Bone Island-Pub 2022 #2 in the Series

About Nicole

Nicole Fiorina is the #1 Best Selling Author in Poetry for her debut trilogy, Stay with Me, and Amazon’s #1 Best Selling Author in Gothic Romance for Hollow Heathens. She has four published titles, all translated into multiple languages.

Her writing style and stories are known to evoke imagery and emotion, varying across all sub-genres, settings, and time periods due to her ambition to live a thousand lives. She’s a rule breaker who cannot be confined in a box, except when she’s in the writing cave. In this case, she will lose track of time and will have to be dragged away. When she’s not writing, she’s busy being inspired, traveling, or planning her next book—with one hand on her laptop and the other balancing a latte.

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