If you’re a book lover like me, I’m sure you’ve come across books that you wish would never end. I felt that way with Bittersweet in the Hollow, and lucky for me it looks like there’s a sequel in the works, which I will be eagerly awaiting. I’ve gotten ahead of myself though, first I must try to put into words why I enjoyed this book so much and convince you to pick up this book ASAP!
I suppose I am partial to this book for one reason, which is that it is set in the small town of Caball Hollow and focused specifically on a family with four girls who help their Mama and Gran serve up the best food around at their little diner. I, too, have four girls in my family and though we didn’t have a family-owned diner, we did all work at a small local coffee shop for several years, so there are some nostalgic feelings there for me. Something my sisters and I didn’t have that the James sisters and many generations of the women in their family do, is subtle special abilities that are unique to each of them. And none of us disappeared for several hours in a dark wood, only to be found hours later, covered in mud and all torn up, unable to recall what had happened.
Linden James can taste emotions. (I know it sounds weird, but once I got used to the idea, it actually felt very intuitive and was an interesting addition to the story). This ability is something that throughout the book is very prevalent to the reader, making it easy to forget that Linden and most of the living women in her family are whispered about and called witches. Linden and her sisters have always kept their abilities under wraps and used them for good. But when a young girl goes missing on the anniversary of Linden’s brief disappearance last year, Linden is unwittingly pulled into the mysterious disappearance, which seems almost too similar to her own.
Caball Hollow is a small community with big superstitions. So when news of the disappearance is spread, the whispers and accusations start. The Moth-Winged Man is probably just an old tale that was told to keep kids from going too far into the forest, but someone (or something) is behind these disappearances and Linden keeps feeling something watching her from the edge of the woods. The story wouldn’t be complete without a young man that Linden used to be close friends with popping up everywhere, who eventually helps her look for her missing friend. When they begin to uncover more about the history of their town, their families, and the stories that have been passed through generations, they know the only way to get to the bottom of whatever is haunting their town is to keep investigating.
Reading this book felt like the best little spooky getaway. I was feeling under the weather when I read it, and it was nice to read about what was happening in the world of Caball Hollow for a bit of an escape. This book is perfect to read any time of year, but if you’re gearing up for fall it will surely help put you in the Halloween spirit!
Review of a Digital Advance Readers Copy from Penguin Young Readers Group
Content Analysis:
Profanity/Language: 12 religious exclamations; 22 mild obscenities; 3 religious profanities; 2 derogatory names; 5 anatomical terms.
Violence/Gore: A minor hears bells tolling slowly in town, which means someone has died; a girl recalls a memory of a time when a girl tried to do a flip and broke her arm; a brief scene occurs where a girl gets caught up in remembering the anniversary of her going missing a year ago, which she has very little memory of; rumors and tales are passed around about a mysterious creature that haunts the forest surrounding town, seeing it is said to mean impending death; a young woman is reported to have gone missing; verbal threats are made to a young girl, she is accused of being a witch and a murderer; a mention is made of a boy who went missing years ago and was never found, his father is still local and some suspect he murdered his own son and the father later reports that some think he killed his son and fed him to pigs; a brief mention is made of a fight between kids over a toy and biting, breaking skin and causing some slight bleeding; a man is mentioned to have almost died in a motorcycle accident years ago; a minor finds body in the woods after having a strange feeling that pulled her to the location, some brief description is given of the scene and body; it is reported that foul play is suspected as dead person is mentioned to have most likely been strangled; a brief scene occurs where a character grabs a hot pan to keep it from falling and burns his hand; a fight breaks out at a gathering and a girl is accused of being a witch, she is then knocked into a creek and falls unconscious; a girl recalls some pieces of the night she disappeared a year ago, which includes being chased through the woods, brambles and thorns ripping at her skin, and something hard hitting the back of her head before she woke in a bathtub with a pile of bloody clothes beside her and her sister washing blood and dirt off of her; a minor cuts her finger slightly to make her finger bleed so she can perform a ritual, this occurs twice in the course of the book, both in brief scenes; the front window of a family owned diner is broken in an act of vandalism, a note is left with threatening words, several people who were in the diner at the time sustain small cuts and abrasions with some blood mentioned; a girl has an frightening encounter with a someone she suspects, with a brief chase; a minor is in a car crash and it is suspected someone was trying to force someone off the road; a character finally admits they knows what happened to the someone who went missing years ago and briefly describes how they died; a brief scene occurs where a character tries to drug and abduct a girl, she wakes up too soon and starts to fight back, which results injuries, some blood is mentioned; a character finds the person who was missing from a car crash with lots of blood and bloody foam coming from his mouth, he is unconscious; character threatened at knifepoint and a brief fight ensues and the encounter ends with a death.
Sex/Nudity: Sisters make a joke about one of them being attracted to a shirtless man working outdoors; a girl and boy who used to be a ”thing” embrace and end up kissing each other very lightly, which turns into a deeper kiss in a brief scene; two women are mentioned to kiss on the lips in a brief scene.
Mature Subject Matter:
Loss of a loved one; murder; missing persons; magic; corruption, implied romantic feelings between two mature women.
Alcohol/Drug Use:
Moonshine is mentioned to be made and consumed; dandelion wine is mentioned to be made and consumed; cigarettes are mentioned in a few brief scenes; a group of minors are mentioned to be drinking cheap beer, whiskey, and maybe something stronger; a minor is reported to be drugged with something to make her pass out; a woman is reported to have overdosed on drugs and died, leaving her young child behind; a woman is mentioned to smell of alcohol.
