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The Hollow #2
The Haunted
An impossible truth. An impossible love.
After a summer spent reclaiming her sanity and trying to forget the boy she fell in love with--the boy who must not exist, cannot exist, because she knows that he is dead--Abbey returns to Sleepy Hollow, ready to leave the ghosts of her past behind. She throws herself into her schoolwork, her perfume-making, and her friendship with Ben, her cute and funny lab partner, who just might be her ticket to getting over Caspian once and for all.
But Abbey can never get over Caspian, and Caspian has no choice but to return to her side, for Caspian is a Shade, and Abbey is his destiny. They are tied not only to each other, but also to the town of Sleepy Hollow, and to the famous legend that binds their fates--a legend whose dark truths they are only beginning to guess....
“Spectacular! The Hollow keeps you reading from beginning to end without coming up for air.” -- L.J. Smith , bestselling author of The Vampire Diaries and Night World
After a summer spent reclaiming her sanity and trying to forget the boy she fell in love with--the boy who must not exist, cannot exist, because she knows that he is dead--Abbey returns to Sleepy Hollow, ready to leave the ghosts of her past behind. She throws herself into her schoolwork, her perfume-making, and her friendship with Ben, her cute and funny lab partner, who just might be her ticket to getting over Caspian once and for all.
But Abbey can never get over Caspian, and Caspian has no choice but to return to her side, for Caspian is a Shade, and Abbey is his destiny. They are tied not only to each other, but also to the town of Sleepy Hollow, and to the famous legend that binds their fates--a legend whose dark truths they are only beginning to guess....
“Spectacular! The Hollow keeps you reading from beginning to end without coming up for air.” -- L.J. Smith , bestselling author of The Vampire Diaries and Night World
467 pages, Hardcover
First published August 31, 2010
170 people are currently reading
14582 people want to read
About the author
Jessica Verday
13 books1,778 followersJessica Verday is the New York Times bestselling author of The Hollow Trilogy, published by Simon & Schuster/Simon Pulse. She wrote the first draft of THE HOLLOW by hand, using thirteen spiral-bound notebooks and fifteen black pens. The first draft of THE HAUNTED took fifteen spiral-bound notebooks and twenty black pens. THE HIDDEN took too many notebooks and too many pens to count. Find out more at jessicaverday.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 679 reviews
January 27, 2022
Again, this novel was okay...I said in my last review for The Hollow that I probably wasn't going to read the rest of this series but I forgot that I already put the next book on hold so when it came in I thought I should give it another chance.
Again it just felt kind of 'blah' to me, just like the first one. I did a lot of skim-reading because the main character isn't interesting enough to me for me to read the 200+ pages about her day to day life. (Her perfume making wasn't really as important or written about in this story, weirdly enough given the cover art.)
I didn't really get Caspian in this book. He changes his clothes? So because his clothes are physical things that Abbey and everyone can see, do his clothes just float in the air? They must, because when Caspian goes to grab Abbey a snack when they are at the hotel together, she says it might look suspicious if ‘food is floating in the air.’ So when he walks around with her do people see floating clothes?
Also, Caspian can pick up objects but he can’t touch Abbey? That seems kind of stupid…the author just did that so there would be sexual tension between them. The characters can’t have what they want, which normally would be sexy, but all evidence points to the fact that he CAN pick up objects and change his clothes and draw and stuff so why wouldn’t he be able to touch her? I think the author should have stuck with him either being able to do it all, touch everything/everyone, or be unable to do anything.
And Abbey completely threw me off. At one point, Caspian did something 'totally swoon-worthy' and Abbey said to herself 'that was totally romantic...and kind of creepy.' Well, which one is it? Is he lovely and romantic or is he a creepy ghost? Either she loves him with all her heart like she claims at some points or she doesn't. She also said at one point that she was falling in love with him, and this was sometime in the middle of the novel and I was like...uh what? Doesn't she already love him by this point? I was confused to say the least.
Also a minor thing but Ben and Abbey said they saw a Japanese restaurant/bait shop but then later it was a Chinese/bait shop. Those are fundamentally different...
A new editor, or perhaps the author shouldn't handwrite her books may help. Not a fan and dropped :(
Again it just felt kind of 'blah' to me, just like the first one. I did a lot of skim-reading because the main character isn't interesting enough to me for me to read the 200+ pages about her day to day life. (Her perfume making wasn't really as important or written about in this story, weirdly enough given the cover art.)
I didn't really get Caspian in this book. He changes his clothes? So because his clothes are physical things that Abbey and everyone can see, do his clothes just float in the air? They must, because when Caspian goes to grab Abbey a snack when they are at the hotel together, she says it might look suspicious if ‘food is floating in the air.’ So when he walks around with her do people see floating clothes?
Also, Caspian can pick up objects but he can’t touch Abbey? That seems kind of stupid…the author just did that so there would be sexual tension between them. The characters can’t have what they want, which normally would be sexy, but all evidence points to the fact that he CAN pick up objects and change his clothes and draw and stuff so why wouldn’t he be able to touch her? I think the author should have stuck with him either being able to do it all, touch everything/everyone, or be unable to do anything.
And Abbey completely threw me off. At one point, Caspian did something 'totally swoon-worthy' and Abbey said to herself 'that was totally romantic...and kind of creepy.' Well, which one is it? Is he lovely and romantic or is he a creepy ghost? Either she loves him with all her heart like she claims at some points or she doesn't. She also said at one point that she was falling in love with him, and this was sometime in the middle of the novel and I was like...uh what? Doesn't she already love him by this point? I was confused to say the least.
Also a minor thing but Ben and Abbey said they saw a Japanese restaurant/bait shop but then later it was a Chinese/bait shop. Those are fundamentally different...
A new editor, or perhaps the author shouldn't handwrite her books may help. Not a fan and dropped :(
January 27, 2012
One word sums up this book in my mind, and I hope it does in others too: beautiful.
I loved this book. It was an astronomical improvement on The Hollow, and although I did enjoy the first book as a nice bit of fluff, this one blew it right out of the water. I love it when, in a series, you can see the author's writing gradually growing and improving - another thing I loved about this book. Verday has proved her worth in the YA machine; her characters are deep, captivating, and real enough to bleed.
Abbey. My GOD, how Abbey has improved. I'm so pleased that I'm actually able to say I liked this book's heroine. I cannot stand hating the protagonist of YA novels, so it was really refreshing to find a girl who was relatable and likable. Alright, so she's no superwoman, and she doesn't always make the best choices, but she's human. I can find parts of her personality (she has one!) that I like and that's big in a genre so hell-bent on churning out wet rags disguised as protagonists.
And Caspian...oh, Caspian. Caspian. Caspian, Caspian. You have my heart. He was just wonderful. Flamboyant, deep, charming and thoughtful, he had me from the start. I liked Ben, but loved Caspian, which made for an engaging tangle of feelings that roped me in from the beginning. Caspian was kind, loving and respectful toward Abbey, but still boyish enough to be fun. I loved the scenes in the hotel room, in the mausoleum, in Abbey's bedroom with the glow-in-the-dark stars, at Caspian's graveside (which was beautifully touching). All the time the connection between Abbey and Caspian was so palpable, so beautiful and rich. I really, really wanted them to be together, no matter what. Their love was entirely believable.
The supporting characters were equally strong. Abbey's parents felt like plausible parents, the Revenants were neat and intriguing in their design, and Vincent was just as much of a slimy creep as Verday intended. It was as brilliant, engaging and colourful as a pantomime; I almost felt like booing when Vincent came on the scene!
The setting, ambience and general feel of the book was rich, earthy, dark and gothic, without the author trying too hard. I loved the sticky, summer-fall feeling of the town, the quaint to-be perfume shop, the run-down birthplace of Caspian. His sad past was so touching, so enveloping and deep, emphasised perfectly by the dreary tone of his home town and the simple description of him once being 'the weird, quiet kid who drew pictures all the time'. I could see Caspian as a little child, pale and alone, an outcast on the railway tracks. It drew me in, and held me there, so much so that it took a lot of force and willpower to set the book down and return to school after my lunchbreak.
The one and only piece of beef I have with this book, and the sole reason that I gave it four stars and not five, is the ending. It really, really saddened me. Not that it was poorly written - not one part of this book is - but that it all happened so fast and felt like it was rushed. It didn't really seem like a proper cliffhanger; more like the ink on the printer had run out or the text had been cut off in the middle of the author typing. The climax was explosive, and the emotion radiated off the page (a sign of a truly talented author) but it was kind of spoiled by a tiny misjudgement, and could have been concluded better.
Not to worry, though. If Verday can keep up this fabulous quality of writing, stay strong with the engaging story and beautiful, vibrant characters, and make up for that tiny blip in the ending, then I'm sure the next book and the last in the series (gasp!), The Hidden, will make it on to my five-star list.
My rating for this book: 4.5/5. Excellent.
BONUS TIME!
This blog post solidified my absolute love and faith in Jessica Verday. It moved and touched me. Her integrity, moral strength and sheer bravery left me speechless.
She is, without a doubt, amazing.
I loved this book. It was an astronomical improvement on The Hollow, and although I did enjoy the first book as a nice bit of fluff, this one blew it right out of the water. I love it when, in a series, you can see the author's writing gradually growing and improving - another thing I loved about this book. Verday has proved her worth in the YA machine; her characters are deep, captivating, and real enough to bleed.
Abbey. My GOD, how Abbey has improved. I'm so pleased that I'm actually able to say I liked this book's heroine. I cannot stand hating the protagonist of YA novels, so it was really refreshing to find a girl who was relatable and likable. Alright, so she's no superwoman, and she doesn't always make the best choices, but she's human. I can find parts of her personality (she has one!) that I like and that's big in a genre so hell-bent on churning out wet rags disguised as protagonists.
And Caspian...oh, Caspian. Caspian. Caspian, Caspian. You have my heart. He was just wonderful. Flamboyant, deep, charming and thoughtful, he had me from the start. I liked Ben, but loved Caspian, which made for an engaging tangle of feelings that roped me in from the beginning. Caspian was kind, loving and respectful toward Abbey, but still boyish enough to be fun. I loved the scenes in the hotel room, in the mausoleum, in Abbey's bedroom with the glow-in-the-dark stars, at Caspian's graveside (which was beautifully touching). All the time the connection between Abbey and Caspian was so palpable, so beautiful and rich. I really, really wanted them to be together, no matter what. Their love was entirely believable.
The supporting characters were equally strong. Abbey's parents felt like plausible parents, the Revenants were neat and intriguing in their design, and Vincent was just as much of a slimy creep as Verday intended. It was as brilliant, engaging and colourful as a pantomime; I almost felt like booing when Vincent came on the scene!
The setting, ambience and general feel of the book was rich, earthy, dark and gothic, without the author trying too hard. I loved the sticky, summer-fall feeling of the town, the quaint to-be perfume shop, the run-down birthplace of Caspian. His sad past was so touching, so enveloping and deep, emphasised perfectly by the dreary tone of his home town and the simple description of him once being 'the weird, quiet kid who drew pictures all the time'. I could see Caspian as a little child, pale and alone, an outcast on the railway tracks. It drew me in, and held me there, so much so that it took a lot of force and willpower to set the book down and return to school after my lunchbreak.
The one and only piece of beef I have with this book, and the sole reason that I gave it four stars and not five, is the ending. It really, really saddened me. Not that it was poorly written - not one part of this book is - but that it all happened so fast and felt like it was rushed. It didn't really seem like a proper cliffhanger; more like the ink on the printer had run out or the text had been cut off in the middle of the author typing. The climax was explosive, and the emotion radiated off the page (a sign of a truly talented author) but it was kind of spoiled by a tiny misjudgement, and could have been concluded better.
Not to worry, though. If Verday can keep up this fabulous quality of writing, stay strong with the engaging story and beautiful, vibrant characters, and make up for that tiny blip in the ending, then I'm sure the next book and the last in the series (gasp!), The Hidden, will make it on to my five-star list.
My rating for this book: 4.5/5. Excellent.
BONUS TIME!
This blog post solidified my absolute love and faith in Jessica Verday. It moved and touched me. Her integrity, moral strength and sheer bravery left me speechless.
She is, without a doubt, amazing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 3, 2016
Ghost stories really are not my thing. I happen to be participating in a challenge this month that requires reading ghost stories since it is October. TBH, I truly felt dread about starting any of them. But I have to say, this was a good one to choose for the challenge. It is YA paranormal.
This was probably 3 stars for me, but I upped it to 4 stars for a few reasons. The characters were well defined. Since they are teens, there was the whole teen drama thing, but the author kept that tightly reigned in and focused more on the ghost story. The romance was a little too sweet at the end, but thankfully, that wasn't the tone for the whole book.
The story line was also a reason to up this to 4 stars. It was new to me and even though I didn't love this, it was still interesting. There were also some weird twists in the plot, by that I mean they were unexpected but in a decent way.
The last reason is that I was just relieved that it wasn't eerie and hokey. So 4 stars.
This was probably 3 stars for me, but I upped it to 4 stars for a few reasons. The characters were well defined. Since they are teens, there was the whole teen drama thing, but the author kept that tightly reigned in and focused more on the ghost story. The romance was a little too sweet at the end, but thankfully, that wasn't the tone for the whole book.
The story line was also a reason to up this to 4 stars. It was new to me and even though I didn't love this, it was still interesting. There were also some weird twists in the plot, by that I mean they were unexpected but in a decent way.
The last reason is that I was just relieved that it wasn't eerie and hokey. So 4 stars.
December 22, 2012
Actual rating: 2.5
UGH UGH UGH I'M SO BEHIND ON REVIEWS IT'S DRIVING ME CRAZY.
I know all my reviews have started this way lately, but ... it's true. And it may affect the quality of my reviews, because I'm kind of rushing through them. And a lot of these books I'm reviewing now are books I read like 3-4 months ago, so I'm forgetting a lot of details and it's just sad. I need to actually get to the point where I'm writing reviews right after I read the books because ... this is getting super aggravating.
Okay, so ... I found this book to be just "meh." It wasn't too bad, but it wasn't great either. I felt pretty much the same way about the first book (The Hollow), but I decided to pick up the second one because several of my reviewer friends had said that the series gets way better. Well ... unfortunately, I didn't really feel that way. I would say I liked this one about as equally as I liked the first one––which was only a little bit to begin with so ... Oh well.
In case you don't know, this book is about a girl named Abbey who lives in Sleepy Hollow (as in "The Legend of ..."). In the previous book, her best friend died a mysterious death, which she is still trying to piece together in the second book. She also started getting stalked by a creepy-but-sexy type of boy who ended up being a ghost. Ooooh. And then they had a kind of romantic thing, and yeah. Well ... in this one, she starts kinda dating this guy who used to be in love with her best friend. Awkward. His name is Ben. He's pretty cool. But of course, ghost-guy shows up again and is a jealous baby about the whole thing and Abbey is like, "Oh me oh my, how do I choose between the normal nice guy and the supernatural creepy sexy guy?"
At least I found Ben (the nice normal guy) to be pretty cool. But Caspian (the ghost guy) continued to just ... annoy me. Is he as horrible as the love interests in some YA paranormal books? No, but he's just ... meh. He's not all that interesting, in my humble opinion. Plus, I find it a big turn-off that he calls Abbey "Astrid" instead of her real name ... Like, there's a difference between giving someone a cute nickname and refusing to call her by her real name, which just seems condescending. Is it just me?
But yeah, of course Abbey likes Caspian because he's a sexy ghost so duh.
Aaand then there were some like evil ghosts who seemed suspicious.
And there was some ridiculous plot twist about how it turned out Abbey's friend Kristen kind of inadvertently caused the death of her own brother. Because like, one day he was supposed to be watching her when she was a baby, and then she fell off a table or something and he caught her. And then he set her down somewhere, but he tripped on a chair and fell out the window. And because of his injuries he became addicted to painkillers and eventually overdosed on them which is how he died.
... I just don't understand how you can trip on a chair and fall out the window. I don't think it's possible. But, you know, don't try it at home kids. Just in case.
I apologize. This review is on drugs. I don't even know what I'm writing right now. I just want to get this done.
So basically, I had higher expectations for this, but to me it's just another so-so paranormal romance series. I might read the third one, but ... probably not. Especially because by now, I've pretty much forgotten everything about this one. So, oh well.
UGH UGH UGH I'M SO BEHIND ON REVIEWS IT'S DRIVING ME CRAZY.
I know all my reviews have started this way lately, but ... it's true. And it may affect the quality of my reviews, because I'm kind of rushing through them. And a lot of these books I'm reviewing now are books I read like 3-4 months ago, so I'm forgetting a lot of details and it's just sad. I need to actually get to the point where I'm writing reviews right after I read the books because ... this is getting super aggravating.
Okay, so ... I found this book to be just "meh." It wasn't too bad, but it wasn't great either. I felt pretty much the same way about the first book (The Hollow), but I decided to pick up the second one because several of my reviewer friends had said that the series gets way better. Well ... unfortunately, I didn't really feel that way. I would say I liked this one about as equally as I liked the first one––which was only a little bit to begin with so ... Oh well.
In case you don't know, this book is about a girl named Abbey who lives in Sleepy Hollow (as in "The Legend of ..."). In the previous book, her best friend died a mysterious death, which she is still trying to piece together in the second book. She also started getting stalked by a creepy-but-sexy type of boy who ended up being a ghost. Ooooh. And then they had a kind of romantic thing, and yeah. Well ... in this one, she starts kinda dating this guy who used to be in love with her best friend. Awkward. His name is Ben. He's pretty cool. But of course, ghost-guy shows up again and is a jealous baby about the whole thing and Abbey is like, "Oh me oh my, how do I choose between the normal nice guy and the supernatural creepy sexy guy?"
At least I found Ben (the nice normal guy) to be pretty cool. But Caspian (the ghost guy) continued to just ... annoy me. Is he as horrible as the love interests in some YA paranormal books? No, but he's just ... meh. He's not all that interesting, in my humble opinion. Plus, I find it a big turn-off that he calls Abbey "Astrid" instead of her real name ... Like, there's a difference between giving someone a cute nickname and refusing to call her by her real name, which just seems condescending. Is it just me?
But yeah, of course Abbey likes Caspian because he's a sexy ghost so duh.
Aaand then there were some like evil ghosts who seemed suspicious.
And there was some ridiculous plot twist about how it turned out Abbey's friend Kristen kind of inadvertently caused the death of her own brother. Because like, one day he was supposed to be watching her when she was a baby, and then she fell off a table or something and he caught her. And then he set her down somewhere, but he tripped on a chair and fell out the window. And because of his injuries he became addicted to painkillers and eventually overdosed on them which is how he died.
... I just don't understand how you can trip on a chair and fall out the window. I don't think it's possible. But, you know, don't try it at home kids. Just in case.
I apologize. This review is on drugs. I don't even know what I'm writing right now. I just want to get this done.
So basically, I had higher expectations for this, but to me it's just another so-so paranormal romance series. I might read the third one, but ... probably not. Especially because by now, I've pretty much forgotten everything about this one. So, oh well.
March 27, 2016
Ughhh so there was a semblance of a plot but it was at the end! The entire book is basically Abbey doing normal things like putting her clothes on and eating food or talking to Ben and her parents. I just need to know what this Shade business is all about.. I wished The Sleepy Hollow legend was more in tune with the plot.
June 22, 2010
After the disappointment that The Hollow left me with, I was anxious to read the next in the series to see if it would be better. I am so glad I gave this author another chance!
Abbey returns to Sleepy Hollow after a breakdown caused by the death of her best friend Kristen and falling in love with a dead boy. She has been living with her Aunt and finally comes home after the completion of the Sleepy Hollow bridge to dedicate it in the memory of her friend. She is scared to return to the town that caused her such pain, but she puts a brave face on and decides it is time. Just when things start taking off with Ben and getting back into the perfume creations, Caspian returns to Abbey. She feels conflicted at first trying to figure out if she is going crazy again, or if Caspian truly is real in her world. Along the way, we get to see the love between Caspian and Abbey grow, old favorites return in Abbey's life and new discoveries about The Shade.
I am amazed at how much the author's writing has progressed from The Hollow. I admit, the beginning of this book moves slow like the first one, but as you get going in the story it really takes off. That is about the only negative thing about the book in my opinion. There is more suspense with a lot of the answers you were wanting from the previous book being answered. The author still left a great climax at the end of the story though that will leave you frustrated because you have to wait for the final book. Some things become clear in the plot, but other things are going to be left for the final book I assume. Personally, I can't wait for the final book now. I have crossed the Sleepy Hollow bridge and I don't want to turn back!
Abbey returns to Sleepy Hollow after a breakdown caused by the death of her best friend Kristen and falling in love with a dead boy. She has been living with her Aunt and finally comes home after the completion of the Sleepy Hollow bridge to dedicate it in the memory of her friend. She is scared to return to the town that caused her such pain, but she puts a brave face on and decides it is time. Just when things start taking off with Ben and getting back into the perfume creations, Caspian returns to Abbey. She feels conflicted at first trying to figure out if she is going crazy again, or if Caspian truly is real in her world. Along the way, we get to see the love between Caspian and Abbey grow, old favorites return in Abbey's life and new discoveries about The Shade.
I am amazed at how much the author's writing has progressed from The Hollow. I admit, the beginning of this book moves slow like the first one, but as you get going in the story it really takes off. That is about the only negative thing about the book in my opinion. There is more suspense with a lot of the answers you were wanting from the previous book being answered. The author still left a great climax at the end of the story though that will leave you frustrated because you have to wait for the final book. Some things become clear in the plot, but other things are going to be left for the final book I assume. Personally, I can't wait for the final book now. I have crossed the Sleepy Hollow bridge and I don't want to turn back!
December 28, 2010
Once again.. amazing!! This story just gets better & better.
The Haunted continues where The Hollow ended and Abby thinks she's gone crazy. For the first part of the book, it follows Abby trying to become 'normal' again but when she meets Caspian again the story starts to take off!
We finally find out who 'D' is (Kristin's secret boyfriend) and we discover some answers to the mystery of Abby and Caspian's relationship like how they can't touch. I must say some of the scenes between Abby and Caspian start to heat up even though they can't touch each other and it reminded me very much of the intensity in Hush,Hush. I loved these parts of the book but then you had the third wheel (Ben) who always got in the way lol!
We also see a new character, Vincent Drake. He is the type of guy who gets what he wants, when he wants it and he wants Abby! There's also some new characters who seem to be trying to help Abby and Caspian aswell as Nikolas and Katy. Once again the story really starts to develop towards the end of the book and now I'm desperate for more!
Plus, more wonderful writing from the author. Some of her quotes are so good. Anyway, I loved this book :)
The Haunted continues where The Hollow ended and Abby thinks she's gone crazy. For the first part of the book, it follows Abby trying to become 'normal' again but when she meets Caspian again the story starts to take off!
We finally find out who 'D' is (Kristin's secret boyfriend) and we discover some answers to the mystery of Abby and Caspian's relationship like how they can't touch. I must say some of the scenes between Abby and Caspian start to heat up even though they can't touch each other and it reminded me very much of the intensity in Hush,Hush. I loved these parts of the book but then you had the third wheel (Ben) who always got in the way lol!
We also see a new character, Vincent Drake. He is the type of guy who gets what he wants, when he wants it and he wants Abby! There's also some new characters who seem to be trying to help Abby and Caspian aswell as Nikolas and Katy. Once again the story really starts to develop towards the end of the book and now I'm desperate for more!
Plus, more wonderful writing from the author. Some of her quotes are so good. Anyway, I loved this book :)
August 31, 2010
Honestly, this book deserves more than 5 stars. IT SHOULD BE 10 STARS!!! I can't believe I read this book all in less than 8 hours. I wanted to savor each page as much as I could but then books have to come to some end. Ugh! That was such a cliffhanger at the end. I guess I was expecting one but not like this. This cliffhanger was much more suspenseful. The story was just starting to get to the interesting parts. There's no way I can wait another whole year for the very last book in this series after the torture I had to go through for this book. But, seeing how fantastic and awesome this book was, I wait longer cuz I'm gonna reread it! :)
August 28, 2011
The Haunted actually surprised me. I was expecting to give up halfway through. I’m not a fan of the series and I only had two reasons for reading it: (a) Because I had a long flight with little else to read; and (b) Because I wanted to know if Verday would acknowledge all the plot-holes I fell through at the end of The Hollow. Surprisingly, she did. A few of them, anyway.
This is by no means a positive review. I still have a lot of complaints about the series and I definitely wouldn’t recommend it. But while I don’t like the way Verday chose to reveal the mythology behind her story (ignore it completely for a book and a half and then rush through it all in one short scene) at least now I have some answers to the questions that made me want to tear my hair out while writing my review of book one. Granted, the answers still annoy me slightly. And there’s still plenty of plot-holes the readers should watch out for.
Again, one of the main problems I had with this one was the pacing. The first hundred or so pages seemed to drag. When a plot finally started to emerge, it was written so poorly that anyone could have seen the direction the story was heading in. And then we get another few hundred pages of nothing until the last ten or so pages… where once again the story ends on a cliffhanger anyone could have seen coming. Still, I’ve given this one an extra star because the story does, at the very least, seem to have a plot now. And despite my extreme dislike of the main characters, I found myself sympathising with them at points. I doubt I’ll be reading the last book of this trilogy though.
This is by no means a positive review. I still have a lot of complaints about the series and I definitely wouldn’t recommend it. But while I don’t like the way Verday chose to reveal the mythology behind her story (ignore it completely for a book and a half and then rush through it all in one short scene) at least now I have some answers to the questions that made me want to tear my hair out while writing my review of book one. Granted, the answers still annoy me slightly. And there’s still plenty of plot-holes the readers should watch out for.
Again, one of the main problems I had with this one was the pacing. The first hundred or so pages seemed to drag. When a plot finally started to emerge, it was written so poorly that anyone could have seen the direction the story was heading in. And then we get another few hundred pages of nothing until the last ten or so pages… where once again the story ends on a cliffhanger anyone could have seen coming. Still, I’ve given this one an extra star because the story does, at the very least, seem to have a plot now. And despite my extreme dislike of the main characters, I found myself sympathising with them at points. I doubt I’ll be reading the last book of this trilogy though.
January 12, 2011
This was my favorite book of 2010. While I liked The Hollow,I LOVED The Haunted. I couldn't put this book down without becoming cranky. This book really made me come to love Abbey and Caspian. I can't wait to read the next book to find out what happens in November, and what Abbey's fate is.
May 30, 2010
I'm sure it will be just as amazing as the first one!!!!
October 7, 2010
So when I really think about it, The Hollow wasn't fabulous, but it certainly held this level of fascination and possibility once you waded through the painfully detailed descriptions of every single thing Abbey does.
The Haunted - the sequel to The Hollow and is supposed to answer many questions - lacks greatly in plot structure and suspense. The author introduces a lot of new characters into the book (because really there weren't that many to begin with) and focuses a lot more on Abbey/Ben's friendship/possible romance which was merely a plot device to spark up jealousy from Caspian.
Oh and Caspian, the dead ghost that Abbey can see who calls her Astrid and is a complete emo loner who lives in a tomb. Not to mention, he sent her 'crazy' at the beginning of the book and she had spent much time seeing a psychiatrist because she thought she was seeing dead people / angsting over Kristen's death.
Caspian's re-entry into the book was horridly written, and I was disappointed that despite all this effort the author put into Abbey and her psych treatments, she immediately believed that Caspian was real the moment she saw him again. And it was instant forgive and forget with the two of them. And i hated that.
So once you get about halfway through the book it starts to get meaty and interesting again but to be honest, I was so sick of Abbey being the world's biggest bitch to pretty much everyone. Her character was nothing at all like it was in The Hollow. She was nasty to Ben and plainly used him and chewed him up and spit him out again (oh but it was all okay when he said he loved Kristen more!!), and she was constantly rude to her mother and was being a spoilt little princess who got all these gifts and then made a fuss at dinner because her mother had cooked, omg, mushrooms! how she hates mushrooms 'you know i hate mushrooms, mom!' what a douche. i hate lots of food that i still eat to make my mom happy. I just thought that was a little insensitive, how she handled it, not so much that she hated the food her mother cooked.
Then she had the balls to be rude and oh so teenagery and ignore her great grandmother who was oh so rude by asking her about her college plans. How dare she ask about her college plans. Word of advice, most elderly grandmothers still hold onto values that are no longer valid, so just be polite, nod your head and agree with them to make them happy. Don't shove your ipod earphones in and try to ignore them, it just makes you look like a bitch. It's okay for say, a thirteen year old, but since you're oh so mature I would think you'd have some basic people skills, Abbey.
Yeah that was a rant and half... but in short, Abbey is a bitch compared to her character in The Hollow and I really hated her whereas I actually liked her in the first book. What a crazy let down.
As for everything wrapping up nice and neatly - uh no. Standard cliff hanger.... and Abbey having to choose whether she wants to live and be happy and live a long life or die to be with Caspian forever. The choice is obvious. Live and have a long and happy life with someone who is NOT dead and intangible. Was half expecting Caspian to actually be a figment of her imagination all along, but I guess not.... and I wish he was because quite honestly I don't like him anymore.
The good points (because I like ending on a positive note): talk of perfumes, cookies and delicious sounding halloween style bath products and soaps and candles. Abbey's dream shop sounds amazing and she should just abandon Caspian and get on with her dream shop.
Overall, it wasn't horrendous. I like to focus on the negatives, but it wasn't THAT bad. It could have been worse.
The Haunted - the sequel to The Hollow and is supposed to answer many questions - lacks greatly in plot structure and suspense. The author introduces a lot of new characters into the book (because really there weren't that many to begin with) and focuses a lot more on Abbey/Ben's friendship/possible romance which was merely a plot device to spark up jealousy from Caspian.
Oh and Caspian, the dead ghost that Abbey can see who calls her Astrid and is a complete emo loner who lives in a tomb. Not to mention, he sent her 'crazy' at the beginning of the book and she had spent much time seeing a psychiatrist because she thought she was seeing dead people / angsting over Kristen's death.
Caspian's re-entry into the book was horridly written, and I was disappointed that despite all this effort the author put into Abbey and her psych treatments, she immediately believed that Caspian was real the moment she saw him again. And it was instant forgive and forget with the two of them. And i hated that.
So once you get about halfway through the book it starts to get meaty and interesting again but to be honest, I was so sick of Abbey being the world's biggest bitch to pretty much everyone. Her character was nothing at all like it was in The Hollow. She was nasty to Ben and plainly used him and chewed him up and spit him out again (oh but it was all okay when he said he loved Kristen more!!), and she was constantly rude to her mother and was being a spoilt little princess who got all these gifts and then made a fuss at dinner because her mother had cooked, omg, mushrooms! how she hates mushrooms 'you know i hate mushrooms, mom!' what a douche. i hate lots of food that i still eat to make my mom happy. I just thought that was a little insensitive, how she handled it, not so much that she hated the food her mother cooked.
Then she had the balls to be rude and oh so teenagery and ignore her great grandmother who was oh so rude by asking her about her college plans. How dare she ask about her college plans. Word of advice, most elderly grandmothers still hold onto values that are no longer valid, so just be polite, nod your head and agree with them to make them happy. Don't shove your ipod earphones in and try to ignore them, it just makes you look like a bitch. It's okay for say, a thirteen year old, but since you're oh so mature I would think you'd have some basic people skills, Abbey.
Yeah that was a rant and half... but in short, Abbey is a bitch compared to her character in The Hollow and I really hated her whereas I actually liked her in the first book. What a crazy let down.
As for everything wrapping up nice and neatly - uh no. Standard cliff hanger.... and Abbey having to choose whether she wants to live and be happy and live a long life or die to be with Caspian forever. The choice is obvious. Live and have a long and happy life with someone who is NOT dead and intangible. Was half expecting Caspian to actually be a figment of her imagination all along, but I guess not.... and I wish he was because quite honestly I don't like him anymore.
The good points (because I like ending on a positive note): talk of perfumes, cookies and delicious sounding halloween style bath products and soaps and candles. Abbey's dream shop sounds amazing and she should just abandon Caspian and get on with her dream shop.
Overall, it wasn't horrendous. I like to focus on the negatives, but it wasn't THAT bad. It could have been worse.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 15, 2013
"Popping the bag open, he held it out to me, 'Want one? Come on, try 'em.'
'Funyuns make you fart,' Caspian said, and I exploded in laughter."
Caspian is the most amazing, romantic, heartbreaking, handsome, hot, and funny fictional character I know. I love him!
I loved this book! I fell in love with Caspian in this one. Like I said in my review for The Hollow, Caspian didn't steal my heart like fictional hotties tend to. He swooned me you guys, absolutely "twisted" my arm into falling for him.
Well, my affection for fictional beings is besides the point for this review, so I am just going to move on...
The Haunted starts where The Hollow left off, Abbey living with her aunt for a few months. After living with her aunt, and after many sessions with her therapist, Abbey comes back to Sleepy Hollow sooner than when she hoped to have returned. Upon returning, Abbey runs into Caspian, but of course. After wanting, and trying desperately to forget him, she can't help but fall for him. Yes, their in love and it is so cute. Mind you, cute things never last long. Caspian and Abbey learn how difficult and life-threatening their relationship can be. Well, we learn of some secretes, we're introduced to new characters, we learn of a specific type of people, we learn more about Caspian and his relationship with Abbey, and we learn that upon completing this one, you need to desperately continue on. Unfortunately I cannot hit the book store right now (curse you homework), but I am gladly picking up the next and final instalment while picking up Clockwork Prince. Tuesday, hurry up and be here will you!
The first book was slow with a fast paced and thrilling ending. This book is no exception. To be vaguely honest, this book is exactly like the first. Slow throughout the book, and than the last hundred pages were exhilarating. I felt like I was on a roller coaster. My questions were being answered, there were new discoveries, and Caspian and Abbey got pretty steamy. Gah, I never knew 100 pages could fly by so fast. Though, just because it was slow does not mean it wasn't enjoyable. A slow ride is fun. It's fun being inside of Abbey's head, almost following her around. It's nice when you want to just relax and enjoy the book. A book with so much going on can be breath taking. That's good sometimes, but other times you want to actual be able to breath!
Some people say the plot wasn't well developed. I don't agree with you people. I feel like the author leaves some gaps in her plot so she can tie in everything for her last book. A little mystery never killed anyone... And no, the cat died from curiosity, not mystery :)
Wow, I just realized how unprofessional this review sounds. That's okay, cause my reviews aren't meant to be professional. Gotta have a little corky reviews sometimes, right? I do hope you still enjoy this review, despite my corkyness.
My rating: 5 funyuns!
Funyuns, farts, corkyness,
-Angela
'Funyuns make you fart,' Caspian said, and I exploded in laughter."
Caspian is the most amazing, romantic, heartbreaking, handsome, hot, and funny fictional character I know. I love him!
I loved this book! I fell in love with Caspian in this one. Like I said in my review for The Hollow, Caspian didn't steal my heart like fictional hotties tend to. He swooned me you guys, absolutely "twisted" my arm into falling for him.
Well, my affection for fictional beings is besides the point for this review, so I am just going to move on...
The Haunted starts where The Hollow left off, Abbey living with her aunt for a few months. After living with her aunt, and after many sessions with her therapist, Abbey comes back to Sleepy Hollow sooner than when she hoped to have returned. Upon returning, Abbey runs into Caspian, but of course. After wanting, and trying desperately to forget him, she can't help but fall for him. Yes, their in love and it is so cute. Mind you, cute things never last long. Caspian and Abbey learn how difficult and life-threatening their relationship can be. Well, we learn of some secretes, we're introduced to new characters, we learn of a specific type of people, we learn more about Caspian and his relationship with Abbey, and we learn that upon completing this one, you need to desperately continue on. Unfortunately I cannot hit the book store right now (curse you homework), but I am gladly picking up the next and final instalment while picking up Clockwork Prince. Tuesday, hurry up and be here will you!
The first book was slow with a fast paced and thrilling ending. This book is no exception. To be vaguely honest, this book is exactly like the first. Slow throughout the book, and than the last hundred pages were exhilarating. I felt like I was on a roller coaster. My questions were being answered, there were new discoveries, and Caspian and Abbey got pretty steamy. Gah, I never knew 100 pages could fly by so fast. Though, just because it was slow does not mean it wasn't enjoyable. A slow ride is fun. It's fun being inside of Abbey's head, almost following her around. It's nice when you want to just relax and enjoy the book. A book with so much going on can be breath taking. That's good sometimes, but other times you want to actual be able to breath!
Some people say the plot wasn't well developed. I don't agree with you people. I feel like the author leaves some gaps in her plot so she can tie in everything for her last book. A little mystery never killed anyone... And no, the cat died from curiosity, not mystery :)
Wow, I just realized how unprofessional this review sounds. That's okay, cause my reviews aren't meant to be professional. Gotta have a little corky reviews sometimes, right? I do hope you still enjoy this review, despite my corkyness.
My rating: 5 funyuns!
Funyuns, farts, corkyness,
-Angela
April 27, 2013
Apparently, I marked this book as read when I started my Goodreads account in 2010, but I don't remember it at all. After finishing it, I figured it must have been because I was trying to block it out.
First of all, I felt the book was too wrapped up in the romance to have much of a story. Basically nothing happened except And the way Abby reacted to the whole Kristin thing was a little over-the-top like Verday forced it to be dramatic and intense. That was it! Totally a middle book!
Which brings me to the romance. At first, I was really annoyed because I thought we were way past the "I'm not trying to be creepy..." and "Are you stalking me..." issues. Why? I might have understood if this is when they first meet, but we're on the second book already. Was Verday trying to justify what could be sweet or romantic gestures? As a result, it just left me irked because now I did take it as creepy.
And I'm not sure if that affected the way I looked at the rest of the romantic scenes in the book. Because I found them to be too awkward and way too cheesy. Like how Abby tries to be sexy or how she tries to talk dirty to Caspian or how she cries or her breathe was hitched at every little thing. Ew, yuck.
I don't know. I remember liking book 1, and I'm sure if I had rated this 2.5 years ago, I would have given it a higher rating. I just think that 1) the book was too focused on the romance and 2) the romance just came across as weird. I'll read book 3, but I hope it's not more of the Abby-Caspian awkwardness.
First of all, I felt the book was too wrapped up in the romance to have much of a story. Basically nothing happened except And the way Abby reacted to the whole Kristin thing was a little over-the-top like Verday forced it to be dramatic and intense. That was it! Totally a middle book!
Which brings me to the romance. At first, I was really annoyed because I thought we were way past the "I'm not trying to be creepy..." and "Are you stalking me..." issues. Why? I might have understood if this is when they first meet, but we're on the second book already. Was Verday trying to justify what could be sweet or romantic gestures? As a result, it just left me irked because now I did take it as creepy.
And I'm not sure if that affected the way I looked at the rest of the romantic scenes in the book. Because I found them to be too awkward and way too cheesy. Like how Abby tries to be sexy or how she tries to talk dirty to Caspian or how she cries or her breathe was hitched at every little thing. Ew, yuck.
I don't know. I remember liking book 1, and I'm sure if I had rated this 2.5 years ago, I would have given it a higher rating. I just think that 1) the book was too focused on the romance and 2) the romance just came across as weird. I'll read book 3, but I hope it's not more of the Abby-Caspian awkwardness.
September 21, 2014
Original Review Date (posted on www.paperbackswap.com: 9/3/2010
This book fascinated me as much as the first installment, The Hollow. The love story between Abby and Caspian is utterly wrong but so beautiful! In the first book Abby believed she was crazy! Crazy to believe she was in love with someone or something that was suppose to be dead! Her discoveries at the end of The Hollow lead to a long stay with her Aunt who helped her find her way. Only to return home in the second installment, The Haunted, to be right back to square one. CRAZY... Crazy in love with her dead boyfriend...
New colors (tales) weave in and out of the beautiful fabric of the story! When this saga finishes it will be a beautiful beautiful (did I say beautiful) tapestry of lyrical delight. Does that make sense? I must not make any sense because I am so captivated by the book. I should have waited a day to write this review because my mind is reeling...
I read this book in two days. Purchased it the day it came out, read a chapter, resolved to finish the book I was already reading, then immediately opened the Haunted again once I finished my other book. I couldn't put it down. It captivated me as much as the first book. Jessica Verday captured the innocence of true and timeless love. Every exhausted flick of my eye was focused on finishing another page of the story.
My only disappointment in this book...
Is the wait for the next installment. Please Jessica write fast!!!
This book fascinated me as much as the first installment, The Hollow. The love story between Abby and Caspian is utterly wrong but so beautiful! In the first book Abby believed she was crazy! Crazy to believe she was in love with someone or something that was suppose to be dead! Her discoveries at the end of The Hollow lead to a long stay with her Aunt who helped her find her way. Only to return home in the second installment, The Haunted, to be right back to square one. CRAZY... Crazy in love with her dead boyfriend...
New colors (tales) weave in and out of the beautiful fabric of the story! When this saga finishes it will be a beautiful beautiful (did I say beautiful) tapestry of lyrical delight. Does that make sense? I must not make any sense because I am so captivated by the book. I should have waited a day to write this review because my mind is reeling...
I read this book in two days. Purchased it the day it came out, read a chapter, resolved to finish the book I was already reading, then immediately opened the Haunted again once I finished my other book. I couldn't put it down. It captivated me as much as the first book. Jessica Verday captured the innocence of true and timeless love. Every exhausted flick of my eye was focused on finishing another page of the story.
My only disappointment in this book...
Is the wait for the next installment. Please Jessica write fast!!!
November 3, 2016
The Haunted is the second book in the Hollow Trilogy, following on from where we left of in The Hollow. Abbey is still at her Aunt's farm trying to get better after she believes she had a mental break down because she was seeing a dead boy.
Abbey is happy staying at the farm but is drawn back to Sleepy Hollow to give a speach at the opening of the new bridge that is being dedicated to her deceased best friend, Kristen.
To stay out of summer school and not have to repeat a year of chemistry, Abbey agrees to tutoring with Ben to pass a make up exam at the end of the holidays. Abbey also helps out her Uncle at his icecream shop since he lost 2 of his casuals.
After a chance encounter with Caspian outside her house, Abbey knows that Caspian is real, though still a ghost! Abbey visits Caspian at the mosuleum often during the holidays and they become very close again and Abbey forces Caspian to accept that she wants to be with him, she chose him before she knew he was a ghost and she chose him again after she know...awww <3.
One day at her house, two strangers come to Abbey's house and seem like they know her asking her all types of weird questions, she gets a strange feeling about them and a weird taste of ash in her mouth and quickly gets them out of her house. The rest of the holidays are spent with Ben tutoring for chemistry, working at her Uncles store and hanging out with Caspian, who she gives the adorable nickname of Casper since he gave her a nickname, Astrid. Things start to get heated, as much as they can between a girl and a ghost, and there is alot of angst. Caspian can only touch on one day, his death day, which they have high hopes for.
One day at the ice cream shop, another girl from Abbey's school is working there and her boyfriend, Vincent who is a total d*ck, attacks Abbey outside of the shop while she is waiting for her lift home. At home her mother is having Kristens parent's over for tea and there are two strangers also who introduce themselves as knew real estate agents in the area. Abbey has a weird feeling about them and gets the same taste of ash in her mouth.
During the night, waking from bad dreams, Abbey goes to find Caspian at the Cemetery but is attacked by Vincent, he can also see Caspian and tells her he is a Revenant. They get away from him and head straight to see Nickolas and Katy (the cemetery groundman and his wife). From them they find out that a revenant is meant to help the other person cross over, the other person being Abbey. They explain that Caspian was a shade and he and Abbey are sole mates which is why Caspian is still here because Abbey is the living other part of him. Revenants are meant to help the otherperson cross over, and that Abbey will die soon.
Abbey decides that she wants to see Caspians grave, which he informs her is in West Virginia, to go there she convinces her parents that she wants to check out a college there and gets to road trip with Ben. Caspian comes along with them on the road trip, which is hilarious because he makes alot of amusing comments that only Abbey can hear. Things get steamy in the room with Abbey and Caspian, verbally only though.
Once Abbey and Caspian go to his grave, Abbey feels complete and realises that Caspian is her missing piece for the emptiness she has felt since Kristen passed away. She declares to Caspian that she will do anything she can for them to be together and she takes their relationship the way it is :)
Back from their trip to West Virginia, Abbey comes home to find her house empty, all accept for Vincent waiting up in her room. He attacks her, and tells her that he thought that Kristen was Caspian's other half and he had actually been trying to find her. She questioned that she thought Revenants were meant to help her cross over but Vincent said he wants to keep her alive. Caspian comes in to help her and the mysterious strangers, Uri, Casey, Shophie and Cane, she met earlier in the book come in the rescue her too, then Vincent escapes. And that is where we are left! Cliffhanger much!!!!
This ending set up perfectly for the next and final book - why would Vincent want to keep Abbey from dying and becoming complete as one with Caspian? What will happen to Abbey? Will they get to be together, and most importantly what will they get up on Caspian's next death day!!
Favourite Quote Caspian looked at me in disbelief. "That nerd boy who tried to put the moves on you?"
The Characters in these books are really great, they are very real and they are extremely lovable. We get to learn alot more about Caspian in this book. He is so sweet, kind and loving and very artistic! I enjoy the love story between Abbey and Caspian, I think its well developed and they go well together, besides the ghost part.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 19, 2011
There is something inherently flawed when the main purpose of a book revolves around a forbidden romance. A lot of times the plot would consist of nothing other than the romance leads moping about how much they want to see each other but can’t or end up following the formulaic “I have to leave you/hurt you/push you onto another person and then get jealous when you like them” type of scenario. The Haunted is one of them. Of course there are exceptions to this rule where this is actually done quite well, but this is not one of these times.
I thought, once I started reading, that this book was turning out to be a lot better than its predecessor. And for the first hundred pages it was. Abbey has moved on from her life absorbing obsession with Caspian, although it did crop up from time to time, and was now focusing on her true goals in life. Being a perfumer.
But then Caspian came in and the book went quickly downhill from there.
I’m just not a fan of their whole romance. This whole non-touching thing didn’t serve to ramp up the tension for me, it just lacked passion and fire because they didn’t actually try to work ways around it. Another book, Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready, did this a whole lot better and actually tried to find ways around it instead of having the characters merely stare longingly at each other.
Abbey is still obsessed with him. She can’t even hang out with her friends without thinking about him or wanting to be with him. It’s like her dream of becoming a perfumer was pushed to the side so she could have more time with Caspian. I hate how Abbey treated (what was his name?) Ben so poorly. She doesn’t actually consider him as an equal but rather as someone who could serve her own needs and dismisses his own feelings so casually like it’s nothing more than dirt on her shoe. I would hate to be her friend if she was an actual person.
Also, she was a brat for a lot of the book. I remember one instance where her mom was so excited for her and just got a little too overindulgent with her wine and ended up slipping ricotta cheese in Abbey’s lasagna. Abbey, of course, thought how horrible it was and that her whole birthday was ruined and her mom was some cruel creature out to get her. What an ungrateful maggot! Sure, I’d be upset that my dinner wasn’t exactly to what I wanted but her mom did this for her and tried her best to please her, she should be a lot more appreciative. Especially after her mom went ahead and spent over $200 on her as a birthday present for Abbey to buy whatever she wanted/needed to make perfumes. I mean, what the heck? I’d be damn happy if anyone would drop that amount of money for me on my birthday.
On the bright side, some of the lingering questions that I had from the book were answered in this addition. I found out who D was, although the reveal of it wasn’t as shocking as I thought it would be. Some of the aspects of the whole ghost world is neat, like the different classifications and what not. And, of course, I really love the parts where Abbey is creating perfume. I think it’s really fascinating.
I don’t really remember what happened at the end and I’m not sure I want to refresh my memory. Maybe it’s something I didn’t like. But, oh well. Some things in this book could have been awesome, but they weren’t.
I thought, once I started reading, that this book was turning out to be a lot better than its predecessor. And for the first hundred pages it was. Abbey has moved on from her life absorbing obsession with Caspian, although it did crop up from time to time, and was now focusing on her true goals in life. Being a perfumer.
But then Caspian came in and the book went quickly downhill from there.
I’m just not a fan of their whole romance. This whole non-touching thing didn’t serve to ramp up the tension for me, it just lacked passion and fire because they didn’t actually try to work ways around it. Another book, Shade by Jeri Smith-Ready, did this a whole lot better and actually tried to find ways around it instead of having the characters merely stare longingly at each other.
Abbey is still obsessed with him. She can’t even hang out with her friends without thinking about him or wanting to be with him. It’s like her dream of becoming a perfumer was pushed to the side so she could have more time with Caspian. I hate how Abbey treated (what was his name?) Ben so poorly. She doesn’t actually consider him as an equal but rather as someone who could serve her own needs and dismisses his own feelings so casually like it’s nothing more than dirt on her shoe. I would hate to be her friend if she was an actual person.
Also, she was a brat for a lot of the book. I remember one instance where her mom was so excited for her and just got a little too overindulgent with her wine and ended up slipping ricotta cheese in Abbey’s lasagna. Abbey, of course, thought how horrible it was and that her whole birthday was ruined and her mom was some cruel creature out to get her. What an ungrateful maggot! Sure, I’d be upset that my dinner wasn’t exactly to what I wanted but her mom did this for her and tried her best to please her, she should be a lot more appreciative. Especially after her mom went ahead and spent over $200 on her as a birthday present for Abbey to buy whatever she wanted/needed to make perfumes. I mean, what the heck? I’d be damn happy if anyone would drop that amount of money for me on my birthday.
On the bright side, some of the lingering questions that I had from the book were answered in this addition. I found out who D was, although the reveal of it wasn’t as shocking as I thought it would be. Some of the aspects of the whole ghost world is neat, like the different classifications and what not. And, of course, I really love the parts where Abbey is creating perfume. I think it’s really fascinating.
I don’t really remember what happened at the end and I’m not sure I want to refresh my memory. Maybe it’s something I didn’t like. But, oh well. Some things in this book could have been awesome, but they weren’t.
April 18, 2011
Holy crap!!! I just finished this book and it was even more awesome than the first book, "The Hollow"! I am completely blown away and excited by every bit of new twists and information I learned while reading "The Haunted". I am so in love with this series and super taken aback by Jessica Verday and her ability to come up with such a unique story. In this book you learn more about Caspian, Nikolas, Katy, and even Ben. As well as some new, interesting characters. This book had me laughing and yelling out loud. I can't freakin' wait for the next book in the series! Squeeeeee!!!!!
July 24, 2024
I enjoyed this reading this book and it was a good second in a series book.
This book is set a few months after "The Hollow". Abbey is at her Aunt Marg's house where she has been since her breakdown in February (its now June). While there she seems to be doing better and is seeing a psychiatrist for what she thinks are hallucinations (Caspian, Katy and Nikolas). She returns to Sleepy Hollow earlier than expected when she is asked to say a few words about Kristen during the reveal of the new bridge in Sleepy Hollow. While there she tries her best to forget about Caspian who she thinks she hallucinated. She begins to hang out more with Ben and their friendship develops. However once she sees Caspian she falls in love all over again and the begin a relationship as best as they could. Abbey finds out her "destiny" in this book as well as some of Kristen's secrets.
I already spoke about Abbey, Katy, Nikolas and Caspian in the review for the other book and their personalities are basically the same. I just want to say that I was a little surprised at how fast Abbey accepted that Caspian was real. I mean she went away to try to fix herself when she thought he was a hallucination but then she sees and talks to him one time and she readily accepts that he's real and a ghost? Suddenly she decides that everything she learned about Caspian, Katy and Nikolas in the last book is true which kind of makes her leaving Sleepy Hollow in the first place to get help kind of null and void. I dont know. To me she didn't even try hard enough. All she did was look at Caspian and she forgot everything she learned from her psychiatrist. I mean I get he's hot and all but come on. Not very realistic to me. Another thing I found strange is how much freedom Abbey has and how gullible her parents are. She gets up and leaves the house at 7 in the morning to go see Caspian and her mother and father say nothing to her when she gets home. My parents were on my ass when I was 16\17 and I couldn't go anywhere without them knowing where I was going. And leaving early in the morning? Forget about it. They would of killed me and then killed me again if I gave them attitude about where I was like Abbey did. And her parents letting her go "college looking" in another state alone with a boy? Come on, really? Thats all I have to say.
Ben is in this book more and I really like him. Abbey learns that she failed chemistry and she worked out an agreement with her teacher where Ben would tutor her during the summer and she would take a final exam before school started. Ben agrees and they become closer. They hang out a lot also besides when he tutors her. Ben is really a great guy. He's caring, sweet and funny. I like how they are just friends in the book. You think that there might be something more developing but Abbey is all about Caspian and Ben is still dealing with his feelings about Kristen. So they remain friends. Ben is always there when Abbey needs him and is always willing to help her. Ben is kind of a science nerd and he reminds me of Leonard from the Big Bang Theory except not as nerdy looking but their personalities are similar.
New characters are introduced: Cacey, Uri, Kame and Sophie who are very weird. They have melodic voices and eyes that are very light that they almost seem translucent. They also smell like ashes. Its weird and while they are not very prominent in this book I have a feeling that they will play a bigger role in the next book.
There is another character that was introduced that I feel will also have a bigger role in the next book, who is Vincent Drake. He is such an ass. He acts like a spoiled rich kid, who knows he is very handsome and who wears expensive clothes and treats other people like shit, especially girls. He is so full of himself, cocky and is just an all around asshole. I hated him. He called himself a revenant. Revenants were briefly described in the book in regard to what they can do. I hope there is more information about them in the next book.
I enjoyed how the romance between Caspian and Abbey developed. Caspian admitted to Abbey that he lied about loving her and that he really does love her. They begin to see and hangout more they are so cute together. They both fall even more in love and they decide they dating I guess is the term. Caspian does feel like Abbey shouldn't want him because he is dead and can't give her anything but she doesn't care and lets him know it. She finds out that Caspian can only touch her and people in general on his death day, once a year. Abbey tells him that she loves him and she will do whatever to make it work. I think that they're love is sweet and I love how slowly it develops (it kind of has too because he'd you know dead). Caspian is really sweet and makes things for Abbey and surprised her with sweet things her does. He really is the perfect boyfriend besides him being a ghost. At times the romance became kind of cheesy with certain actions and phrasing of words that I think the author was trying to pass off as "hot and heavy" but just came across as full of cheese. Those moments were far and few between you can definitely know the scenes I'm talking about if you've read/will read the book.
All in all a good read and I;m excited about reading the next book which is the last one of the trilogy.
This review is also posted on The Book Owl Extraordinaire
This book is set a few months after "The Hollow". Abbey is at her Aunt Marg's house where she has been since her breakdown in February (its now June). While there she seems to be doing better and is seeing a psychiatrist for what she thinks are hallucinations (Caspian, Katy and Nikolas). She returns to Sleepy Hollow earlier than expected when she is asked to say a few words about Kristen during the reveal of the new bridge in Sleepy Hollow. While there she tries her best to forget about Caspian who she thinks she hallucinated. She begins to hang out more with Ben and their friendship develops. However once she sees Caspian she falls in love all over again and the begin a relationship as best as they could. Abbey finds out her "destiny" in this book as well as some of Kristen's secrets.
I already spoke about Abbey, Katy, Nikolas and Caspian in the review for the other book and their personalities are basically the same. I just want to say that I was a little surprised at how fast Abbey accepted that Caspian was real. I mean she went away to try to fix herself when she thought he was a hallucination but then she sees and talks to him one time and she readily accepts that he's real and a ghost? Suddenly she decides that everything she learned about Caspian, Katy and Nikolas in the last book is true which kind of makes her leaving Sleepy Hollow in the first place to get help kind of null and void. I dont know. To me she didn't even try hard enough. All she did was look at Caspian and she forgot everything she learned from her psychiatrist. I mean I get he's hot and all but come on. Not very realistic to me. Another thing I found strange is how much freedom Abbey has and how gullible her parents are. She gets up and leaves the house at 7 in the morning to go see Caspian and her mother and father say nothing to her when she gets home. My parents were on my ass when I was 16\17 and I couldn't go anywhere without them knowing where I was going. And leaving early in the morning? Forget about it. They would of killed me and then killed me again if I gave them attitude about where I was like Abbey did. And her parents letting her go "college looking" in another state alone with a boy? Come on, really? Thats all I have to say.
Ben is in this book more and I really like him. Abbey learns that she failed chemistry and she worked out an agreement with her teacher where Ben would tutor her during the summer and she would take a final exam before school started. Ben agrees and they become closer. They hang out a lot also besides when he tutors her. Ben is really a great guy. He's caring, sweet and funny. I like how they are just friends in the book. You think that there might be something more developing but Abbey is all about Caspian and Ben is still dealing with his feelings about Kristen. So they remain friends. Ben is always there when Abbey needs him and is always willing to help her. Ben is kind of a science nerd and he reminds me of Leonard from the Big Bang Theory except not as nerdy looking but their personalities are similar.
New characters are introduced: Cacey, Uri, Kame and Sophie who are very weird. They have melodic voices and eyes that are very light that they almost seem translucent. They also smell like ashes. Its weird and while they are not very prominent in this book I have a feeling that they will play a bigger role in the next book.
There is another character that was introduced that I feel will also have a bigger role in the next book, who is Vincent Drake. He is such an ass. He acts like a spoiled rich kid, who knows he is very handsome and who wears expensive clothes and treats other people like shit, especially girls. He is so full of himself, cocky and is just an all around asshole. I hated him. He called himself a revenant. Revenants were briefly described in the book in regard to what they can do. I hope there is more information about them in the next book.
I enjoyed how the romance between Caspian and Abbey developed. Caspian admitted to Abbey that he lied about loving her and that he really does love her. They begin to see and hangout more they are so cute together. They both fall even more in love and they decide they dating I guess is the term. Caspian does feel like Abbey shouldn't want him because he is dead and can't give her anything but she doesn't care and lets him know it. She finds out that Caspian can only touch her and people in general on his death day, once a year. Abbey tells him that she loves him and she will do whatever to make it work. I think that they're love is sweet and I love how slowly it develops (it kind of has too because he'd you know dead). Caspian is really sweet and makes things for Abbey and surprised her with sweet things her does. He really is the perfect boyfriend besides him being a ghost. At times the romance became kind of cheesy with certain actions and phrasing of words that I think the author was trying to pass off as "hot and heavy" but just came across as full of cheese. Those moments were far and few between you can definitely know the scenes I'm talking about if you've read/will read the book.
All in all a good read and I;m excited about reading the next book which is the last one of the trilogy.
This review is also posted on The Book Owl Extraordinaire
September 28, 2020
It's been YEARS since I finished the first book and I think I should've reread it before starting this one. There were several references that I couldn't remember so I may still go back to it. Other than that, I really enjoyed the story. It was a perfect young adult supernatural romance. I have always been a fan of a romances involving a supernatural and a human and this fit just right. I am interested to see how the third book ties up the story. I'll make sure to read it soon instead of waiting years again!!
March 24, 2023
A little better than the 1st one.
September 17, 2010
I read The Hollow around a year ago and really enjoyed it, but there was still a little something missing that left it at 3.5/4 stars. Luckily, The Haunted completely blew me away, I loved it!
At first I was a little lost, The Hollow was definitely not fresh in my mind so it took a little while for everything to click, but soon I was really into it and a lot of the details from the prequel came rushing back. Right away things were exciting and plot twists were occurring on every page.
Abbey returned in full force. She was as sweet and funny as ever and her love for her family, Kristen, and Caspian was clear from the start. Her dedication to everyone around her is admiring and her perfume making has always been one of my favorite aspects of the series. I love reading about the different scents and mixtures she creates and I'm hoping to hear more about "Abbey's Hollow" in the final book in the series.
The mystery and suspense is amazing in The Haunted. I was constantly on the edge of my seat and so many new plot angles are revealed and new characters introduced. Of course many of my favorite characters from the prequel returned and a lot of my questions were answered in this book. Jessica Verday's writing was amazing in The Haunted. She always knew when to add a new twist in the story to throw me off and keep me reading into the night. I just had to know what was going to happen!
This series is so unique and original. I love the Sleepy Hollow angle and she really goes the extra mile to make this series her own. I never know what is going to happen next and I'm dying for The Horror! Even Abbey and Caspian learn things about themselves and those around them that they never suspected.
Another of my favorites parts of this story is the romance. Slow growing and bittersweet I loved reading about Caspian and Abbey even though their relationship is so restrained. I felt their pain at not being able to do regular things together like have dinner with her parents or even kiss good night. Luckily their connection was so strong you could tell how much they loved each other from a mile away. In The Hollow I didn't get too attached to Caspian's character, but in The Haunted I loved him. He was witty, protective, and caring. He always knew the right thing to say to make Abbey smile and he truly only wants the best for her.
If you were a fan of The Hollow, or were even disappointed, be prepared to be blown away by this thrilling sequel! It's romantic and mysterious with great characters and an exciting ending that was a huge cliffhanger! 2011 can't come fast enough.
Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars
At first I was a little lost, The Hollow was definitely not fresh in my mind so it took a little while for everything to click, but soon I was really into it and a lot of the details from the prequel came rushing back. Right away things were exciting and plot twists were occurring on every page.
Abbey returned in full force. She was as sweet and funny as ever and her love for her family, Kristen, and Caspian was clear from the start. Her dedication to everyone around her is admiring and her perfume making has always been one of my favorite aspects of the series. I love reading about the different scents and mixtures she creates and I'm hoping to hear more about "Abbey's Hollow" in the final book in the series.
The mystery and suspense is amazing in The Haunted. I was constantly on the edge of my seat and so many new plot angles are revealed and new characters introduced. Of course many of my favorite characters from the prequel returned and a lot of my questions were answered in this book. Jessica Verday's writing was amazing in The Haunted. She always knew when to add a new twist in the story to throw me off and keep me reading into the night. I just had to know what was going to happen!
This series is so unique and original. I love the Sleepy Hollow angle and she really goes the extra mile to make this series her own. I never know what is going to happen next and I'm dying for The Horror! Even Abbey and Caspian learn things about themselves and those around them that they never suspected.
Another of my favorites parts of this story is the romance. Slow growing and bittersweet I loved reading about Caspian and Abbey even though their relationship is so restrained. I felt their pain at not being able to do regular things together like have dinner with her parents or even kiss good night. Luckily their connection was so strong you could tell how much they loved each other from a mile away. In The Hollow I didn't get too attached to Caspian's character, but in The Haunted I loved him. He was witty, protective, and caring. He always knew the right thing to say to make Abbey smile and he truly only wants the best for her.
If you were a fan of The Hollow, or were even disappointed, be prepared to be blown away by this thrilling sequel! It's romantic and mysterious with great characters and an exciting ending that was a huge cliffhanger! 2011 can't come fast enough.
Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars
December 2, 2020
Abbey has been desperately trying to forget Caspian, the boy she fell in love with only to discover he was already dead. Traumatised by the discovery and doubting her sanity Abbey left Sleepy Hollow for the summer, but now the summer is over and it is time for Abbey to return. At first she throws herself into her schoolwork and concentrates on her friendship with the definitely alive Ben. Then Caspian reappears in her life, and Abbey realises you can't outrun your destiny.
This is the second part of a trilogy that started with The Hollow. I loved the first book and was blown away by this one. The plot is deeper, with a focus on whether Caspian is real or if Abbey is losing her mind because of the stress of her best friend's death. I've never seen a paranormal book focus on the sanity of the lead character like this before, and it even makes the reader begin to doubt if Caspian is real.
All my favourite characters from the first book have returned, along with a selection of new characters. Many of the questions raised in The Hollow but not answered are answered here, although more questions are raised and left open. Kristen's secret boyfriend is revealed, Katy and Nicholas reveal how they came to be together and the choices they had to make and a whole new dimension is added with the idea of Revenants.
Again, there are twists scattered throughout the story that I didn't see coming and I loved how Abbey and Caspian's relationship developed. The book does have a shocking cliffhanger ending that made me really anxious to get hold of the last part of their story. Without spoilers, it's an incredible ending and I can't wait to see what happens next.
All in all this was an amazing read and I'm really looking forward to the final part of the trilogy (The Hidden) out in September.
Plot: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Ending: 10/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Cover: 9/10
Overall: 49/50
This is the second part of a trilogy that started with The Hollow. I loved the first book and was blown away by this one. The plot is deeper, with a focus on whether Caspian is real or if Abbey is losing her mind because of the stress of her best friend's death. I've never seen a paranormal book focus on the sanity of the lead character like this before, and it even makes the reader begin to doubt if Caspian is real.
All my favourite characters from the first book have returned, along with a selection of new characters. Many of the questions raised in The Hollow but not answered are answered here, although more questions are raised and left open. Kristen's secret boyfriend is revealed, Katy and Nicholas reveal how they came to be together and the choices they had to make and a whole new dimension is added with the idea of Revenants.
Again, there are twists scattered throughout the story that I didn't see coming and I loved how Abbey and Caspian's relationship developed. The book does have a shocking cliffhanger ending that made me really anxious to get hold of the last part of their story. Without spoilers, it's an incredible ending and I can't wait to see what happens next.
All in all this was an amazing read and I'm really looking forward to the final part of the trilogy (The Hidden) out in September.
Plot: 10/10
Characters: 10/10
Ending: 10/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Cover: 9/10
Overall: 49/50
July 20, 2011
Hmmm. I don’t really know how to put my thoughts around this book. It was nice but still it did not please me all that much. The whole thing about falling in love with a ghost or a shade or whatever is absurd. But still just cause its Caspian and he is such a swoon-worthy shade, I think I can take it. Still its really sad to think about everything that he had to go through, all the nothingness and just holding on to Abbey for any feeling of being alive. He tried so hard not to freak her out and he did not really do anything very bad to be the darker part just as Nikolas mentioned. But I guess with respect to Abbey he definitely could be the darker one cause well honestly Abbey was a real nice hearted girl. Anyways the good thing about the book was that the author did not make Abbey forget all about Kristen. If that happened it would be really out of character. Also Caspian didn’t seem to be hanging around in her room all the time like it happens in most of the books I read. Caspian was a sweetheart all the while. Still if I were in Abbey’s place and a normal teenager and if a guy tried out those lines on me over and over I would either die laughing or avoid him to all extent. But considering Caspian’s case, he was so lost and his only ray of hope was Abbey, so it was fine by me. And at least Abbey did not just fall all over him even though she used to in her thoughts but still she had some sense of mind and knew how to act and joke about him being a pervert and stuff. So, moving on, Vincent being the bad guy here, I don’t really understand why he would try to keep Caspian and Abbey apart? What was his problem? And who were the other Reverants? If they were there to help then why did they not stop Vincent before? Didn’t they know about him? And who was Vincent being protected from and Why? Why? Why? New questions but still the old ones were answered. Still I don’t understand how Abbey could hug Nikolas and Abbey. And why can the Reverants touch the Shades? And what were they exactly? Were they alive? Or like dead or half-dead? It really took long for Abbey to figure it out and it annoyed me, seriously. Why couldn’t she put two and two together and why didn’t she realize that she could touch Nikolas anytime she wanted to and not Caspian? Weird. Ah, well, will have to wait for the next book to find out.
December 23, 2014
Jessica has did it again. The Haunted is an amazing second installment of The Hollow Trilogy. The story of this novel has alot more depth to then The Hollow. Alot of the questions that are left unanswers in The Hollow are answered in The Haunted as well as a few more questions that leave you begging for more.
All the main characters that we grew to love in The Hollow are back and there are a few new ones thrown into the mix. Abbey has matured alot and her kind and down to earth nature as easy to connect with. We also get to learn more about Caspian and his story. And it was so easy to see how much he loves Abbey.
There is also a few really funny moments as well I was in knots with laughter. Also, a couple of sad moments that brought the tears to my eyes.
I recommend this to those to like to read stories that is emotional and gripping.
Can't wait for Forever!!!!! It can't come fast enough
All the main characters that we grew to love in The Hollow are back and there are a few new ones thrown into the mix. Abbey has matured alot and her kind and down to earth nature as easy to connect with. We also get to learn more about Caspian and his story. And it was so easy to see how much he loves Abbey.
There is also a few really funny moments as well I was in knots with laughter. Also, a couple of sad moments that brought the tears to my eyes.
I recommend this to those to like to read stories that is emotional and gripping.
Can't wait for Forever!!!!! It can't come fast enough
Read
February 14, 2011 I enjoyed The Hollow even more than the first one! Abbey came even more alive, and I discovered so much more about her. She faces so many decisions, difficulties and trials, I ache for her. It is hard to put myself in her place, because I have no idea how I would react.
Caspian is even more vulnerable and awesome in this one. We find out more about him and it only makes him even more desirable to me. Even though the mystery element is still there, some of my questions are answered and that doesn't detract.
There is lots of conflict in this one and more of the bad guys are emerging. I still have lots of questions, and I am aching for the next books. We still have the character driven literaryness, but there is so much going on. The subplots are woven in really well.
I've enjoyed this series, and recommend it.
Caspian is even more vulnerable and awesome in this one. We find out more about him and it only makes him even more desirable to me. Even though the mystery element is still there, some of my questions are answered and that doesn't detract.
There is lots of conflict in this one and more of the bad guys are emerging. I still have lots of questions, and I am aching for the next books. We still have the character driven literaryness, but there is so much going on. The subplots are woven in really well.
I've enjoyed this series, and recommend it.
March 10, 2011
I love this book!!! Can´t wait for the next one!
July 4, 2020
I love this series. Great follow up to the first book. I really like Abby. You wanted to help her find a way to be with Caspian. I’m a mom to a YA and I highly recommended this series to her.
June 20, 2020
I love this series so much, the perfect Autumn read (even though it's summer but hey I'm missing Autumn and all the Halloween goodness)
September 4, 2023
I really enjoyed this installment. We get a look further into the worldbuilding with the Shades and Revanents. Plus, you actually get to see more of Caspian and Abbey - and I really enjoyed watching their relationship progress. Plus, there's just a specific tension about every scene that Caspian, Ben, and Abbey are in together that's indescribable - but I loved it.
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