Review: A Hollow in the Hills by Ruth Frances Long

The sequel to A Crack in Everything.
When an ancient and forbidden power is unleashed, Izzy, who is still coming to terms with her newfound powers, must prevent a war from engulfing Dublin and the fae realm of Dubh Linn. But by refusing to sacrifice Jinx – fae warrior and her ‘not-really-ex’ – Izzy sets in motion a chain of events which will see them hunted across the city and into the hills where she’ll face the greatest challenge of all.

Shona's review 5 of 5 stars 

This book called to me, and I love it when they do that, especially when it doesn't disappoint. This is my first time reading a book by Long, how can that be I hear you ask, this is the second book in the series, surely there's been some mistake.... well I didn't realise it was the second book until after I was begging myself to read it... and let me tell you, I don't remember the last time I read the second book in a series first... never mind reading the second book first and loving it. Don't get me wrong there where a few parts that came across like an in joke.. you had to be there at the time to get it... but it didn't affect the readability of the book. Despite missing out on SO much from the first book I was expecting to be more than a little lost but it just didn't happen. Long has placed enough reminders that for the most part it feels like you actually might have read the first book and just forgotten about it.

I loved the mix of characters, fae and human, each with their own tale within a tale and each with such a strong presence on the page. I can only imagine how much skill and effort that takes, to prevent so many characters from becoming one dimensional, to give them all a voice, regardless of how long they appear.

I love a good Fae book, the problem is I don't seem to find a lot of good Fae books... And this is a very good Fae book. The blurb alone had me hooked, and once I had opened the book and slipped between the pages I was hooked. There was no putting this book down, The story unfolded with such pace that you literally flew through the book with Izzy and clung on for dear life as she dealt with the perils around her.

Now all that's left to do is to hunt down a copy of the first in the series A Crack in Everything, and then re-read this one (because I know I'll pick up on extra bits once I've read the first) and then I can impatiently wait for the third and final instalment in the trilogy to be released.