The Hidden, by Jessica Verday
The Hidden, by Jessica Verday
Book 3 in The Hollows Trilogy
Reviewed by Saluki
The Hidden is the final book in Jessica Verday’s The Hollows Trilogy. If you’ve read my reviews of The Haunted and The Hollow you know that I have mixed feelings about this series. There are certainly aspects of the first books that I have enjoyed. Unfortunately, this is a series that I think didn’t reach it’s full potential. But, I started the last installment of the series with an open mind. There will be spoilers ahead, so read with caution.
In the last book, Abby found out that she was the target of Vincent Drake, not her best friend Kristen. Saddled with unbelievable guilt and the knowledge that she is going to die soon, Abby begins to really absorb what it will mean to be with Caspian. All of her dreams of the future – her business, family, children, gone in exchange for forever with her true love. And, instead of enjoying her senior year of high school, she is constantly looking over her shoulder for Vincent and always wondering which day will be her last. Of course, she and Caspian are still together, both longing for November 1st to arrive – that is his death day – the one day of they year he will take a solid form. Abby makes a new friend Cyn, who while strange, seems to relate to her. The author is a big fan of description, filling pages when a few sentences would do. Like past books, there is a lot going on in The Hidden, but unlike past books, the pace of this book is a little quicker, as questions finally get answered and plot lines come together.
At it’s core, this series is a love story between Abby and Caspian. And, there were moments during the series that I felt a connection between these two characters, like on Caspian’s death day. For the most part, the story between these two characters fell flat for me. I never bonded with either character individually, so it made it hard for me to root for their relationship. Unlike the Twilight series, where I rooted for Bella to become a vampire from the first book, I never longed for Abby to become a Shade in order to be with Caspian. Instead, I wanted to see her grow up and mature – to discover who she was as a person and fulfill her dreams of opening Abby’s Hollow. Instead, she seemed hell bent on throwing everything away for someone she had known for less than a year. At least in Twilight, their relationship spans over a period of a couple of years.
We learn more about Vincent, and the other Revenants Kami, Uri, Cacey and Sophie in this book. It was good to finally find out their purpose in the story, and I liked the story behind them. However, Vincent was a completely ridiculous villain, and I’m still a bit convinced why five Revenants were needed to help Abby cross over.
The ending of the book seem totally contrived and way to convenient for me. I was expecting way more drama and intense action after the build up of the last three books. Instead, everything fell into place neatly and oh so conveniently. For readers who wanted an HEA for Caspian and Abby, I suppose you will be happy. However, I didn’t feel a sense of completion or resolution after I finished the book. Rather, I mourned the lost potential of a young girl who was way too eager to throw away her life for a boy. Why is it that so many YA books send the message that girls need a soul mate to complete them and that it is okay to throw away everything in order to not be alone? I guess that is a topic for another column!
The Hollows is not a series I highly recommend. The books are longish, but because so much of them are filler they are very quick reads. Overall, I give this book 2 out of 5 fangs and the series 3 out of 5 fangs.
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