Book Review: The Corruption of Hollis Brown by K. Ancrum
Genre: Horror
Age: Young Adult
Format: ebook
As a fan of Kayla Ancrum’s other books, I was really looking forward to this new novel. The premise was right up my alley and I was curious about how the romance would unfold.
The story got off to a bit of a slow start since the first few chapters were all set-up for the promise of the blurb, and I found myself wondering when the deal would be made. Ancrum can certainly write, however, and has a way of creating characters that are relatable even if unlikable.
Our MC, Hollis, is a complicated character who isn’t immediately likable, but I felt for him and his struggles right from the beginning. I didn’t immediately take to Walt, the love interest, given the whole problematic body-snatching vibe of the possession and the way he somewhat tricked Hollis into making this deal with the devil.
The story unfolds through a poetic narrative that toes the line between prose and verse at times, with a drifting POV, given that Hollis and Walt eventually come to share one body. Personally, I found the relentless scene breaks and chapter headings quite distracting and a bit annoying at times. I didn’t always understand why a particular word was chosen for that scene break or what its relevance was. Also, some scenes were super short while others went on for pages, making the use of subheadings in places seem even more odd, but this is entirely a matter of personal preference and I’m not sure how much the formatting will change in the final version of the book. Also, I don’t feel that including Hollis’s recipes in their entirety added much to the story or characters so I skimmed them. It might’ve been better to offer the recipes as an appendix at the end of the book.
Now for the romance. This is where I struggled as I found the fact Walt and Hollis fell in love a bit tricky to understand given the circumstances. I kept wondering if it was actually just a result of assimilation and the whole ‘love of self’ as their minds became more entangled. I also found the love scenes profoundly disturbing when I think they were meant to be sweet or tender, but Hollis would’ve been making out with himself, sucking on his own fingers... and this gave me all the body horror ick. Given the genre, perhaps this is intentional. It definitely horrified me, especially the ending!
SPOILER!!
I thought Hollis would eventually figure out he was being manipulated and Walt would prove to be evil. This would then result in Hollis trying to exorcise him and reclaim his autonomy, but it seems like Walt and Hollis got a HEA instead which, again, I just find profoundly disturbing considering the literal physical claim Walt has on Hollis.
END OF SPOILER!!
The side characters were wonderful and I wish we’d seen more of Yulia and Annie. I was totally on their side when they tried to stage an intervention and would happily read a book about those two.
The plot was a little slow to develop and ultimately seemed to focus more on Walt, rather than Hollis, forcing Hollis to take a literal backseat in the story, having Walt take over his body and life in some fairly egregious ways. Again, this is perfect for the horror aspect of the novel but it felt like it was all acceptable and lovely when I was screaming no, no, no with every turn of the page.
Ultimately, this is a quirky, queer coming of age story examining grief and redemption, identity and self-worth in a Podunk town. While I found it creepy at times and downright disturbing at others, I think others might find the same elements that troubled me more endearing. Either way, this was certainly a thought-provoking read that makes me keen topick up more books by this author.
(links to purchase are included at the link above)
Review By Xan van Rooyen
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I received this ebook directly from the author for review consideration.
