Into Her Story: House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

In this episode, our hosts Samantha and Nat are talking all things House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland. From dark fairytale concepts, to moments that made our skin crawl, this dark contemporary fantasy, horror novel had us racing to the final page. So whether you read the book or just want to hear the spoilers after our warning, you're welcome here. 

 As always, we start spoiler-free with a brief discussion and our personal ratings. We will then give a clear spoiler warning before diving deeper, in case you want to pause and read the book first. 

Follow us on Instagram @fmcx2podcast for updates and behind-the-scenes content. New episodes every two weeks. 

All opinions are our own and we are not affiliated or sponsored by any authors, publishers, or brands.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:02

Welcome to episode three of FMC Squared. I'm Naz and I'm Samantha. And today we're gonna be going over our next book, House of Hollow by Crystal Sutherland.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

I'm gonna be reading the back of this book so you guys have a general idea of what the story is about before we get into discussion. Where did Gray Hollow go? Iris Hollow and her two older sisters are unquestionably strange. As children, they disappeared on a Scottish city street only to return a month later with no memory of where they'd been or what had happened to them. More troubling, their appearance begin to change. Their blue eyes, now black, their dark hair now white, and as they grew older, odd, airy occurrences seem to follow in their wake. People find them disturbingly intoxicating, unbearably beautiful, and dangerous. Now 17-year-old Iris is doing all she can do to fit in and graduate high school on time. Something her two famous, glamorous, globetrotten older sisters, Grey and Vivi, never manage to do. But when Grey goes missing, leaving behind bizarre clues as to her whereabouts, Iris and Vivi are left to find her. But they aren't the only ones looking. As they brush against the supernatural, Iris quickly realizes that the story she's been told about their past is unraveling and the world that returned them seemingly unharmed 10 years ago might just be calling them back again.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

Now I will say that back of that book had me sold because I'm a fantasy girly. Um I love fantasy books, but I know you're not as much of a fantasy girly. But the back of that book really was like It was good. You can tell it was gonna be juicy. Yeah, no, definitely. It's still not what I expected, even though I'm not gonna lie, I set the bar very low. No, okay, see, I my bar was set like from the back of that, I was pretty sold. I was like, this is probably gonna be great. Yeah. Um, but for me, I would say I really enjoyed this book. I'll get into a little bit about like, you know, the ending later, um, when we're in our second little bit of this audio here. But the first part, I'm just gonna say my rating of this, I enjoyed it. I thought it was a good read for like a single standalone series, even though I think there was potential where it could have been actually two or three books, but I would give this a four out of five for me.

SPEAKER_01 2:24

I was actually gonna say the same thing. I was shooting for more so like 4.2 out of five, but I think that point two comes from the fact that I really was not expecting this plot. Yeah, this support. Yeah, when we said fantasy, I was just thinking like thou shalt not slay or like I think Romeo and Juliet. Yeah, I was thinking like Romeo and Juliet type shit.

SPEAKER_02 2:44

But this was good. No, this was good. This was very far-fetched. Yes, and I like that. And I like that she had it was eerie. Yeah. I like that 100%.

SPEAKER_01 2:54

It left you guessing, like, well, what the fuck is actually happening? 100%. Uh the whole time I was like, I have to read more because I just don't understand the concept of this book yet. I really didn't even understand for a while, like, how it played into fantasy until like some of the like magic and shit started to get into the book. Yeah, it did take a while to really get into the book.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

Like that was kind of vague. Yes, absolutely, absolutely. So, okay, now that we have told you guys the book, we've told you guys our thoughts on it. Yes. And Nat has been graciously reading you the back. Yes. So we try, we try. Let's get into the meat and potatoes.

SPEAKER_01 3:28

Yes. If you do not want to get spoiled um by us completely spilling the tea on what this book is about, you can definitely pause now. Go and get the book on whatever platform you prefer. Samantha prefers the audio version. I like to read a hard copy. Um, and then you can come back to us when you're done and we'll talk all about it.

SPEAKER_02 3:49

And with that being said, on this version, I did listen to the audio and I thought it was really good. I liked it, but my critique of it was and if you've ever listened to Harry Potter before, you guys, this girl gave Hermione a little bit. Yeah. Which was it kind of weird because she sounded very young with her voice. So when she was talking, even saying, Oh, she has a deeper voice as the character. Yeah. But then hearing her say it in like Hermione's 13-year-old voice, it was a little bit distracting for me at times.

SPEAKER_01 4:20

That's fair.

SPEAKER_02 4:21

However, um, I do think it's worth it if you don't want to have to read the hardcover, and if it's easier for you, give it a listen. Okay, good. Let's get into it.

SPEAKER_01 4:30

All right. Three sisters that disappear on a street while right under their parents' nose, by the way. Like, no one has a single trace of these girls. They disappear from Had to be the 90s.

SPEAKER_02 4:43

It wasn't the I'm just kidding, it wasn't, but like low-key, like my parents were like, have fun in the world, do whatever you want.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

Yeah, no, a hundred percent. Like, I just don't get it. They're just like skipping around on a street late at night. And uh these girls disappear and they come back in about a month, and when they come back, their hair has turned white, their eyes are dark, and their dad ends up committing suicide because he's completely believed that his daughters are not who they say they are. Yeah, they're not the same. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:13

Yeah, they're freaks, basically. They're they're they're changelings. That's what they call them. Dad thinks he is.

SPEAKER_01 5:19

And now I will say, now, had you ever heard of a changeling before? No, I hadn't. What I when I personally read this book, I thought, and I know I'm not supposed to say the word, it's forbidden, but I thought of a walker skin.

SPEAKER_02 5:30

Oh, yeah. No, gr oh, those freaking yellow. No, but that's a good thing. I've read so much Laura, it's so scary. The Appalachia. Yeah, girl. I know. I have okay, I'm a fantasy girl, as I said, so I have heard of changelings before. Okay, so let me tell you what I know of them. Okay. From what previous books. I read a lot of books about the Faye, the fairies. The people I haven't read a lot of books about fairies. Girl, we're about to get into it eventually. Um, yeah, I will get into those books because I love them, you guys. Um, so but a changeling in most stories is a fey child that was born, but typically was weaker or had some issues, and because of that, the Fay people decided to exchange their child for a human child. Uh, they would take the human child and make it a slave or something like that in the fairy world, the fey world, leaving the changeling to be raised, and then if the changeling lived and became healthy, sometimes they would come back to get the child later in life. But if not, they would just leave the child there to be like the human's problem, basically. That's what I knew of changeling from like multiple things I had read of it. But just to read you guys, if you Google it, it says in European folklore, a changeling is a supernatural being or magically altered object left in place of a stolen human child, usually by fairies or elves. So, boom, drop the mic. I was like right on that. Yeah, you're right, right on the money. Right. Right in the money.

SPEAKER_01 6:58

Okay, that's fair. That definitely changes the perspective of me. They still give me a very airy and uncomfortable feeling.

SPEAKER_02 7:04

Because it's just like so that basically these sisters they get stranger and strangers the older they get. Yeah. The dad eventually is like losing his mind. You're not my kids. I'm convinced you're not your kids. He dips. Yeah. But like permanently. Okay, so when that happens, the older daughter and the second oldest. Yes, so Gray and BB, yes, they dip out, leaving, and they're 15 and 17 at the time. They're young.

SPEAKER_01 7:36

I think I'll also forget that too. Like the demographic of the age. Very young in the very young. And I'm just like, bitch, what you mean leaving the house? At 15. Like, what?

SPEAKER_02 7:45

I'm sorry. Like, I really need like your adult to sign that you can even work. They definitely have to be in like the 90s. 100%. They're like. Just tell me you're 16 and you're good to go. Basically, we'll give you a fucking minimum wage job. Uh, but the youngest daughter who is Iris. Yes. She's left there with Kate. She decides to stay.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

She decides to stay home, supposedly. She says that.

SPEAKER_02 8:08

She's like two years. I think they're all two years apart from what I saw. So she's 13 at the time then. Yeah. Yes. So essentially, this also kind of fast forwards to then now time. Right. It gets a little bit gray. Well, it does get gray. Gray hollow. Yeah, it does get gray hollow. Gray, yeah, it gets very gray. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

Gray, you start to learn this um bad side of gray hollow. She's disturbed. She's disturbed a hundred percent. Yeah. And it's so crazy because in this book, these people are literally fetising over Gray. They're obsessed with her. She's literally on the vogue. She's intoxicated. She's intoxicated. People just can't shake this feeling of her. I personally don't trust shit like that.

SPEAKER_02 8:57

Yeah, no. I mean, when she started uh when they were talking about she had a clothing line and she had secret stuff hidden into it, but it was so expensive. And wait, I was like, you're making people destroy your stuff.

SPEAKER_01 9:08

What are like why? Can we talk about the fact that Miss Crystal Sutherland does a great job describing these odors and these smells throughout the book? I genuinely felt like I could smell these death flowers and these. You know what this book gave me? It's still icky. Yeah, it gave me Silent Hill vibes.

SPEAKER_02 9:29

Have you ever thought yes? I do not watch scary stuff, but Silent Hill is one of those. It is so good. Good as fuck. It's like creepy, but it's not too scary to where I can't sleep. Yeah, definitely. I mean, I will be awake for a long time. But I will fall asleep eventually. Eventually. But the dude with the triangle head thing and the creepy nurses. Locally, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

Like, I just kind of like it though. No, yeah. It's like it's like an intoxicated. So the underworld definitely gave Silent Hill.

SPEAKER_02 9:55

100%.

SPEAKER_01 9:56

Yeah, when it was like, you're there, but you're half alive, half dead. And everything is like the trees are like decaying, but they're not fully dead yet. And just like everything's constantly falling. That literally reminds me of Silent Hill when she's like running up to the gates, and this whole like hospital area is just like falling apart. Yes. There's buildings literally like decaying, but you're also alive.

SPEAKER_02 10:18

It just was like weird. So like these three sisters basically have this underworld part that they're kind of connected to, which the GDM girls don't know. The older one does. They can come and go freely because it's a half alive, half-in-dead place. They're half alive and half dead. Because they skinned three little girls on the other hand. But they don't remember because the older sister did it. Yes, and then she kind of suggested to them to forget, and therefore they did. She didn't suggest it. She she she didn't what she did. But she said she could not alter anyone that was half alive or half dead. That's why she couldn't influence Tyler. So I don't think she ultimately could make him forget. I think she suggested it, and Iris was like, that would be good to like forget. Or what if Grey Hollow is not who she says she is? Look, can we commit Kate? Because Kate's got issues.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

When I found out that she knew that they were changing, and she still decided her mother was murdered.

SPEAKER_02 11:20

Oh my god. And she still loved Iris. Straight jacket, tie her up, give her med every day. See, that she's off her rocker. Yeah, honestly. 100%. And even Iris is like, how could you love me, knowing that we literally killed your children. Yeah. Oh my god. The lunacy. And the fact that her dad was the one that. Okay, now I will say he was gonna probably eventually try to kill them because part of me is like self-preservation, even though obviously they're creatures that like are horrible for killing girls at the same time. The plot wouldn't be there had heard that. The fact that he came back as this creepy underworld dude who actually I was kind of picturing as the cone head dude from Silent Hill, because like his mask situation, everything, and like how strong and big he is. Exactly. But that was crazy.

SPEAKER_01 12:13

I was not expecting it to be the dad. Honestly, when they had the two girls at the stake, I genuinely thought Tyler was gonna come out and all of this was gonna be about Tyler and that Tyler got overly obsessed with Grey Hollow. R IP. But Loki, they said his soul was there at the end.

SPEAKER_02 12:29

I know, but that's why I was like, she shouldn't have done the epilogue. That's true. Okay, so the epilogue, you guys, but we all read it, right? Like, she basically said, you know, they went to some random place. I'm not sure why. They were looking into something. I'm not really sure what it was based off the description. And then it's like she kind of maybe saw Tyler. She left a note saying maybe stay here.

SPEAKER_01 12:53

And that's all wait, can we talk about the fact that like she trying to steal her girlfriend? Oh my god. Literally, that's your older sister. And honestly, though, there's sometimes like when Iris, yeah, yeah, Grey is her older sister.

SPEAKER_02 13:08

But the changelings were sisters. Yeah. This is what got me, because I'm like, you're saying that in that world you were all changeling sisters. Or was it like you're my sister now and we're gonna go here together and now we're real sisters? Oh, I never thought about it like that. No, and you know what, with Iris being so suspicious of everything, yeah, I'm really curious about like what is it changeling? Who am I, and do I have changeling parents? That's true. Like she just was like, Oh, yeah, I knew that all along. Check mark, figure that out.

SPEAKER_01 13:39

Well, you know, one thing that kind of like put an airy feeling in into my stomach was that she Iris was very obsessed with her sister.

SPEAKER_02 13:52

But like Gray was probably equally except because she said Gray stalks everything, she reads everything I do, she reads my history papers and messages means.

SPEAKER_01 14:00

Honestly, in general, the bond that they had was very odd. Like sleeping with each other and like having your hand on her heartbeat and touching her tip.

SPEAKER_02 14:07

It was giving they wanted to wear each other's skin as much as the hollow sisters. They did. They definitely did. They it was it was very odd. That's why. Can I just say the one thing that skeeved me out the most about this whole story, not the skin wearing or any of that, but when they were talking about looking into their throats and seeing like mold and fungus and having to throw it up and having like plants grow out of wounds in their skin, and I I was disgusted.

SPEAKER_01 14:35

When the heart when she said her toenail had a a a dead flower coming out of it, I'm like, ew, bitch.

SPEAKER_02 14:41

I'd be like, scrap me, just throw me out, set me on fire. I'm clearly organic.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

And I don't know if you guys have looked at these flowers, but as you're reading the book or listening to the book, you should definitely look at what those flowers look like because they look wild. And just to get a general idea of how much this book reeks of like death and sorrow and just straight up disgust. And they're literally smelling, they're literally selling perfumes about that shit.

SPEAKER_02 15:09

Yeah, that's actually kind of grosses me out. The fact that people are like, this is intoxicating and it's a corpse smell. Yeah. Listen, I listen to a lot of crime podcasts. Um, shout out crime junkies, but like no, anybody that's talked about smelling corpse smell, like you're not gonna walk around and be like, Do you like this? Yeah, like I just don't also these flowers look like they're straight up from Jurassic Park. This is wild. Yeah, they're they're hideous. The fact that they're real, I like to be able to do that. They're real flowers, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:39

No, every I every time I'm reading, I'm like, huh. Yeah, you learn something real like that.

SPEAKER_02 15:43

Yeah, you wonder. I wonder every single time. Like I do enjoy when moot books like kind of intertwine stuff that's real. Like these flowers are real, they emit the odor of a dead corpse. Like I didn't know that. Yeah, like I actually didn't realize that was real until you said that. And you know what I think is so crazy?

SPEAKER_01 16:00

I think that's why I love this book so much, because it kept me right on the brim of like reality, but still fantasy. Yes, like not everything in it was so not realistic. Of course, yeah, exactly. When you have fairies and stuff that come into play, not saying fairies ain't real, because that's none of my business. Like, you're gonna tap into that fake world though, but then there's the normal world, but then there's the normal world. Like these girls were just stolen off of a street in Scotland.

SPEAKER_02 16:21

Yes, in Scotland. But can I just say, Gray is clearly a sociopath? Are we all on the same page? When Iris talks, like, okay, first off, we all read the book at this point, right? So, like the last two or three chapters, a lot of shit goes down. Yeah, like you read a lot of the book and a lot of things happen, but the last three chapters, I was I had to go back and listen today to like get myself together. Yeah, I feel so bad about Tyler. Yeah. Because you really I grew to love him a lot when you're listening to it. He seems so genuine. The fact that he almost died in the past, right? The fact that Gray is clearly a sociopath that he fell for. Exactly. He doesn't even realize that he's being dragged along by this. I mean, she kind of seems like maybe she likes him, but I don't know. I don't trust anything about him. Well, then she blamed the whole thing on him at the end of the book, remember? Well, she was like, I had to stop her and then like he got murdered. Yeah. And like they never found his body, I don't think. So they just had a cast it with that was like a clothes casket.

SPEAKER_01 17:18

And I mean, maybe in a sense he wanted to be left there because his younger sister was like, skin. Like, what are they gonna bring back on?

SPEAKER_00 17:23

Oh my god, that that's that's you forgot. I know.

SPEAKER_02 17:27

And then, like, literally the dad put it on, remember? I know. Ew, I'm dead. I can't I know I was reading that book, like, this is honestly like. Honestly, that's the part that got me fucked up. Because when I really started to like his character, and I'm like, maybe Gray will be nice at the end, and then Tyler and Gray will end up together, maybe Iris and Gray, but then she what tied her shoelace pretty much, and then he dipped out and got this. Someone grabbed him, skinned him, and by the time she found her sisters, it was all over. I felt bad, dude. Me too. He didn't deserve that. He did not already die. Yeah, he's gonna be. He only had to die one time. Pork. That's it. Life is hard enough. You die one time. Honestly, he was really just being supportive of Grey and Iris. He didn't have to be there, really. He just was like, let me find my sister. And their dad wore him. Oh, god, disgusting. I just feel like that scene was unnecessary. It's like low-key, though. If I would have been reading the book from the dad's perspective, right? That would be fire, though. Okay. Okay, crystals iron. We got an ID. Okay, but like, because here's the thing. I grew to like them, obviously, by reading the book. Right. But in reality, if I take myself away from the book and those girls, those girls, that dad, that was retribution. Yeah. Was like, I killed someone Gray loved because she skinned my daughters and like low-key retribution, right? 100%. I mean, he But on this side, it feels harsh. Feels like Tyler was just like shrapnel.

SPEAKER_00 19:01

No one gave a fuck about Tyler. Nobody. Nobody. Poor Tyler. He even stayed in the hospital with them.

SPEAKER_02 19:09

No, and literally got attacked and shot and all kinds of knocked down, broke his nose.

SPEAKER_00 19:15

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 19:15

And he's just a beautiful dum-dum that likes shoes.

SPEAKER_01 19:18

Exactly. He doesn't know any better. It's just crazy. But yeah, honestly, I feel you though. I definitely feel like the dad did what he felt was best. I mean, come on.

SPEAKER_02 19:29

You skinned little ass girls, though. I know, dude. It's it gets dark when you find that out. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:35

And then it's the fact that Gray feels no remorse about it.

SPEAKER_02 19:39

She's basically like it's either us or them. 100%. She was like, he was gonna kill us, whatever. I made him do it. And then I told Kate that I did it, and I was like, don't fuck with me. And I like basically got up in her face. She is crazy. She's crazy. And then she basically Iris and Vivi were like, Wow, you're a monster, which I'm glad they have a conscience. Yeah, no, definitely. And look, a piece of me wonders, like, where the fuck did they get the conscience from? Exactly. Because would they not all be the same soulless bitches? Exactly. But from the same. But that's why I said, like, maybe Gray's just different. Maybe. Because is she the one that skinned him, or did they all skin him? Like, did she skin him and was like, yo, I guess you have new skin nowhere. Check out this mink coat. Yeah. Fresh out the box. No, but this it does get dark. Um, no, but it is also, I do like the tie-ins to some, like you said, stuff that like I've heard of before, which is certain times of the day, certain times of the year, yeah. You know, things like that. Um, it was creepy that she was like, I lured the hollow girls in. Like, ew, that part, I don't know why, but that part just personally was probably my least favorite of the whole thing. All because she wanted to what? Be on the other side of the She was like, it's gross in here.

SPEAKER_01 20:55

Smells gross. So let me just skin these little girls. That's I know Grey.

SPEAKER_02 21:01

Who gives her off with her head? Literally, off with her head. And then I at the end of the book, when it's low-key, I got so mad when it was like, yeah, so Gray went along, she was sad at this funeral, and then basically she went on to do a book deal, a movie deal, all this where she's lying about the entire situation. Exactly. No retribution is given. I kind of was hoping if this book would have been longer, like double the size, that they would have given it. Baby and Iris would have gone against Gray.

SPEAKER_01 21:29

But then it's also like, how do you go against this famous world like model without highlighting the fact that all of you guys are not who you say you are? Well, exactly. Unless everybody figured out a way to just off her without anyone knowing, but that the I mean, she's disappeared before. That's she can disappear.

SPEAKER_02 21:49

She can disappear permanently.

unknown 21:51

Forever.

SPEAKER_02 21:53

And then, but I also was like, what if they didn't want to kill her and they just, you know, took her skin suit and threw her back in the place? But then I'm like, but she has the blood that she can escape whenever she wants. You'd have to Well see that's another thing too. Like, why Gray? Why can Gray use her blood? And apparently, all three of the Hollow Sisters can because they're all from that place. Because they are half alive. They can leave the place. Because the place is liminal, they are liminal, as it says. And just so you know, I don't know what liminal is. I just listened to that earlier and I just want to recite it for you guys. I don't know what liminole is either. Maybe we should look at it. Stop and look it up here. Yeah, so liminal space as an aesthetic refers to an empty or abandoned places that evoke a sense of eeriness or surreality. Which does, I feel like, sum up a lot of the entire book. Yeah, the whole book definitely leaves you in like this weird space of like, hello. Reading the book honestly puts you in the I would feel like you feel like you're in that liminal space. Where? Where where am I? Because it is eerie and dark, and the fact that they meet that one, it's she's not a young girl, but she looks and talks and feels like a young girl. The fact that she also didn't talk at all, creepy kids in books and movies, I just want to punt them across the fan. Not a fan. So terrifying.

SPEAKER_01 23:20

I mean, kids are already terrifying, like talking. When she was talking about how her voice was like, oh crap.

SPEAKER_02 23:25

I was like, I am disgusted. I did not want to Please drink some water, babes. Literally, like, here's a hot mug of tea. Like, no. Um, I I did enjoy this book. I will say, here's my critique. The epilogue left me wanting more, and there is no more. There is no second book. Um, they could have left it where it was at, as just like she wasn't cool with her sister anymore, and that was it. Um, but they did kind of leave me with a lot of question marks. I don't know if her intention was to make us just use our imagination to finish off. Which I can appreciate. But also, she gave too many cookie crumbs to where I was kind of like, she's clearly gonna write a second book, right? Yeah, I agree, but we I have not seen anything in the book. No, I don't think there's anything out about it. I would read more from this author. Yeah. I thought she had a really cool writing style, very described.

SPEAKER_01 24:19

100%, very descriptive, very put me in the book. I'm telling you, I really thought I stunk after I finished reading that book.

SPEAKER_02 24:25

No, yeah, I felt like icky.

SPEAKER_01 24:27

Yes, it was nasty.

SPEAKER_02 24:28

Yes, and like honestly, I would never want to go to that underplace that they talked about. When they talked about going back and how it felt sticky and like they couldn't get it. It probably I imagine it as like being like very humid and like Florida. Yes, nasty, dirty Florida. Florida in the summer, but like haunted. Yes, exactly. Oh my gosh. No, this uh I I really like this book. I thought it was really good. I do have questions, but it's fine. They're gonna remain unanswered. It's why I couldn't give a five out of five. Yeah, that she's dissatisfied. Dissatisfied, but I also loved it at the same time, and I would recommend it as a read. 100%, I agree.

SPEAKER_01 25:12

So, talking of reads, um, our next book that we've decided on is Flirt and Lessons by Jasmine Gillory. And again, I hope that I'm saying her name correctly. Um, this book is a contemporary romance novel that explores the journey of Avery Jensen, a recently single event planner, as she navigates her bisexuality and seeks to explore her romantic interests. The story follows Avery as she takes flirting lessons, that's in quotation marks, from her friend Taylor, a confident and playful woman who helps Avery embrace her newfound freedom and explore her desires. So if you guys are wanting to read along with us and come back for one of our tea parties, come get a little romance. We're gonna spill some tea again, and we hope that you guys join us on that journey of reading that book. And we'll see you guys next time. Bye.