I was hooked on Hollow Bones from the beginning. Essa Montgomery was traumatized by both her religious upbringing and the death of her mother due to snake handling within the church's faith. Now her father is gone as well and she continues to live in the small rectory off the main church. Enter the Pastor of a Mega Church who has a lot of local backing who has been reviving the snake handling. The creep meter has just increased.

Juliet Usher makes a living as a clairvoyant. She desperately wants to be able to read the future but currently reads Tarot to make ends meet. An unlikely alley for Essa, yet they are drawn together first due to Essa's brother, then because a friendship develops. Enter Merrit Callahan, a wannabe big-time reporter who brings them all together as she tries to take down the new pastor.

Female empowerment and solidarity grows and is woven throughout the story along with individual growth of the characters which I appreciated as a reader. A wonderful denouement that may surprise many readers. A bit of a tidy ending after that but it was all good for me.

Thank you to Publishers Clearing House and Severn House for my copy via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

A dark and taut novel that is based on Shakespeare's Meaure for Measure but don't worry if you haven't read the play. In fact, you might enjoy this more if you aren't trying to match things up and are reading if for its own merits. Which are considerable. Wright has summoned the atmospherics of snake handling and Appalachian as well as the despair of Essa. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A very good read.

Essa Montgomery and her brother Clyde, "the snake orphans", have found a way to go on with their lives after their parents' unfortunate deaths in a snake-handling church in a small West Virginia town. But when the church burns down and Clyde is blamed, it's up to Essa to figure out what really happened. Suspenseful, but not too suspenseful, there were enough surprises to keep me guessing until the end.

A very different read for me 🐍
I think the story was unique, however I would have liked some more depth to the characters as everything felt quite surface level!

20 year old orphaned Essa Montgomery was the star of the show, meanwhile you get chapters from Juliet Usher (Essa’s brothers partner/ baby mama) and news reporter Merrit Callahan. I did like how the three girls managed to work together and help out when something dangerous occurred, but again there could have been more of a thorough insight to these characters, especially as they had the opportunity to narrate parts of the story.

Overall, I did enjoy it!

Thank you NetGalley & Severn House for the arc 🤗

I was asked to review this book by NetGalley. The beauty of reviewing is you get to read books you would not normally pick up, but I am so glad i got to read this. The book is due for publication August 6th 2024, so just in time for the long summer holiday.

This was a really good mystery, through multiple characters and they added to the story in so many ways.

This was dark, suspensful and a great read with an ending I did not see coming.

I read to about halfway then gave up. I thought it was well written but I just didn't think the storyline was strong enough or the characters likeable. I was just turning pages to get through it. Not for me.

I love a book that has borderline cult vibes, and really appreciated the FMC's grapple with her own past religious trauma. On top of that, Hollow Bones is an exceptionally well done mystery; I was left guessing all the way until the end! There is a lot of character growth for multiple characters, but it's written in a way that feels organic and helps propel the story. Definitely recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

4 out of 5 stars

The serpant orphan, Essa finds herself in the midst of drama when her brother, Clyde, is arrested for burning down New Hope church with two people inside. Her brother's wife is pregnant, unbenownst to Essa previously, the pastor at New Hope has taken a dark interest in Essa, a reporter is determined to suss out who actually burned the church down and not just who the police department is pinning it on due to the pastor's assumption, and snakes everywhere!

See my full review here on my YouTube Book Tube channel, The Caffeinated Book Wyrm: https://youtu.be/2tQ6MCmGshc?si=3eS1Z3-wyNCEZ0U-

Erica Wright’s “Hollow Bones” is a darkly captivating novel that burrows its way under your skin and won’t let go. Set against the haunting backdrop of West Virginia’s snake-handling churches, the story weaves a suspenseful web around three unforgettable women.

Essa Montgomery, haunted by her past in a dangerous religious sect, finds her world turned upside down when the church burns down, taking lives with it. Meanwhile, ambitious journalist Merrit Callahan sees a chance for a career-making story, and psychic medium Juliet Usher desperately tries to clear her partner’s name when he becomes a suspect.

Wright crafts these characters, each with their own vulnerabilities and strengths. Their paths intertwine in unexpected ways, propelling the story forward at a breakneck pace. The exploration of the snake-handling tradition adds a layer of unsettling fascination, drawing you deeper into the heart of the Appalachian community. The surprising climax is both shocking and satisfying, leaving a lasting impression long after you turn the final page.

If you’re looking for a novel that will keep you up all night, with characters you won’t soon forget, “Hollow Bones” is a great read.

This book feels unsettling from the very first page.

Pastor Micah has won acclaim for his addiction programs, replacing it with a brand of spirituality that includes handling venomous snakes and drinking poison. But when his church burns down with two teenagers inside it, suddenly the attention of the world is on his ministry. When Pastor Micah blames an outcast - the adult son of the former pastor - he hopes to use it to draw closer to Essa, the sister who has fascinated him since he first laid eyes on her.

Essa has left the church, but not really. After the death of both her pastor parents from snake bites, she struggles to let anything else go. She wears her hair long in her mother's old clothes and lives in their former home, only adding a few books of her own. But when her brother is accused of setting the fire, she reaches out to his hippy live-in girlfriend, setting her life on a different path.

Although the book begins with Pastor Micah, it is truly Essa's story. It chronicles her journey of breaking free from the cult she was born into as she embarks on a quest to save her brother.

This creepy, suspenseful novel delves into themes of trauma, addiction, and abuse, making it an excellent choice for book club discussions.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Really good read. Bit different from my usual
choice but liked the sound of it, Loved the characters and especially Essa the heroine of the story.
Highly recommended.

Starting off a little slow but picking up the pace when needed, this book provided a refreshing classic mystery as told through the eyes of multiple characters. Each character's perspective was unique and added to the plot in different ways, none of which were redudant. As the book continues, you as the reader start to begin to get a grasp on who you think is responsible for the mess when it's not until the very end you realize you were completely wrong! It has been a long time since a book surprised me at the very end, so this was an enjoyable read!

This is great read. The characters were engaging and I couldn't put the book down. I would recommend this book for a book club or a friend.

An enjoyable, atmospheric read, with interesting, strong willed female characters, a creepy pastor and set in a remote Appalachian community.... what's not to like! I highly recommend this.

Thank you for allowing me to be an ARC reader for this book.

While I enjoyed this book, I found it very slow, and difficult to connect with the characters, particularly Essa, Juliet was a little easier for me to like and connect with as a character but it still felt like she was underdeveloped in places.

The cover made me think that there would be a more mystical or occult feel to the book, and while there were mentions of this, it didn't feel as if it was important to the story itself and was almost used in places as filler, the story itself only really came together in the last 50 or so pages, which was disappointing.

The book initially had a slow start, and I found it difficult to connect with the character Essa at first. The prospect of delving into religious trauma was daunting. However, as the story unfolded, I found myself increasingly captivated and eagerly anticipating each new development.

I particularly enjoyed the character Juliet, and I wished her storyline had been more fleshed out. Additionally, while the references to the occult were intriguing, I felt that they didn't significantly impact the overall story. I had hoped they would play a more substantial role because of their intriguing nature.

This was a different kind of thriller and in the end, I did find enjoyment in the book, and I'm pleased that I persevered through the slower beginning.

Oh, I just love a good mystery! Take me to the hills of West Virginia and immerse me in a crowd of religious zealots...it's mysterious and creepy!

Essa grew up in the New Hope Church, where her father was a pastor. It's not your run-of-the-mill Christian church, it's a rural church that believes in snake handling or serpent handling as part of their worship service. As teenagers, the lives of Essa and her older brother are rapidly altered, when their parents unexpectedly die, resulting in the church closing down.

Fast forward a few years. Essa continues to live in her childhood home, which is on the same land as the closed New Hope Church. Her brother, Clyde, is in a relationship with a psychic medium, a sharp contrast from his childhood belief system. When a new pastor comes to this little neck of West Virginia and reopens the New Hope Church, life starts to feel unsettled and the snakes reemerge. Then things really start to heat up, when the New Hope Church goes up in flames. For the reader, this is where the mystery takes off. Who burned down the New Hope Church?

Erica Wright does a fabulous job of setting the scene conducive for a spine-chilling mystery, as well as developing some incredibly diverse and complicated characters. They'll keep you guessing, as several of them have a reason to want to burn the church down. I found myself plowing through the pages, invested in solving this crime! As I read the final page, my only wish was that the character, Juliet (the psychic medium and Essa's brother's partner), would have played a more pivotal role. She added such an interesting dynamic, amongst this alternative, religious community.

Thank you to Severn House for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest feedback. All opinions are my own. And now, I fear, I may be dreaming about snakes.

Wright spins a beautiful tale inspired by Shakespeare's MEASURE FOR MEASURE. Our heroine Essa is up against a maniacally charismatic and dangerous new preacher, but great supporting characters step in to protect her along her journey. A cathartic and compelling read.

This follows the story of Essa who lives an isolated and secluded life until her brother is accused of arson. She gets involved to help clear his name and is forced to integrate into the world again. Alongside this is the church that uses snakes as part of their services and the new Pastor who works there.

I enjoyed Essa as a narrator, a no fuss character who has lost her way in the world. I wish we could have delved more into her past which hugely influenced how she presented in the book.

Overall I felt the pace was a little slow and never reached a peak until the very last few pages. There wasn't much tension to make it feel mysterious enough for me but I did like that the points of view were mostly centered on the women's voices. Some of the characters could have been fleshed out more, especially the Pastor and Juliet. I enjoyed the added animal elements but they also did not feature very strongly in the book.

Welcome to small town Vintera, which has a complicated past that continues to haunt its present. No one knows that better than Essa and Clyd Montgomery, who loves the parents in a tragic incident years ago involving serpent handling at their fundamentalist church.

Now, after a new pastor at the church has shown support for the continuance of the bizarre practice, Essa is initially relieved when the church burns down. Until it turns out two people perished in the blaze.

To make the situation worse, to the dismay of both Essa and Juliet, Clyde's partner, they discover that he is a suspect in the incident.

So what is the real story behind the arson? An ambitious reporter is determined to find out, at any cost...

This novel brings the perils and politics of a small town in Appalachia vividly to life. Compelling storytelling makes the book a worthwhile read, and earns it 3.5 stars.