*No Major Spoilers*
Everyone in Crow Hollow knows of Alvaretta Graves, the old widow who lives in the mountain. Many call her a witch; others whisper she’s insane. Everyone agrees the vengeance Alvaretta swore at her husband’s death hovers over them all. That vengeance awakens when teenagers stumble upon Alvaretta’s cabin, incurring her curse. Now a sickness moves through the Hollow. Rumors swirl that Stu Graves has risen for revenge. And the people of Crow Hollow are left to confront not only the darkness that lives on the mountain but the darkness that lives within themselves.
When I borrowed this audiobook from the virtual library, I honestly wasn’t sure what I was going to get. I thought it might be a cozy mystery disguised as something scary or ominous. However, here lately I’ve had some decent luck with the mystery/horror genre so I thought I’d give it a try.
This novel really strikes home that when a community has something to fear, such as the witch on the mountain, they’re looking for anything to blame that’s not themselves. When people of a close-knit, closed-off community face something that they cannot identify, they need a scapegoat to place the blame.
When the girls of Crow Hollow fall ill, it reminded me of The Crucible. How the main group of girls who went up to the mountain got “cursed” and soon every girl in town started falling ill as well. In The Crucible a small group of girls in an English colony start misbehaving and claiming that someone in the colony is a witch, and soon it becomes too real, but the girls can’t just come forward and said they were making their sicknesses up just to get attention from the townsfolk.
All darkness needs to spread is for a bunch of people to stand around and do nothing.
Billy Coffey, The Curse of Crow Hollow
I found this novel to be somewhat predictable. There was a couple of twists I didn’t see coming, so that’s good. It’s not fun when you’re reading the book and know what’s going to happen before the characters do.
I liked the way the author presents the story like you’re having a discussion with the narrator. I thought this was unique and really brought home that southern charm the novel portrays.
All in all, I found The Curse of Crow Hollow to be a fun and entertaining read. If you like small-town mystery, horror, mystery, and small southern town charm, then I would recommend this novel.
Elisha's Book Reviews 
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