HOLLOW

A young woman embarks on a treacherous quest to save her town from a cursed forest in Peckham and Valenti’s fantasy novel.

Ferris Creed knows her hometown of Arringfall is running out of time. For decades, the cursed forest of Taking Trees, which surrounds Arringfall and other nearby towns, has spread and devoured everything in its path. The only way to break the curse: find and retrieve the amulets belonging to the 13 spirits of the forest. The one who collects the most amulets and returns them to the Great Elm will receive a boon for breaking the curse and restoring harmony. Every 50 years, a group of well-trained Champions search for the amulets in a dangerous quest called the Great Hunt. On the eve of the 13th hunt, Ferris secretly joins the group of 25 Champions. She is not the only one determined to claim the boon at all costs; deep within the woods, she meets Hendrix Draven, a 652-year-old prince with a very personal motive to win the prize. As the hunt intensifies, Ferris and Hendrix find themselves drawn to each other; however, a shocking discovery threatens Ferris’s life and what remains of Arringfall. This first installment of Peckham and Valenti’s Crown of Hearts and Chaos series is a twisty and sprawling dark romantasy replete with appealing characters in a lush and descriptive narrative. The authors’ prose is haunting and poetic: “The spirits were calling to us from within the cursed forest and I could almost believe there was something more than death awaiting us at the sound of that cry.” Ferris Creed is a well-developed protagonist whose journey anchors the novel as she grows from a young woman determined to save her sister from the woods into someone whose connection to the forest may be deeper than she realizes. Her compelling relationship with the mysterious Hendrix starts slowly but builds in intensity as their attraction deepens. In addition to a map at the beginning of the novel, the text includes detailed drawings between the chapters.

A strong start to an exciting new fantasy series.