Hollow

This clunky paranormal romance from TikTok star Myers (The Haunting of Clandestine House), originally self-published in 2021, falters in both plot and characterization. Mia Adair feels all washed up at 24. As a child, she saw spirits and earned a level of fame through her parapsychologist mother's book about her abilities, but she lost the skill as she grew older. Now Mia's single, degree-less, and working a dead-end retail job. Then a car crash ends her life and she's reborn as a stunningly beautiful and powerful vampire. The vampire world is organized into Families, with the once joined, now tentatively allied Sutton and Bellamy clans being two of the most influential. Both instantly adore Mia and court her to join their ranks, with love interests, Margo and Luca, emerging from each Family. Turns out that Mia is fated to play a very important roll in the Families' future, but a murderous vampire conspiracy threatens this destiny. Myers has some fun with classic vampire lore, but the stilted prose and paper-thin characterization make it difficult to invest in the unevenly paced story. This is a slog. (Jan.)

A woman must choose how to spend her afterlife after being turned into a vampire. Mia Adair, once famous as the anonymous Case 37 for her ability to talk to ghosts as a child, now lives an average life as a bookseller with her mother--the author of a book about her case--and her younger sister, a law student. All this changes, however, when she dies in a car crash and wakes up surrounded by vampires who explain they have turned her and she must now choose which of two vampire families to join. As the Bellamy and Sutton clans vie to have Mia join their ranks, strange disappearances occur around town and some of the vampires may be hiding more than just their supernatural talents. Mia must learn to trust her instincts to figure out who is friend and who is foe while finding her place in this new realty. It's clear that this entire world has been lovingly crafted by Myers, who's put thought into every detail, from a character's clothing choices to the way the two families came to be hundreds of years ago. Unfortunately, beyond the worldbuilding, there's little going on, as the story lacks forward momentum and fleshed-out characters who grow and change. Part of the problem is the large cast of characters with small roles, making it hard for the reader to become attached or even remember them all. There isn't much plot, all the action occurring in the last 50 pages, and since there's is little doubt who the villain is, the grand reveal fizzles. A toothless addition to the vampire genre. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.