I’ve been meaning to read These Hollow Vows by Lexi Ryan for way too long. It was a story that received some hype, and I anticipated that it would be intriguing based on what I was hearing. I have been in the YA spirit recently, so I finally committed to picking this story up. Unfortunately, I’m here to let y’all know I should’ve left it on the shelf.
Brie will do anything for her sister, including making a deal with the Unseelie King. When Brie’s mother abandoned her family for the fae, Brie developed a life-long hatred of the magical beings. Despite how she feels, Brie will have no choice but to retrieve three magical items for the unsavory ruler lest she lose her sister forever. As Brie tries to navigate this unknown world, she crosses paths with two faerie princes who have very different ideas of how to use this hapless mortal girl in their plans. Brie must find a way to deceive the fae and navigate their magic, even if it means her heart gets broken in the process.
The only reason you should read this book is if you like vibing with a lite-romantasy that stays in the realm of ACOTAR. If you have any other desires like following compelling characters, indulging in a good romance, or being in a world that makes sense, I recommend you to skip this one. Everything about Vows was a poorer version of a story I’ve read before, so my attention span sputtered out quickly. I got so bored that I switched to the audiobook because I just could not for one moment longer.
Brie drove me absolutely nuts. YA protagonists tend to have more agency these days, but Brie is a weird mix of attempting to be productive while being completely useless. And if you go on the other side of the spectrum, she wasn’t even a good hollow vessel for the reader to insert themselves into. She annoyed me early on with her childish “I’m a tough, independent girl” persona when it’s so very obvious that she is way in over her head. I lost count of all the times she ran headfirst into stupid situations only to have a character save her from herself. The most admirable quality about Brie is her devotion to her sister, but even that can’t make up for her consistent inability to learn, grow, or make a decision. She doesn’t know what she wants, and it’s not compelling; it’s annoying as hell. A smile from one of the love interests is all it takes for Brie to forgive all wrongs, and I was so tired of watching her chaotically change her mind every chapter.
Ask and you will receive. Maybe not on the first try, but with enough pestering, you will. That’s how worldbuilding was done in this story. Nothing in the world gets to be discovered or uncovered. Brie simply asks questions and gets answers. This doesn’t mean she will have the answer on the first try, but she’ll keep asking until we get a lore dump. I don’t even want to describe this as worldbuilding because nothing felt like it actually existed. Everything was rendered in the background while Brie threw herself into a million directions. Vows read like Brie was acting out her drama in a knock-off ACOTAR simulation, and it was not good. Despite this story starting with some heavy themes around indentured service and slavery, these unsavory elements are boiled down to fleeting and triggering ideas that make Brie angry. But don’t worry, Brie learns some hard lessons along the way that not all Unseelie fae are bad and not all Seelie fae are good.
I’m a little late to this party because These Hollow Vows has been out for years at this point, but on the off chance you’ve had it sitting on your TBR, I recommend you skip this one.
Rating: These Hollow Vows – 4.0/10
-Brandee
