So this book stated that it was a retelling of a beloved classic in the blurb, but to be honest, if it was a retelling I missed what the original story was meant to be. What resulted was an original story about a family that moves into a creepy house with a tragic/mysterious history. Is it generic plot-wise? Yes, absolutely. Did that stop me from enjoying the story in any sort of way? No, not at all.
I would classify "Holly Horror" in the same vein as other books I have read such as "Frozen Charlotte." That is to say, generic junk food horror that I still enjoy despite the schlock and overdone tropes. If you are familiar with the Puppet Combo genre of horror games, I would liken it to that only with haunted house horror.
The only main criticism I would have about this book is that the audience appears to be a bit weird. It's marketed as YA horror, but the writing is oddly juvenile and would probably be best classified as a middle grade/younger YA audience. Otherwise, I believe "Holly Horror" was a solid YA horror read.
I would classify "Holly Horror" in the same vein as other books I have read such as "Frozen Charlotte." That is to say, generic junk food horror that I still enjoy despite the schlock and overdone tropes. If you are familiar with the Puppet Combo genre of horror games, I would liken it to that only with haunted house horror.
The only main criticism I would have about this book is that the audience appears to be a bit weird. It's marketed as YA horror, but the writing is oddly juvenile and would probably be best classified as a middle grade/younger YA audience. Otherwise, I believe "Holly Horror" was a solid YA horror read.