Zoey, Celeste, Jasmine, and Valeria, who all suffer from Hollowness, are headed to the Desert Bloom music festival in the Mojave Desert. Fortunately, lab-grown SynFlesh allows them to lead mostly normal lives. Those affected by the Hollowing developed the need and desire to consume human flesh. Two years ago, humanity was forever changed when melting permafrost unleashed a strange pathogen. The ending is satisfying without ruling out sequels.Ĭalifornia victims of a climate change–induced pandemic uncover a deadly plot. Louisa’s a classic Gothic narrator, her diction recalling genre standards. Most characters are white, while many are inhuman. Periodic illustrations and excerpts from fictional supernatural texts provide concise exposition. Characters’ emotional connections create wonderful tension. Louisa must help Lee with a mystery of his own and prove he doesn’t deserve a grisly end-or discover if he does.

Morningside, and the rest of the residents are. But soon Louisa uncovers just how supernatural the eerie proprietor, Mr. Haylam, and Louisa’s other new co-workers quickly befriend her. Once they arrive, the crone quickly transforms into the much more proper house matron and manager, Mrs. On the way, they’re joined by fellow Coldthistle-bound travelers: a wealthy (if unpleasant) man and his charming nephew, Lee, who takes to Louisa right away despite the fact that he’s a guest and she’s to be a new servant.

After fleeing an abusive, governess-training boarding school, Louisa scrapes by telling fortunes until she’s rescued from a sticky situation by a crone who promises employment at Coldthistle House. In a prologue, Louisa informs readers that she works for the Devil among other odd and cursed employees, cleaning up after the deaths of those who visit Coldthistle House. A runaway works at a boardinghouse for the damned in late-Georgian–period England.

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