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The Corruption of Hollis Brown book cover
The Corruption of Hollis Brown
2025
First Published
4.43
Average Rating
193
Number of Pages

From acclaimed author K. Ancrum comes a queer romantic thriller in which the lives of Hollis, a boy in search of meaning, and Walt, a spirit with unfinished business, collide when Walt takes possession of Hollis' body...and maybe his heart. For fans of Adam Silvera and Aiden Thomas! Hollis Brown is stuck. Born to a Blue-Collar American Dream, Hollis lives in a rotting small town where no one can afford to leave. Hollis' only bright spots are his two best friends, cool girls Annie and Yulia, and the thrill of fighting his classmates. As if his circumstances couldn’t get worse, a chance encounter with a mysterious stranger named Walt results in a frightening trap. After unknowingly making a deal at the crossroads, Hollis finds himself losing control of his body and mind, falling victim to possession. Walt, the ghost making a home inside him, has a deep and violent history rooted in the town Hollis grew up in and he has unfinished business to take care of. As Walt and Hollis begin working together to put Walt’s spirit to rest, an unspeakable bond forms between them, and the boys begin falling for one another in unexpected ways. But, it’s only a matter of time before Hollis’s best friends begin to notice that something about Hollis isn’t quite…right. With the threat of a long overdue exorcism looming before them, will Walt and Hollis be able to protect their love and undo the curse that turned their town from a garden of possibility into a place where dreams go to die? Praise for "The sparse prose in this unconventional, must-read of a trauma-infused borderline thriller is packed with emotional breadth." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "In this intimate poetic reimagining of the Icarus myth, Ancrum crafts a subversive triumph that is a love letter both to healing from trauma and to the importance of connection and empathy." —Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Beautifully written...Psychologically acute, subtle, and sophisticated." —ALA Booklist (starred review) "In her extraordinary fifth novel, Icarus, K. Ancrum performs a confident high-wire act, balancing the weighty manifestations of connection, desire, and contradiction." —BookPage (starred review) "Both romance and thriller fans will likely be gripped by this memorable love story, tinged with mythology, built around a mystery made up of bitter secrets between the two families." —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)

Avg Rating
4.43
Number of Ratings
362
5 STARS
59%
4 STARS
29%
3 STARS
10%
2 STARS
2%
1 STARS
1%
goodreads

Author

K. Ancrum
K. Ancrum
Author · 9 books
K. Ancrum, is the author of the award winning thriller THE WICKER KING, the interstellar lesbian romance THE WEIGHT OF THE STARS and the upcoming Peter Pan thriller DARLING. K. is a Chicago native passionate about diversity and representation in young adult fiction. She currently writes most of her work in the lush gardens of the Chicago Art Institute.
548 Market St PMB 65688, San Francisco California 94104-5401 USA
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