Before anything else, it is worth noting that this novel is based on the short story Sleepy Hollow by John Irving. Honestly, it is the romanticized version, with far greater detail and honestly making Ichabod Crane into a better man than he was – in the book it is stated in such a way that Crane was interested in marrying Katrina to gain a foothold in the community.
Now, on to the book.
Written by Alyssa Palombo, this novel is entirely told from the perspective of Katrina Van Tassel, and so we must learn of her love and loss of Ichabod as she does. In this telling, the two are madly in love. And I actually did enjoy that quite a bit. The only character in this book that I didn’t like was Brom, and we weren’t supposed to like him.
Now, this is a large extended version of Sleepy Hollow that has the characters saying the same things again and again, yet doing the same actions again and again. Oh, and THIS IS NOT FOR CHILDREN. Okay? Okay. What Katrina and Ichabod do, in my mind, makes very little sense. There was more to lose for them then there would be for people today, and honestly it would have been relatively easy to avoid. Katrina is so terribly naive that it almost hurts at times. In the beginning she states that she will never be alone in the woods for, why would she ever go without her dog? And yet, she stops taking the dog!
Overall, I enjoyed this version. There was for more interesting happenings in this extended version than in the original. The characters are deep and rich and the writing is smooth while propelling you forward to the next chapter.
Fans of romance, ghost stories, murder, and historical fiction will likely enjoy this novel.
Also, just look at this cover…
