Hollow by M.L. Burns Review — A Dark MM Taboo Romance That Bleeds Angst
- Elle | Queen of Smut 💋
- Mar 5
- 3 min read
Ayden and Keoni’s story delivers trauma, mystery, and stepbrother tension in the Neighbors of Sapphire Valley series Hollow By M.L Burns.
DEAR SINNERS OF THE LIBRARY OF SIN,
Some books entertain you.
Some books make you emotional.
And then there are books like Hollow that grab your heart, drag it through broken glass, and whisper:
You’re going to feel every single thing.
½
Hollow is not a gentle love story.
It’s a slow-burning emotional storm built on years of silence, regret, longing, and the kind of love that was never supposed to exist.
Ayden left Sapphire Valley eight years ago after tragedy shattered his life. Coming home was never part of the plan… but fate has a cruel sense of humor.
Because home means Keoni.
The one person he never stopped loving.The one person he never truly escaped.
And the one person who hates him now.
Forced into the same cabin together, these two men circle each other like ghosts of the past — carrying the weight of mistakes, secrets, and feelings that were never allowed to breathe.
Because when love is labeled forbidden, it doesn’t disappear.
It festers.
It waits.
And Hollow proves that eight years is not enough time to bury something that was never truly dead.
The Angst That Lives in Your Chest
The emotional tension in this book is brutal.
Every conversation between Ayden and Keoni feels like standing inside a thunderstorm. You can feel the history between them in every glance, every argument, every moment where neither of them says what they really want to say.
This story thrives on longing -- the kind that grows in silence and survives years of distance.
You can practically feel their pain bleeding through the pages.
And that’s what makes Hollow so powerful.
It’s not just about love.
It’s about everything that happens when love is denied, delayed, and buried under years of hurt.
The Trauma That Shapes Everything
Hollow doesn’t shy away from the heavy parts of its story.
Ayden carries deep trauma, and the emotional aftermath of the accident follows him like a shadow throughout the book.
Watching him try to navigate returning home -- to the place where everything changed — adds an intense layer of vulnerability to the story.
Keoni isn’t untouched either.
He’s been living with his own guilt and regret for years, and the moment Ayden walks back into his life, every unresolved emotion explodes back to the surface.
Their story isn’t simple.
It’s messy.
Painful.
And deeply human.
And Then There’s Michael…
Listen.
I knew this man was trouble from the beginning.
Every time he appeared on the page, my blood pressure rose just a little higher.
Delusional from the start.Delusional until the end.
At one point, I genuinely wanted to crawl into the story and personally escort him out of it with a shovel.
Respectfully.
The Mystery That Keeps You Turning Pages
While Hollow is deeply emotional, there is also a quiet thread of mystery running through the story.
The past is revealed slowly -- piece by piece -- and every new detail adds weight to the characters’ pain and decisions.
It keeps the tension high and the pages turning because you need to understand what really happened between them.
And when the full picture finally comes together?
It hits hard.
My Final Thoughts
Hollow is the kind of story that lingers after the final page.
It’s filled with angst, longing, trauma, regret, and love that refuses to fade -- even when the world tries to label it wrong.
Ayden and Keoni’s story is messy and painful and deeply emotional.
And that’s exactly what made it unforgettable.
Some love stories are sweet.
Some are easy.
But Hollow reminds us that the most powerful love stories are often the ones that survive the darkest storms.
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