Starred Review ALA Booklist (Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2021)

Starred Review With WWII ending, Charlie's older brother, Theo, is finally returning home from fighting overseas. Charlie has done his best to look after the family since his father died in a German bombing, but an 11-year-old boy can only do so much for his harried mother and increasingly addled grandfather, and Charlie can't wait for a return to something resembling normalcy. When Theo finally materializes, however, it's clear that he's not the funny, easygoing sibling that left for the front. Worse, Charlie has begun seeing enormous, quietly menacing wolves that seem to track his every movement around the broken city. They're called war wolves, and they feast on broken hearts. The only thing Charlie can do is protect his own damaged heart while helping his brother recover his missing one matter the cost. War-ravaged London and its battered inhabitants spring vividly to life in Sandstrom's exceptional debut, which skillfully balances hopefulness and horror. While there is a necessary grimness to the proceedings, plenty of heartening details keep the story from tipping into despair: the familial bonds are strong and sincere, and newly forged friendships (along with the best cat a boy could hope for) buoy Charlie on his journey. The literal and figurative rubble of combat provides a rich setting through which to examine the fragility and incredible resilience of the human heart. It's a both wrenching and wondrous world.

Horn Book (Mon Feb 06 00:00:00 CST 2023)

It is London 1945, and Charlie's beloved elder brother Theo returns from the war. Theo is suffering from what would now be called PTSD, and Charlie, devastated by Theo's condition, is determined to "fix" him and return the family to pre-war normal. On the Blitz-ravaged streets of London, Charlie meets up with a set of huge, powerful, and malevolent spirit wolves, invisible to all except Charlie. The wolves (with names such as Regret and Remembrance) have eaten the hearts of despairing returned soldiers; thus the "hollow chest" of the title. The creatures direct Charlie to a series of dangerous tasks involving cleverness, bravery, and self-sacrifice. With the support of a hospitalized war veteran, a kindly nurse, and a neighborhood eccentric, Charlie attempts to restore his brother's heart without endangering his own. In a lush, simile-studded narrative Sandstrom invokes metaphor, mental illness, fairy tale, quest adventure, and fantasy as she fully inhabits her troubled young character. She is less sure-footed in the domestic details of mid-century lower-middle-class English life, with terminology and tea-making needing a bit more research. The central idea, however, of the "wolves of war" and how they slink around long after armistice is deftly realized, and as relevant as ever. Sarah Ellis

Kirkus Reviews

A boy bargains with menacing wolves so that his soldier brother can heal from the effects of World War II.Eleven-year-old Charlie is thrilled when his older brother, Theo, comes home to London in February 1945. Drafted when he turned 18, Theo's only been gone 18 months, but he returns wounded in body and mind. Their father died in the Blitz, and Charlie's been counting on Theo to lift some of his feelings of responsibility and anxiety. But Theo can't, and Charlie begins to see mysterious wolves everywhere he goes-war wolves with names like Dishonor, Wrath, and Remorse. They tell Charlie they've eaten Theo's heart-and that Theo will never recover. Charlie embarks on a quest to prove them wrong, picking up unexpected sidekicks in his battle-scarred grandfather, an eccentric neighbor woman who feeds pigeons, and another convalescent soldier. Two parts history, one part allegory, and one part fabulism, Sandstrom's debut impresses with its sympathetic characters and smooth, evocative writing. In parts, the pacing slows under the weight of the rhetoric, but patient readers will be well satisfied with the realistic and thoughtful ending. Occasional full-page illustrations show a city damaged by war and add to the somber, haunting mood. All characters read as White.A worthwhile exploration of the emotional costs of war. (Historical fantasy. 8-12)

School Library Journal (Thu Jul 01 00:00:00 CDT 2021)

Gr 3-8 In London after World War II, Charlie, who lives with his mother and Grandpa Fitz, is awaiting his brother's return from the war. Charlie's grandpa, who has a missing arm, warns Charlie that Theo may be different upon his return "even if you can't see it right away." Charlie is not deterred and is determined to figure out how to help Theo get back to how things were before. There is a thread of folktales woven into this historical fiction story. Charlie listens to stories told by his mother and others in the community, including a story about the "war wolves" that steal and eat a portion of a person's heart, leaving them forever frozen in their loss and grief. Charlie must find strength and bravery that he did not know he had in order to find the missing pieces of his brother's heart. Charlie, his family, and his community are all coded white. The folktales have been amended and updated by Sandstrom to be more palatable for today's culture. VERDICT An addition for libraries with readers who enjoy World War II fiction, magical realism, and stories that tug at the heartstrings about strong family bonds.Helen Prince, Indian Land H.S., Fort Mill, SC