Sunday, December 18, 2011

Book Review - Hollowland - Amanda Hocking

 Hollowland (The Hollows, #1)
Title:      Hollowland   

Author:   Amanda Hocking

Review:  I will start out with the fact that I love Zombie books because they always make me think of how I would survive the end of the world. The author makes the story so believable that it caused me to question why I bought a house with so many windows.  Now I want to lock my doors, and possibly buy a gun just in case there is a zombie outbreak soon.

For a young adult book it was quite fun and a very easy read. I love how the author made the ending of each chapter climax, taunting the reader to finish the book in one night.

I also enjoyed the slightly different twist on the Zombie genre and how the virus would slowly kill the host and zombies would never reanimate as opposed to most zombie stories, where they live forever until someone shoots them in the head.   The author made an awesome gross-out factor when describing the gore of the zombies.

The book has your typical Zombie story: a group of diverse people thrown together while at the same time wonderful friendships develop and others are tested. 

Remy, the lead female character, was a great example of unconditional love for a family member.  In that nothing would stop her from finding her brother and saving his life.  Remy had her flaws, but that’s what made her likeable while being frustrating at the same time. I also wish she had fleshed out some of the other characters like Blue.  I feel like we hardly knew Blue, yet he was willing to sacrifice everything for Remy's cause even if it meant being thrown out of the only safe place left in the world.  There were several other underdeveloped characters that I think could have been fleshed out more to make their actions more believable. 

I really enjoyed the authors twist on animals, specifically the lions and how they loved eating zombies. However my only question is if the virus killing the human is a mutation of the Rabies virus, wouldn't it effect animals also? 

I won’t give away the ending but it was very emotional, and Remy's story causes the reader to break down realizing sometimes the greatest sacrifice in the world is for someone you love(be sure to have some tissue close.)

What could have been left out in my opinion was the sex scene in the latter half of the book.  It turned this adventure novel into a serious romance.  When writing a novel aimed at teens it may be more appropriate to tone down the sexuality.  Remy was also kind of a pain when it came to the romance. I get she is a broken person but come on, stop leading the poor guy on if you have no interest in him.

There were some grammatical and editing errors, but the book was interesting so I was able to look past the mistakes.

If you are really into Zombie movies, TV shows, and books than this is a can't be missed.  It has the vibe of Resident Evil, the humor of Zombieland and the gross out factor of your typical zombie movies.  I can't wait to read the next book because I want to know what happens to everyone.

Thank you to Heidi for this fabulous review.


Publisher:  Published October 6th 2010 by AmandaHocking

Copyright: 2010

Pages:  312

ISBN:    9781453860953

Quick Review:  4 Stars out of 5. 

Why I Read it:  It sounded fun, this author is from my hometown.

Where I Obtained the Book:  Free from Amazon for Kindle.

Synopsis:  "This is the way the world ends - not with a bang or a whimper, but with zombies breaking down the back door."
Nineteen-year-old Remy King is on a mission to get across the wasteland left of America, and nothing will stand in her way - not violent marauders, a spoiled rock star, or an army of flesh-eating zombies.
Amanda Hocking
Author Biography:  I live in Minnesota, and I write young adult paranormal romance and urban fantasy mostly. The My Blood Approves series is about vampires in Minneapolis, and its available now. I also wrote the Trylle Trilogy, which is a paranormal romance without vampires, shifters, mermaids, fae, angels, dragons, ghosts, or ninjas.
My latest book is Hollowland - a zombie urban fantasy set in the dystopian near future. It's a bit more violent and gritter than my other books, but there is still romance. Mostly though, Remy kicks a lot of butt.
I also enjoy Red Bull, Jim Henson, Batman, Jane Austen, Star Wars legos, and I absolutely hate long walks on the beach out of my intense fear/hatred of wet sand
My favorite authors are Kurt Vonnegut, Chuck Palahniuk, Bret Easton Ellis, Alan Moore, and J. D. Salinger, but I don't write anything like them. I have an obsession with River Phoenix, and I've seen Silence of the Lambs more than any other movie, even The Dark Knight. If I were trapped on a deserted island, the one thing I'd take with me would be a boat capable for taking me home.
I'm also the guitarist in a band called the Fraggin Aardvarks, and even though its even twice as cool as it sounds, we haven't had a practice in like two years, so I'm not sure that technically we are still a band. But we never broke up, and it's an awesome thing to tell people, so I'm sticking with it. (We even had a synethesizer!)
Other Reviews: 

1 comment:

Disclaimer for all reviews sent by the publisher, publicist or author for review.

THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION (FTC) ISSUED NEW RULES THAT WENT INTO EFFECT ON DECEMBER 1, 2009. THESE RULES STATE THAT PRODUCT REVIEWERS ON BLOGS MUST DISCLOSE WHETHER THEY RECEIVED REVIEW PRODUCTS FOR FREE OR RECEIVED MONETARY PAYMENT FOR SUCH REVIEWS. PAYMENT IS NEVER ACCEPTED IN EXCHANGE FOR A REVIEW OR BOOK MENTION UNLESS NOTED IN THE POST. THE RECEIPT OF ARCS OR FREE REVIEW COPIES IN NO WAY INFLUENCES OR HAS AN IMPACT ON THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THE BOOK REVIEWS POSTED ON THIS SITE.