Hollowland – the first book in the young adult dystopian series The Hollows… “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.
©2010 Amanda Hocking; (P)2011 Audible, Inc.
Hollowland is just another book from one of my favorite young adult authors, Amanda Hocking. I actually bought this book a while back, around the time the Trylle Trilogy was published mainstream and in Barnes and Noble. Add in the whole zombie apocalypse setting and I was hooked.
Alas, this is my least favorite Hocking book.
The writing is up to par with a lot of Hocking’s older stuff. You have a first person narrative with the main character being our heroine, Remy. Remy King is a strong female lead. Like seriously strong. I liken her to Michonne from The Walking Dead. She doesn’t like getting close, but does end up making allies and is very badass. She uses anything she can find to kill off the zombies.
Though guns are the main weapon, there is the issue of conserving ammo (a big plus in my opinion). Remy has used a number of different things from a tree branch, her own hands, and even a chain that is wrapped around a lion’s neck. She is seriously badass and as a main character, she’s my hero.
The character I don’t care for, is her love interest. A badass chick like her needs a badass guy. Instead, the love interest is a rock star who somehow survived the beginnings of the apocalypse despite not being the best fighter out there. Yes, he does try to be helpful and there are times that he is, but I felt he was more of an ally and friend then a lover. He just seemed too sweet for Remy.
So, in romance standards, I ignored that part of the book. It felt like an after thought to the real crux of the story: Remy’s quest of finding her brother. Max King is special and if you are a zombie movie fan like me you probably have an idea what makes him special. After the zombie attack in the first chapter, Max is sent out of the quarrantine, leaving Remy behind to fight zombies and find him.
When she does find him, it’s heartbreaking. I won’t go into detail, but honestly it’s heartwrenching. Her relationship with Lazlo (that rocker dude) gets serious around the same time and it felt out of place for her as a character. Especially with what happens in the end of the book.
I do know there is a second book, but I’m hesitant to read it. Like I said earlier, this isn’t my favorite Hocking book, but it does have my favorite heroine. I’m serious, Remy is badass.
Casia's Corner 