Hollowland

The Hollows, Book 1

By: Amanda Hocking

Narrated by: Eileen Stevens

Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

Great Story

The narrator was great. I will try to use her narration again if it is possible.

Review: Hollowland, by Amanda Hocking

I was pleasantly surprised with this book. Over a year ago, I read Hocking’s Switched, which I enjoyed, but Hollowland was a step beyond on the enjoyment level. Hocking’s Hollowland was simply a great novel for its zombies, characters, and the world built inside it’s pages.

One thing I really liked about this book was that the author didn’t spare the reader from any of the gore or unpleasantness that occurs in a world where zombies and the destruction of civilization as we know it is the “norm.” In the scenes where zombies are attacking the main characters, there’s much description of how much blood, limbs, etc are flying around and breaking, and dying. Hocking makes sure the reader knows just what it’s like to encounter these creatures, like any good zombie book should. Some of the description of how the zombies’ bodies hold up to attacks are slightly repetitive, but it also drives the point across that these once human bodies have changed drastically because of the virus.

Remy, the narrator and main character, is one of the better characters I’ve read this year. She’s strong, determined, and rarely shows a sign of weakness, even if a love interest in introduced. She’s living in a world where survival is top priority and she doesn’t let anything get in her way of that. I found this to be a great part of the book. All of the characters were really well-written, actually. They were all developed over the course of the book and even a few that I didn’t like in the beginning, grew on me. Oh and Ripley, I want that to be a surprise, but she might be my favorite character in the book.

Upon finishing this book, I knew I’d want book 2. It’s not a common occurrence for me, either. It ended nicely and was set up for what I’m sure will be an exciting continuation. I can only hope that there’s more excitement, blood and gore, and danger in my reading future.

Very predictable and unoriginal

This is the first book in The Hollows duology by Hocking. This is a very typical zombie apocalypse YA novel. Parts of it were okay and other parts of it were very predictable and/or annoying.

I listened to this on audiobook and the narrator does a good job with narration. I would recommend listening to on audiobook if you enjoy audiobooks.

This book was incredibly predictable. The big mystery throughout the story is the mystery around Remy’s brother Max and why he is evacuated before anyone else in the beginning on the book. If you have ever read a post-apocalyptic zombie book you will figure this “huge” mystery out very quickly.

Additionally Remy and her traveling companions go through every typical post-apocalyptic scenario you’ve ever already read about. Do they run into a crazy religious cult? Yes. What about a Mad Max scenario...yep. Over-controlling military scenario? Yep, that too. I had to roll my eyes everytime anything happened exactly as planned.

Remy was a decent character but she was incredibly black and white in her thinking. The end of the book is ridiculous; she never once tries to compromise or strike a deal with the doctors she talks to. The doctor doesn’t seem like an unreasonable man...she should have at least tried to compromise with him. It was silly.

The other characters weren’t as well done. Harlow (who is thirteen and travels with Remy from the beginning) is just plain annoying. She almost gets the whole party killed a number of times with her squealing and stupidity. Does anyone ever talk to her about her behavior and point out how much she endangers the party? No.

The two boys that join the party aren’t well done either. Lazlo is incredibly immature and I never understood the attraction. Blue, who seems like a much more interesting character, ends up being very underdeveloped. My favorite side character in this whole book was the lion that Remy picks up on the side of the road.

Overall this is an okay book. The writing isn’t horrible and the story does move along at a quick pace. However, the story is incredibly predictable and not at all creative. The side characters are not well done and come across as either underdeveloped or just plain annoying. I will not be continuing with this series. There are so many other more well done post-apocalyptic zombie YA novels out there.

Tons of Action and amazing sex scene

Awesome love interest and this girl is Buffy the vampire slayer. I found myself hooked by the first few pages.

Love Hocking's books

I've read all of her books and I have this book. This is the first time listening but second time reading. This is a pretty great book. Ive read the second one but I'm still buying it on audible!

Decent zombie story but lacking depth

Hollowland is a straightforward novel of the zombie apocalypse. Nothing makes it particularly special or different (except maybe the female main character), but if you have not yet tired of the "group of survivors on the run" story, then you might enjoy this.

I wish the author had taken a little more time in telling the story, though. It feels rushed, and characters and relationships don't get developed well enough. The characters are one-dimensional. Just because I want zombies doesn't mean I'm not also interested in what's going on in these people's heads. And there were some situations (like at the cult compound) that could have been explored in greater depth.

The narration is good, except for the male voices, which all sound exactly the same. This got me good and confused more than once. Still, each of the female voices were different and overall, the reading was effective.

This was an awesome read! Great change of pace

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes! This book was action packed. The story line was really good and the narrator did really well in changing up the accents from character to character!

What other book might you compare Hollowland to and why?

ARV-3 Series. It is somewhat of the same concept

What does Eileen Stevens bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The diversity she offers for the different character voices is amazing. She did so well keeping pace and not giving off a whiny tone which a lot of narrators have. i love Eileen

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"When in doubt and out of bullets, just use a zombie leg"

Any additional comments?

This book was really great. I will continue the series. I love Amanda hockings work. I would definately recommend this for people who love YA novels, especially with a nice little love interest.

One of the best I have heard.....

What disappointed you about Hollowland?

I have not been disappointed by Hollowland - perhaps because this is definitely the kind of story that I thoroughly enjoy. Science "fiction" of this kind is something that can really happen in the not too distant future.

What do you think your next listen will be?

My next read will no doubt be "The Eyes of Darkness" by Dean Koontz. I love his books and am hoping that the listen will be just as good.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator did not detract from the book in any way.

What character would you cut from Hollowland?

There are no characters that I would cut from this particular book. Each one had its place.

Any additional comments?

none

Entertaining great book

This was a very good book, I particularly enjoyed the sequence between books "Hollowman and Hollowland" the narrator was great, funny at times when she tried to imitate male voices, overall she did a great job. The book was easy to understand and follow, the story, characters and plot was great. I enjoyed this book. A final note, this book is not a typical zombie story, although there were fights for survival, it concentrated mostly in the humane area, great twist to the story.

Excellent Zombie YA,

What made the experience of listening to Hollowland the most enjoyable?

Great story and narrator!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Remy as she is ballsy and kickass!

Have you listened to any of Eileen Stevens’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I don't think I have.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes! E sceptically a it want too long!

Any additional comments?

This was really good! My sort of YA as Remy is 19 and no schools in sight! I'm looking forward to the next one!