Hollowland

By: Amanda Hocking

Narrated by: Eileen Stevens

Length: 7 hrs and 36 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.

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.

8 of 10 people found this review helpful

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.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

An enjoyable zombie tale

If you like zombie books, I think you'll like Hollowland. There's not a ton of minutiae about how the apocalypse happened, but there is enough information to make the story believable. The reader does a great job and the characters are pretty rounded. It's good light listening material.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

love this author!

I have now purchased this book twice - first through Nook & now Audible. I love Hocking's writing. The detail & prose transport me so I am there living the story with the characters.

loved it

ready for the next one^_^ this was a good listen and I hope others enjoy it as much as I did

enjoyable.

fast paced and exciting, overall I enjoyed the performance and liked listening to this story

I kept hoping it would very better

I love finding books with good female leeds, this was not one of them. The characters were annoying, the main character mor of all. She was unrealistically built up like this ass kicking tough as nails zombie killer who was at the mercy of an emotional child. And the love interest was annoying weak and pathetic.

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.

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.

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!