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.

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.

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.

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.

really good read i want to find out more hallowmen

the narrator was really good.. the story was entertaining love the part with the Lion

Great Story

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

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.