bookwormie's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
5.0
It felt so good to get my mofo ears on Kira's new book! Read Hollow Kingdom first, or even better, listen to it! I can guarantee you'll immediately want to read this second book in her series. If you are an animal lover and are ok with vulgarity, you'll love this! It's unique viewpoint of a zombie apocalypse and a ragtag team of animals.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Death
Moderate: Sexual assault
rosequarterdrifting's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
i want to love this but... for me it was just too long and felt like the same thing happened over and over in the second half
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Death
Minor: Racism and Fatphobia
aardwyrm's review
adventurous
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
There probably shouldn't have been a sequel to Hollow Kingdom. I read it. I enjoyed it. But I enjoyed it like I would a Patreon extra with fun character vignettes. ST is fun to listen to. The weird little interludes of the universe are inviting. But spending more time in this universe really exacerbates the ways it doesn't make any damn sense. I'm fine with a soft and stylized worldbuilding, but even the original didn't hold together in terms of basic continuity. Expanding the lore just makes all the nonsense stand out more. And a lot of the silliness of the first book (weird, tortured metaphors about evolution and cancer, sporadic gender essentialism, biological incoherence) starts to rankle after a while. Also, frankly, the damn books both need editors. Jokes, metaphors, and exposition are repeated. The emotional pacing is nonsense; redemptions and falls, reunions and forgiveness all turn on a dime, no lead up, no consequences. Scads of nameless mooks die while the world turns around the main characters. Even the main characters are plot puppets, making their choices often quite against established traits just to move things along. (Why is Ghubari a eugenicist now?)
If you liked the first one, you'll probably like this one, but you might like skipping it and just enjoying the effectiveness of the original remain unsullied in your mind.
If you liked the first one, you'll probably like this one, but you might like skipping it and just enjoying the effectiveness of the original remain unsullied in your mind.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Fatphobia, War, Vomit, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Medical content, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Confinement, Death, Excrement, Grief, and Gore
caseythereader's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Blood, Murder, Violence, Alcohol, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Gore, and Grief
maryellen's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death
More...