Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton

5 reviews

ljfield's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death and Child death

melethwi's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, and Pandemic/Epidemic

starrysteph's review against another edition

adventurous funny sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

We’ve all read zombie apocalypse stories focused on the survivors - the hardy group of humans fighting for a better new world.

But what if nobody made it out?

What if every human was infected? 

What if the only survivors - were other animals?

That’s what goes down in the opening scenes of Hollow Kingdom, and we’re left to follow human-adoring crow S.T. and his bloodhound sidekick Dennis as they navigate the wake of tragedy, try to figure out what happened, and rescue other domestic animals.

This book had the curious ability to make me laugh out lou and  roll my eyes at the raunchy absurdity, but also weep in a ball on the couch. 

We do mostly follow S.T., but we also get beautifully-crafted chapters between his narratives from all sorts of different animals. Though sometimes a little cheesy and -and often  romanticizing animal interactions - these interludes were some of my favorite parts of the novel.

At times the plot became too repetitive without seeming to move forward. It felt like large sections of the novel could have been chopped without a loss, and that made my reading experience a little antsy. The humor also occasionally rubbed me the wrong way.  I also didn’t love the measly background we got around the cause of the zombie infection. It’s a trope that bothers me.

Overall though, I enjoyed this journey. Be prepared for some heartbreak, folks. Especially if you are an animal lover like me.

CW: animal death, human death (all ages), gore, body horror, violence, animal cruelty, cannibalism, confinement, vomit, drug use, suicide, ableism, sexism, fatphobia, war, Harry Potter references

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gore, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Cannibalism, Death of parent, and War

aardwyrm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

When you go high concept, you have to nail it. There are moments that veer too saccharine or too gruesome where the balance fails, but overall, the Hollow Kingdom sticks that landing. ST's voice wobbles from time to time, but he draws you in anyway. The post-apocalyptic adventure log is a forgiving genre. Come for the touching moments, stay for the nightmarish body horror. The book falls into a few amateurish pitfalls, namely that main characters have deaths and sacrifices mourned and treasured while nameless side characters fall by the wayside immediately forgotten, and the clumsy attempts to shoehorn science into what is clearly a supernatural change, but ST and friends carry you past. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, and Cannibalism

bodiesinbooks's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Death, Fatphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Racism, Suicide, Excrement, Medical content, Cannibalism, and Car accident