Reviews with content warning for Confinement - Hollow Kingdom

A funny dark comedy narrated by Crow who had imprinted or been saved by a human before the human zombification.. this dys opian world is different then any other, as the animals are the survivors. Not the humans... So, now so the animals are wandering around figuring out how to survive without humans.. Freeing domestic animals trapped in abandoned houses by figuring out how to get through glass windows then hope to open doors and so on through all the adventures of survival in this new world with mutant animals and a reformation of bones and groups of birds, animals and a new kind of wild world

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starrysteph's review against another edition

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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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ferlintokezeirquizes's review against another edition

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emotional funny sad

3.25

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chelseahart's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved the main character's voice in this. Between shifting from domestic life to wild, balancing curiosity with self-preservation, and challenging his own biases, ST shows us this scary world in a determined and hopeful light.

I've always loved animals, with crows topping the list. If you feel at all similar then I highly recommend this book! It brought me to tears at moments and it made me laugh a bit too (two of my favorite things for a book to do to me!) I felt it to be fast-paced, with enough descriptors to make vibrant images without bogging down the narrative.

I found out about this book by seeing the sequel in-adore which I almost bought instantly before realizing it wasn't a stand alone. After enjoying Hollow Kingdom so much, I'll definitely go back for that next book!

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cryptid_crow's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny 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? Yes

4.5

Wow, what a book! I've never seen the zombie apocalypse handled like this, and it was very refreshing. Sad as fuck at times, but refreshing.

That being said,

the tie in to "addiction to technology" and screens was eyeroll worthy for me.

Thus the 4.5 instead of 5.

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ehawk's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny 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? Yes

5.0

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