ivyclad_ideas's review
4.0
Hollow Earth introduces us to Matt and Em, twins with the ability to bring their drawings to life. Whilst the use of twin telepathy from the beginning with no introduction or explanation (I know lots of books and films use it, but I've never actually read anything that does before so it took a few lines before I realised that their telepathy was being treated as 'normal' because they were twins) annoyed me, I liked these two. Matt was your typical preteen boy- he was a bit rash sometimes which made him feel realistic. Em, on the other hand, was cautious and struggled to control her emotions. If she was scared, the world knew it. Again, this didn't make her weak or annoying, just real. The third member of their trio was Zach. Aside from the plot convenience of , he was an awesome addition to the cast.
I liked the novelty of their powers- the ability to summon things from drawings -and I liked the variety of ways that it was used. I was particuarly impressed by the fact that Matt could because I didn't expect their powers to be quite that flexible.
Overall, I really enjoyed Hollow Earth and I hope that the sequel is just as good.
Spoiler
him being able to communicate telepathically with EmI liked the novelty of their powers- the ability to summon things from drawings -and I liked the variety of ways that it was used. I was particuarly impressed by the fact that Matt could
Spoiler
give his sight to a caladriusOverall, I really enjoyed Hollow Earth and I hope that the sequel is just as good.
larrachersan's review
4.0
The book started a bit slow, but I think in a way that is needed to introduce the charas. But in the end it is catching and gripping, you don't want to set it down until you finished the last page.
beammey's review against another edition
3.0
Yeah. I'm one of those people that read the book because of 'Captain Jack' himself. The book was okay. It wasn't bad by any means and some parts had me on the edge of my seat, but I feel like it was what I was expecting and didn't have a lot of surprise twists and turns. Like I said, that's not to say it was a bad story, because it isn't. I've just seen it all before. I would still recommend this book to people that might find it interesting. Everyone is different and I see a lot of people loved it =). 3.5 out of 5 stars.
renatasnacks's review
2.0
The more I thought about this book, the less I liked it. I zipped along reading it, it was a fairly enjoyable fantasy whatever (but with random flashbacks to Two Monks Inventing Things) but then when I thought about it/tried to record a podcast about it, I realized that none of it really makes sense or holds together, like, at all?? Possibly some of these issues are resolved later in the trilogy, but I definitely don't care enough to read them.
http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-45-hollow-earth/
http://www.frowl.org/worstbestsellers/episode-45-hollow-earth/
heyshay07's review against another edition
4.0
I have never seen Doctor Who so that doesn't influence my opinion at all for better or worse. I thought the whole concept of the Hollow Earth Society and animare who can animate drawings was pretty original and interesting. I liked the plot and thought it was a good fantasy book with enough mystery and action to keep it going. The only thing I really couldn't stand was how the authors wrote the characters. Jumping around to everyone's perspective made it disjointed and the kids were naive and annoying. The subject is a tad dark and probably best for middle school but Matt and Em are straight out of Leave It to Beaver. I don't know that they would be super relatable to middle school kids. They also whine way to much. So in summary- interesting plot but mediocre characters. However, I liked it enough to buy the second book.
ileana1's review
1.0
I've managed to get through 50 pages of this, so take this review with a grain of salt.
There's a few things here that really bothered me. For one, it's written more like a collection of scenes than a novel - generally, if your chapters are a few pages at most (especially if a lot of them are one or two pages long), you're kind of missing a lot of what makes a novel a novel. Mainly, something that makes me like the characters, or care about what's happening, or even UNDERSTAND what is happening. Up to this point, the book is very much trying to make me care by not telling me anything about, well, anything. There's evil people turning up. Oooh, some more evil people over there. And now we've got to run! OR maybe hide! Or do something! Why should I care, when I have no idea what's happening? It felt a lot like a tv episode in a way, where you're meant to be so impressed by the special effects you don't ever stop to ask 'why?'
On top of that, character actions were... weird. Twelve year olds aren't generally idiots. Why would they act the way they do and use abilities no-one else has in a public space with video cameras and the like? And why do parents never ever tell their children vital information, like 'by the way you have powers and there's people who will try to kidnap you so maybe be careful'?
And then we have the actual writing, that jumps wildly between different focalizations. And things like this 'The liquid (coffee) splashed across the desk like dark tears'. End of chapter.
Meh.
There's a few things here that really bothered me. For one, it's written more like a collection of scenes than a novel - generally, if your chapters are a few pages at most (especially if a lot of them are one or two pages long), you're kind of missing a lot of what makes a novel a novel. Mainly, something that makes me like the characters, or care about what's happening, or even UNDERSTAND what is happening. Up to this point, the book is very much trying to make me care by not telling me anything about, well, anything. There's evil people turning up. Oooh, some more evil people over there. And now we've got to run! OR maybe hide! Or do something! Why should I care, when I have no idea what's happening? It felt a lot like a tv episode in a way, where you're meant to be so impressed by the special effects you don't ever stop to ask 'why?'
On top of that, character actions were... weird. Twelve year olds aren't generally idiots. Why would they act the way they do and use abilities no-one else has in a public space with video cameras and the like? And why do parents never ever tell their children vital information, like 'by the way you have powers and there's people who will try to kidnap you so maybe be careful'?
And then we have the actual writing, that jumps wildly between different focalizations. And things like this 'The liquid (coffee) splashed across the desk like dark tears'. End of chapter.
Meh.
aggiereads15's review against another edition
5.0
I didn't really know what to expect from Hollow Earth because I wasn't inform what the book was about, but I absolutely loved it. I enjoyed it! The two protagonists are so charming, I loved them both. In addition, the plot was so enchanting, so different than other children books I have had before. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy. I'm so glad to win it in a goodreads giveaway, I'm excited to,pick up the next book in the series.
bookshelvesandtealeaves's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I think if I’d read this when I was 8 and not 28, I would have fallen in love with it. It’s fun and exciting and magical.
But it is very middle grade. And not the kind of amazing middle grade that can be loved by all ages. It’s…childish. Lazily written feels more accurate, but I don’t want to sound like I think all middle grade is written like that.
The world building was fairly nonexistent. Things would be partially explained, then something would happen that completely undid the partial explanation. The twins powers and the extent of them was still a major unknown by the end. I still don’t quite understand how ANY of their powers work, if there’s rules, what they’re bound by, etc. It just kind of felt like the authors were making it up as they went, changing these kids abilities to get them out of whatever situation they were in.
The plot was engaging but there were plenty of holes to pick at along the way.
I liked the inclusion of a Deaf character it felt poorly handled and barely considered. These new kids were introduced to him and within weeks they were communicating fluently in sign language? It was just, once again, lazy.
I won’t be continuing reading this series, but I think young readers would really enjoy it.