Review of Amanda Hocking's Hollowmen

By: Ginny

Before reading Amanda Hocking's Hollowland last year, I was hesitant to read a book about a zombie apocalypse. I enjoy the movies, although some more than others, but I thought, "Is this going to be the same hum-drum story that has been done soooo many times in cinema?" Since I absolutely loved Hocking's My Blood Approves and Trylle series, I gave Hollowland a shot and actually got to beta-read for her.  I found myself totally blown away with her creativity in creating a zombie story that was unique, terrifying, and totally freaking awesome!  In Hollowmen, I again, was not disappointed...

DESCRIPTION FROM GOODREADS.COM:

Hollowmen (The Hollows #2)by Amanda Hocking (Goodreads Author)
the sequel to Hollowland.... 
After six months in the quarantine, Remy finds out things are much worse than she feared. Her plans to escape come with a heavy cost, and she realizes that zombies aren't the worst of her problems.

{VAGUE SPOILERS!!!!}

Remy, the main character, is thrown right back into her epic quest to be with her brother Max again, after escaping/being evacuated from the quarantine. She discovers that the zombies that have overrun the world have changed a bit since she arrived at the "safe-haven," to the zombies' advantage. The action and gore are pretty instant and continuous throughout the book. She sees old friends, meets new ones, and both new and old characters are overtaken by zombies and killed by other humans very suddenly and, at times, one right after the other, so you are left with not having much time to mourn each character (just like Remy). The non-stop action makes the book seem longer, only a 3,687 length on Kindle, than expected because so much happens so quickly. The rapid loss of these characters left me shocked, but then another event happened and I didn't have time to reflect on the earlier event that happened a few pages before. This, I feel, adds credibility to the story and to Hocking's character development of Remy (as well as the remaining human race, in general) and to the broken world in which the book takes place. In other reviews, I have read criticism on what happens with Remy’s old and new love interests, but I felt that Hocking brought realism to the story with the twist and captured the basic human condition with Remy and her struggle to survive in a world that is far from what it once was. The ending was very satisfying and the story definitely felt complete, although there is enough left open for if Hocking would like to continue writing about some of the characters in her graphic novel/comic that she announced on her blog.  

Overall, I give Hollowmen 5 Stars for its intense action, touching moments between the characters and in Remy’s self-reflections/discovery, and for being totally zombilicious!

Hollowmen = Amazeballs.

Check out Amanda Hocking's Blog HERE