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aardwyrm's review
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Death, Medical content, Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Drug use, Excrement, Gore, Grief, Terminal illness, Cannibalism, Vomit, and Violence
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