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alicejc3's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
The humor, at times, comes so close to being like that of Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams. Sometimes, the author hits the mark. Most of the time, they miss.
The crow is named sh*t turd and humans are referred to as MoFos. As others have pointed out, that is generally the height of the humor. It’s gimmicky. The author relies on it WAY too much. And it gets old, quickly.
The inconsistencies of what the crow understands about the human world are confusing. The story is repetitive. The way time itself passes is confusing - has the apocalypse happened for a few days or a few months? I don’t know. And then there’s the big scene of the crow coming to terms with who he is. It falls incredibly flat, because an entire character shift happens in the space of a couple paragraphs rather than slowly throughout. Also, why is almost every character male? We can have equal representation, no?
Finally, you know how broadway shows pander to NYC by shouting the city out as the greatest in the world? This entire book felt like that, but about humanity.
I wanted so badly to like this. I wanted to find a woman writing in the sci-fi/fantasy comedy space and I wanted to root for them. I’ll still root for Kira and the fan base she has found, but unfortunately, I will not be recommending this book to anyone.
The crow is named sh*t turd and humans are referred to as MoFos. As others have pointed out, that is generally the height of the humor. It’s gimmicky. The author relies on it WAY too much. And it gets old, quickly.
The inconsistencies of what the crow understands about the human world are confusing. The story is repetitive. The way time itself passes is confusing - has the apocalypse happened for a few days or a few months? I don’t know. And then there’s the big scene of the crow coming to terms with who he is. It falls incredibly flat, because an entire character shift happens in the space of a couple paragraphs rather than slowly throughout. Also, why is almost every character male? We can have equal representation, no?
Finally, you know how broadway shows pander to NYC by shouting the city out as the greatest in the world? This entire book felt like that, but about humanity.
I wanted so badly to like this. I wanted to find a woman writing in the sci-fi/fantasy comedy space and I wanted to root for them. I’ll still root for Kira and the fan base she has found, but unfortunately, I will not be recommending this book to anyone.
libbooksby's review against another edition
Dennis gave me too much anxiety. I was so worried about the dog that I was unable to focus on anything else in the story. I also would not have been okay if something had happened to him so I DNFd.
rplessel's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
bhnmt61's review against another edition
4.0
I don't know how to describe this book. What happens isn't that complicated: ST is a crow raised by his human Big Jim. When Big Jim succumbs to the zombie apocalypse, ST and Big Jim's dog Dennis set out to save the world. There is lots of profanity (ST stands for Shit Turd, for starters), and potty humor, and sometimes very clever word play-- birds that twitter and tweet, etc. But the experience of reading it is just plain strange. Sometimes I loved it, and it often made me laugh. Buxton has a gift for creating pitch perfect voices for various different animals, and there are a number of genuinely moving moments of insight about the ways humans interact with the rest of the natural world.
But sometimes it was just so hopelessly naive. When you find out why the zombie apocalypse occurred--because humans couldn't get over their addiction to their screens-- my first thought was really? so she wants us all to be luddites? And did she write this whole thing out by hand? never emailed anybody or googled a detail about wolves or watched a youtube video of an eagle in flight? I did enjoy reading it, it is often highly entertaining (it also gets so bogged down in the middle I almost quit reading). I definitely recommend it, especially if you're familiar with Seattle, because there is lots of familiar detail. I just thought that ultimately, Hollow Kingdom failed to deliver on insightful social commentary, which could have been its strongest suit.
But sometimes it was just so hopelessly naive. When you find out why the zombie apocalypse occurred--because humans couldn't get over their addiction to their screens-- my first thought was really? so she wants us all to be luddites? And did she write this whole thing out by hand? never emailed anybody or googled a detail about wolves or watched a youtube video of an eagle in flight? I did enjoy reading it, it is often highly entertaining (it also gets so bogged down in the middle I almost quit reading). I definitely recommend it, especially if you're familiar with Seattle, because there is lots of familiar detail. I just thought that ultimately, Hollow Kingdom failed to deliver on insightful social commentary, which could have been its strongest suit.
lisa_and_her_books's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
lowaltitude's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
crystalinboots's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.25
bexgil's review against another edition
The tone felt like it was trying a little too hard and it just wasn't capturing my attention. I had to reread several paragraphs because I spaced out.
laurensm_th's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
This is like all of the pieces of Seattle culture that I don’t like
shelbs888's review
dark
funny
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
3.75
Was the message be present and stay off your phones?? Yes. But did it come from a talking crow trying to survive the zombie apocalypse with his blood hound dog friend. Yes!!!