“Just because they knew it was lost didn’t mean they knew how to let it go.”
-Ransom Riggs, Hollow City
♥ Summary ♥
Hollow City follows Jacob Portman, a peculiar whose talent allows him to sense and see Hollow Gasts, the monsters that hunt the peculiar children. With this power, Jacob and another group of peculiars travel from Wales to London through the war torn country of England searching for a cure for their ymbryne, Miss. Peregrine, who is trapped in the form of a falcon. However, they only have a few days or else their ymbryne will stay a falcon forever. They meet new peculiars, come to near-death experiences, and learn that there is so much more to what they thought was happening.
♥ My Thoughts ♥
I congratulate Ransom Riggs. I can see that this series has turned him into a famous, well-respected author, and I can see why.
If you’ve read my review on the first book, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, then you might of seen that I didn’t exactly like it. Even thought I didn’t like the first book, I continued to read the series because I own all three books and I thought, why not?
Thank god for that.
I absolutely loved the plot line of this book. I felt like it was a lot easier to follow and, I think I have mentioned this before, I love the twist ending! I absolutely adore that twist ending! However, I absolutely do not adore the cliff-hanger. WHY! ALL THESE BOOKS END WITH CLIFF HANGERS AND I DON’T KNOW WHYYY. Well, probably to get you to read the next one. Smart move, Riggs. But if the third book ends on a cliff-hanger, I will lose it.
Let’s talk about Jason.
In the first book, he was alarmingly annoying and bratty.
For example, and I quote, “If I never went home, what exactly would I be missing? I pictured my cold cavernous house, my friendless town full of bad memories, the utterly unremarkable life that had been mapped out for me” C’mon man! You have caring parents and moola. Sometimes, you gotta deal with having a plan. Wait, having a plan is good WHY ARE YOU EVEN COMPLAINING.
Yeah, I was pretty much ranting in that review.
That’s why I was so glad to see some character development. Well, I don’t think it was meant to be development because Jacob was probably never supposed to sound bratty, but character development or not, I was ecstatic. He showed a lot more affection towards the kids and to Emma. He seemed much more like a hero and much less like a whiny baby.
Speaking of Emma, I was so happy and sad about what she said near the ending of the book.
(SPOILERS) Basically, Emma wanted Jacob to go back to his normal life once Miss. Peregrine was fixed. I liked that a lot because it made Emma look really good and it showed how much she cared. However, I also didn’t like it because I didn’t want Jacob to go. Also, Emma finally spoke up about their age difference and how weird it is. Well, she didn’t say weird, but I’m going to say weird. I liked that because it brought things to reality and showed that Riggs wasn’t going to ignore it because it was uncomfortable for him. (SPOILER ENDS).
What else is there… hmm. Oh, that FREAKING ENDING! Well, there were two endings that were kind of astonishing. One was good one was bad. I won’t discuss the bad one because well, I want that to be a surprise. (And surprise you, it will.) As I was reading that part, it was at 3 AM because I was Jet Lagged, and I had to bite my tongue to keep from screaming, “WHAT?!”
The good ending, I will discuss.
(SPOILERS) I actually thought Jacob was going to die. I don’t know why I thought that, because there’s a third book, but I did. The way Riggs formed the last few paragraphs really felt like death. That’s why the fact that Jacob was able to control the Hollow Gast that was about to kill him was so surprising. I wish I could erase my memory and read it again, and again, and again. What ruined it was that it was a cliff-hanger. THAT DANG CLIFF HANGER (SPOILER ENDS).
One more thing before I move onto the conclusion. In my review of the first book, I mentioned how there was a huge lack of horror. With this book, however, I felt a lot more scared. I remember when I was reading it once before I went to sleep, and I kept on seeing things lingering in the shadows and hearing noises that sounded like they were coming from under my bed. The pictures. Oh my gosh. Sometimes, I would have to cover a picture with my hand and slowly reveal it so that I wouldn’t be too shocked. If you’re looking for a huge scare, well, I get scared easily so.. if you’re looking for a sorta scary scare, you’ve found the book!
♥ Conclusion ♥
Wowie. What a book. I give it 4 cookies.
“What? I just read your review and you basically blabbed about how much you liked it! What’s up with the 4 star?”
Well, the reason behind the deduction is simple. I do admit I was very picky with this because of the first book and its wrongs.
Firstly, even though Jacob did improve, he was still acting in ways I didn’t approve. For example, he was going to vote against using the car to get to their destination because he didn’t want to drive it. Selfish? Haha yes. Also, he saw a Hollow Gast frozen in the ice. He could of easily killed it, but he didn’t for his own stupid reasons. Oh yeah, and when the bird was leading the way, he still stood in the lead acting like he was leading. These reasons may make me sound picky, but I see what I see and I dislike what I dislike.
Secondly, the book was slow moving. I remember not being able to read too much of it in one sitting because I would get bored and would feel like the plot was going no where. Not only that, but I also felt that the plot was mildly hard to follow, I will probably never fully not get confused when a part with the time loops and time traveling comes in.
Do I recommend this book for future eating reading? Absolutely. Anyone could read this book. It’s not too scary and at the same time is kinda scary and the characters won’t make people too upset, if whiny characters upset them easily. Overall, I would read it again, once I forgot what the plot was, of course.
-Miss Bookie
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ahahahha you’re welcome.
again, not my picture. Gosh I have really got to start taking some pictures, for heavens sake, the book it sitting right across from me. I guess I’m just lazy. pls forgive.
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