Review: Hollow City by Ransom Riggs

Publisher: Quirk Books
Release date: February 24, 2014
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 1594747350
Pages: 396
Goodreads || Book Depository

MY THOUGHTS

Hollow City is the second book in the Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children trilogy. This review doesn’t contain any spoilers for the first book so feel free to stay if you want to know if the trilogy is worth pursuing (it is!). But check out my review of the first book too! I’ve put the synopsis for Hollow City at the end of my review so that you won’t get accidentally spoiled if you haven’t read Book 1.

So, Hollow City. Man, I loved this book! I was trying to decide what rating to give this instalment and was shifting back and forth between 4.5 and 5 stars. Ultimately, I think it deserves at least a 4.75, if not a 5. It had about the same amount, or maybe less, creepiness and eeriness than the first book. Those of you who thought the first instalment wasn’t scary enough, probably won’t enjoy the lack of spookiness in this book either. But I thought the story, plot and characters were so enjoyable that it doesn’t really need to be more scary.

Hollow City was just as action-packed and exciting as the first book. Unlike Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, there weren’t any bits that were slow or draggy. This book kept up a consistent level of action and excitement and it had me engaged the whole time. There was so much badassery in this novel and so many instances where I was bouncing up and down in my seat from the exhilaration.

Ransom Riggs has done it again – another twist that I didn’t see coming. I didn’t expect the twist in Miss Peregrine’s, and I totally did not see this twist coming. There were absolutely no signs of it at all. What I think this book lacked that the first book had was a really epic climax and ending. The end of Hollow City was still epic but the epicness all occurred in a span of about 30 pages, and ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. So I was left feeling not as satisfied as I was when I finished Miss Peregrine’s. But it did leave me really excited about Library of Souls, which I’ll be picking up from the bookstore first thing tomorrow morning!

The photographs in this book were just as beautiful and magical as those in the first book. There were a handful that were so creepy and scary that I could only glance at them for a couple of seconds before covering them up. I loved what they added to the story and I thought they were used really effectively. There were a couple at the beginning of the book that I thought were a bit unnecessary and just having the text would have been enough. But I appreciated how skilfully Ransom Riggs was able to shape his story and his world around the photos that he had.

The reason why I liked Hollow City just a little bit more than Miss Peregrine’s was the world and the setting. It was definitely my favourite aspect of this sequel. All of the places that the characters travelled to were really interesting. I love reading historical fiction and London during WWII is one location that I’ve always loved but haven’t read a lot about. I’m glad that we get to experience quite a lot of what 1940s London was like. In addition to London and September 1940, the book takes us to the countryside and to different decades and centuries. The characters enter several different time loops and I thought it was great that time travel was explored so much in Hollow City.

We meet some crazy new characters in this novel, and they were all so unique and interesting. I’m excited to see what kind of a role these new characters play in the final book, Library of Souls. And as you can probably tell, the next review to go up on this blog will be of Library of Souls 😀

---

For those of you who have already read Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children, the synopsis for Hollow City is below.

HOLLOW CITY SYNOPSIS

September 3, 1940. Ten peculiar children flee an army of deadly monsters. And only one person can help them – but she’s trapped in the body of a bird. The extraordinary journey that began in Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children continues as Jacob Portman and his newfound friends journey to London, the peculiar capital of the world. There, they hope to find a cure for their beloved headmistress, Miss Peregrine. But in this war-torn city, hideous surprises lurk around every corner. And before Jacob can deliver the peculiar children to safety, he must make an important decision about his love for Emma Bloom. Like its predecessor, this second novel in the Peculiar Children series blends thrilling fantasy with vintage photography to create a one-of-a-kind reading experience.

---