Book Review: Hollow Kingdom

Hollow Kingdom
By Kira Jane Buxton

My Edition:
Hardcover, 308 pages
2019, Grand Central Publishing
ISBN: 9781538745823

S.T. (that’s short for Shit Turd) is a domesticated crow and he finds himself out on a crazy adventure in the wide world when his best friend, and owner, Big Jim, comes down sick and needs some help. S.T. considers himself a human and feels disconnected from the animal kingdom at large, so his only partner on this adventure is Big Jim’s big, dumb dog, Dennis. The two set out to find a cure and S.T. learns he can rely on Dennis and his own wild instincts. But can they fix what’s wrong with Big Jim and the other humans?

This book has re-defined the post-apocalyptic/zombie genre for me and I couldn’t be more thrilled!

Ok, I’m a shit turd for taking a million years to review this amazing book.

I took notes like a good noodle, but they’re not exactly expressive or clever. At this point though, I just want to say literally anything about this book so that y’all know about it and know I love it. So I’m just going to write my notes, almost verbatim.

+ Thought it was middle-grade (not sure why) and it’s definitely not! And I’m ok with that!

+ I instantly loved S.T’s foul mouth, descriptions, and casual tone

+ “And then Big Jim’s eyeball fell out. Like, fell the fuck out of his head.”

+ His fucking name is Shit Turd xD

+ “…hambeast-bellied egg timer commonly known as a penguin.”

+ Winnie the Poodle’s POV is charmingly in third person and her grammar is poor

+ S.T. is ostracized, he just wants to be let alone, feels he shoulda been born a MoFo (his terms for humans). FEELS.

+ Genghis Cat OMG – hilariously insulting. “Dildo-nosed potatoes” LMFAO (I didn’t put a note to what he was referring to, but I’m pretty sure it was humans)

+ “He’d been ambushed by an invisible assassin, which had blown into his body uninvited and was slowly eating his heart from the inside out. It drank his hope and anesthetized his feelings. Depression.” Holy shit, S.T. is deep.

+ …because if you aren’t allowed to love freely, a part of your heart breaks.” Damn, S.T., being deep again.

+ “I was stressed-stuffed, a Hot Pocket of angst.” HARD SAME

+ I am SO invested in S.T. and Dennis.

+ My face hurts from smiling and laughing. Every page is funny, painful or both.

That’s pretty much it. If none of that intrigues you enough to read this book, I don’t know what else to say. You want a book about animals, told by animals? Read this. You want a book that’s somewhat about the start of an apocalypse,  but is really about finding your way in the world, forming relationships, defining yourself, and what you want in life? Read This. Do you love foul-mouthed narrators who defend themselves with sarcasm and wit but are actually soft cinnamon rolls inside? READ This. Do you love ugly crying like a little bitch? (We know I do!) READ THIS.

Once I started crying, somewhat near the end of the book, I continued to cry throughout the remainder of the story. (This is a good thing, btw.) I just kept thinking about things – this book gave me so many emotions! The ending itself was great and went in a direction I never would have guessed. The reason for the zombie outbreak was maybe a little heavy-handed, but honestly, I’ll buy it.

Seriously, this book is funny and sad and amazing and it’s full of animals!!! I read this in e-book format, but knew I needed to own a physical copy so that next time I read it I can cry directly onto the pages causing my tears. One of my friends was good enough to gift me a copy for Christmas! (I was just too lazy to take a picture before posting this.) So again, if you find any of this interesting, check out this book!