What You Need To Know:

Title: Hollow City
Author: Ransom Riggs
Number of Pages: 396
Genres: Fantasy, Mystery, Supernatural, Young Adult
Publisher: Quirk Books
Published: 14th January, 2014

The Plot:

Jacob is still in the past, but he isn't stuck there. He wants to be there, to help all the peculiar children that his Grandad knew. And that's why he is stuck in 1940 in the middle of the war and in the middle of an ocean.

Having escaped Miss Peregrine's island by the skin of their teeth, Jacob and his friends have been forced to travel to London; the peculiar capital of the world. Along the way, they encounter new allies, a menagerie of peculiar animals, and other unexpected surprises.

My Thoughts:

Upon reading this book, I looked at several reviews on goodreads. Some people loved it and some people hated it. Some saying that it was suffering from Second Book Syndrome whilst others argued that it was better than the original. I had no idea how I would feel walking into this book; whether I would love it or hate it. But I did walk into with an open mind.

For the first few pages I thought that it probably was suffering with Second Book Syndrome. The book opened and it was rather dull, I found myself skim reading quite a few pages. It was just a bit dull. But the Tales of the Peculiar really interested me. Mr Riggs if you feel like writing this Tale of the Peculiar just for me then I would be very happy. But if you didn't want to write then you really don't have a choice ... no offence but I really need it in my life.

As the book developed, there was something about it that intrigued me more than the first book in the series. There was something about the combination of the vintage photographs and the writing that was so much better than the first book. I don't know what it was but they were like a Symbian circle that complimented each other. It was a lot better than the first one because of it. Back then, Ransom Riggs was trying to create a world with so many characters for us so he had to get these strange photographs that would represent these people. However, the photographs in this book only emphasised the world and they seemed to create a whole new state of imagination for me. I was now able to read it and completely imagine the world. It was wonderful.

The ending was something that I really did not expect. As the book progressed I was constantly wondering how this book was going to end. It got close to the end of the book, like twenty pages away, and it wasn't anywhere near an ending so I was like ... what! And then a few chapters before the ending something happened and I just sat there staring at the book like WHAT THE HELL!!!!!

And then the actual ending to the book, it was completely brilliant. There was something about that that I found really interesting. It was nice to know that Jacob was becoming more and more important in that world.

Oh and the menagerie of animals section was such an amazing section. There was something that I had never considered. Peculiar animals. It made me chuckle to see such strange animals which people may have considered to be true.

Rating:

Overall I think I would give this book ****. It was good but not completely brilliant.

-IAMAGEEKINGGINGER!
Book Total of 2015 - 38
XXXX