Hollowmen - Amanda Hocking

Hollowmen (The Hollows #2)

by Amanda Hocking
8th November 2011
Fraggin Aardvark

After six months in the quarantine, Remy finds out things are much worse than she feared. Her plans to escape come with a heavy cost, and she realizes that zombies aren't the worst of her problems

I was slightly disappointed by this book because although it picked up where the first one ended and the story never faltered it was almost an exact replica of the first book, in the sense that it was about Remy’s journey to find her brother again and then it swiftly turns into a journey across country to head to somewhere that isn’t overrun with flesh eating zombies.

The one aspect of this book that really frustrated me was that I was hoping to find out more about the original characters in the first book but Hocking killed them off early on and introduced a whole new group to travel with Remy and although I developed connections with the new group of people it was hard not to think about Harlow, Blue and Lazlo.

I missed Lazlo in this book, I missed his charm and carefree attitude and I was extremely disappointed that he was only present for a couple of pages because I was really hoping that Hocking would explore his and Remy’s relationship further instead of creating a Boden as a new love interest for Remy without a conflicting one.

Again it was filled with brilliantly described action scenes and plenty of gore and there’s no doubt that Hocking is a beautiful storyteller but at the rate the characters are killed off I couldn’t help but feel that they were put in the story simply to fill up the pages. I enjoyed the book because I enjoy Remy’s world but I felt that the story had major holes in it and was again frustrated that there was no search for a cure to the Lyssavirus and the characters seemed to give up and just accept the world they are living in.

The ending was sweet and I felt that the story came to it naturally but I was hoping for something that would provide some answers about the zombies and how exactly they came into the world but my questions remain unanswered. I can’t believe that someone with Remy’s nature would simply stop fighting and decide to settle down as a family, especially since from the beginning the story led us to believe that Remy and her brother were the only people that could save the world.

I was hoping for another book but after reading Hocking’s blog can see that it’s unlikely there will be another one in the near future however if her plans change I will be looking forward to seeing what’s in store for Remy and her new family (also I hope Lazlo is thrown back into the story).

Check out Amanda Hocking’s blog here

Rating *  *  *

- Stephanie

Darkness Breaks - Jessica Sorensen

Darkness Breaks (Darkness Falls #2)

By Jessica Sorensen
4th June 2012
Createspace

Kayla made her choice and now she has to live with it. She stays with the Day Takers, hiding in the city, staking vampires. But fighting vampires as a human is difficult.
Sylas constantly pressures Kayla to choose the life of a Day Taker. But until Kayla knows what Monarch is planning, she can’t make her choice. Plus there’s Aiden. No matter how hard she tries, she can’t stop thinking about him.
As Kayla’s memories resurface, the pieces of her history unfold. She learns of Cell 7, a place that Kayla believes holds the answers to the creation of the virus. But getting to Cell 7 is a dangerous mission. And with Kayla's strength weakening, it's one mission she might not make it through alive.




This book was as good as, if not better than the first and I finished it from cover to finish in one sitting because I couldn’t put it down, it’s been a rollercoaster of a ride and my emotions are all over the place. I was immediately thrown back into the action and questions from the end of the first book were established again within the first few pages, so it was easy to get right back into the heart of the story. Sorensen is an amazing storyteller and her ability to mix glimpses of the past with the fast moving action of the present if truly remarkable, she uses every word carefully, never wasting a moment and each chapter propels the story forward.

The thing I loved the most about this book? Sylas. If you know the series then you know we meet him briefly towards the end of the first book. From the first glimpse I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied until I knew everything there was to know about him and although I still have a hundred more questions I haven’t been disappointed. It is great to see the relationship between Sylas and Kayla develop and some of his walls begin to come down but what surprised me the most was that when Kayla’s memories begin to resurface it’s more about Sylas than Aiden despite what Aiden’s had her believe from the beginning.

I was surprised to find that my opinion of Aiden changed completely in this book, originally I thought he was sweet if not a bit too sensitive but now I have this sense that there’s more he’s hiding from Kayla and his treatment of her is starting to grate on me. It’s one of the things I don’t understand about her, she is a strong independent woman and yet she still allows Aiden to put her in a position that delays her in completing her task. The one question I want answered about him, why doesn’t he want Kayla to change the world? I was also glad to have more of an insight into Ryder and her true feelings towards the brothers, I never expected to find out that she was a key player in the story and that’s what I love about Sorensen, she never fails to surprise me.

I can’t wait to read the next book because I’m hoping there will be a more in depth look into the mind of Monarch and exactly what his plan is and whether he truly has lost all of his humanity, I want to know who’s side he’s on and if Kayla will finally accept the truth about him- that he isn’t the person she thought her was. The one question I can’t wait to have answered and I’m sure Kayla can’t wait either is how did the virus spread?

The expected release date of Darkness Fades, the third book in the series is expected for October 2012.

Check out Jessica Sorensen’s blog here

Rating *  *  *  *  *

- Stephanie

Hollowland - Amanda Hocking

Hollowland (The Hollows #1)

by Amanda Hocking
5th October 2010
Createspace


"This is the way the world ends - not with a bang or a whimper, but with zombies breaking down the back door."

Nineteen-year-old Remy King is on a mission to get across the wasteland left of America, and nothing will stand in her way - not violent marauders, a spoiled rock star, or an army of flesh-eating zombies.


This book shows an apocalyptic world full of zombies and one girl’s struggle to find the brother she was separated from. I was drawn into Remy’s world from the very first page and enjoyed the exploration of human nature when faced with only one choice. To survive.

I enjoyed that this book focused around a strong female lead and it reminds me very much of Alice and the Resident Evil series, considering that humans are turned into zombies by a virus; the Lyssavirus. Remy is tough, brutal and incredibly strong in every sense of the word. She has one focus; her brother, and refuses to let anything stand in her way. She is a born leader and fiercely protects her pack of sidekicks; Harlow, a 13 year old girl with an attitude; Lazlo Durante, a spoiled rock star who has survived purely by luck and Blue Adams; a medical student with a soft nature but this doesn’t stop her considering branching out alone, she isn’t afraid of what’s waiting for her but only of what’s happened to her brother.

This is an action packed story from start to finish and Hocking’s action scenes are so well written you can picture every punch (which isn’t an easy thing to do). She never misses a chance to throw in some gore which is perfect for this genre although not great if you have a weak stomach and the best part of the story hands down is Remy’s ‘pet’. Along the way she finds a lion which she quickly names Ripley (anyone else thinking of Alien?) that seems to have an affinity with Remy; she recognises the heart of another lioness.

The end is somewhat anti-climactic and predictable but raises questions that I hope will be answered in the sequel, this book honestly blew me away and exceeded my expectations because Hocking has written a book based on the end of the world but manages to sneak in romance and love although Remy would never admit to those feelings.

I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the sequel and hope Hocking throws in a search for a cure to the Lyssavirus because so far there has been no mention of it and this detracts from an otherwise brilliant story.

Check out Amanda Hocking’s blog here

Rating *  *  *  *  *

- Stephanie

Darkness Falls - Jessica Sorensen

Darkness Falls (Darkness Falls #1)
by Jessica Sorensen
14th March 2012
Jessica Sorenson 

When the disease spread through the world, people had no choice but to go into hiding. The Colony is hidden deep underground, far away from the vampires—humans that were transformed by the disease. The vampires are hideous, starving, and they will kill any human they come across. Seventeen-year-old Kayla is a Bellator, a warrior that protects The Colony. In order to survive, there are three rules she must follow:
Rule #1—Never go out after dark.
Rule #2—Always carry a weapon.
Rule #3—No matter what, never EVER get bitten.
But what happens when the rules Kayla has always lived by can no longer apply?
The Highers run The Colony and accept nothing less than perfection. One slip up can mean death. Kayla has always worked hard to follow the rules and strive for perfection. But during a moment of weakness, she lets her imperfections show. Her punishment is worse than death. She is chosen for The Gathering and is thrown out into a world full of starving vampires.
No one has ever survived The Gathering, at least that’s what Kayla’s been told. But when she runs into a group who insist they were once part of The Gathering, Kayla discovers the Highers have been keeping secrets. Secrets that could lead to a cure.

Sorensen has completely changed the word vampire by portraying them as not the beautiful, mysterious creatures that we have come to know but by making them ugly, scary and the monsters that they were originally made to be, this book is a refreshing break from today’s stereotype.

I fell into Kayla’s world easily and after the first few chapters it was easy to grasp the backstory and understand just what Kayla’s world was about. This book shows an apocalyptic future filled with vampires that were created as a result of something humans did but the most intriguing thing is that no one seems to remember life before the virus spread, except Kayla. Just one memory, but it’s enough to keep her asking questions.

I was completely blown away by this book because it has kept me confused and intrigued, I still can’t figure out how everything fits together or even who Kayla really is and that’s how I know I loved it. Being able to see the end of a story a mile away is something that constantly irritates me because I want to feel shocked and surprised by a character and their decisions.

Sorensen has achieved this flawlessly because Kayla herself doesn’t even know who she really is or what she wants. The gaps in her memories creates gaps in the story that make it impossible for me to fill, I can’t guess what’s going to happen because I don’t have all the information and that makes this a gripping read.

My favourite element of this book is that it’s not a love story; it’s a story about a girl struggling to figure out who she really is and what role she plays in the world, much like the rest of us. Love does come into the story pretty early on but not in the way I was expecting and it never becomes the focus of the book, it is something that so far has been kept to the side and only mentioned where necessary and that’s because Kayla doesn’t really understand love or any of her feelings in general and this is something else that makes it impossible to know which direction she’s going to take.

I couldn’t have guessed that this story would take the direction it did and I was genuinely surprised to find that it is not a story that focuses solely on the supernatural but a story that combines magic and science to an extent. I am looking forward to seeing where this story leads and what’s in store for the next book it has already become one of my favourites.

Check out Jessica Sorensen's blog here

Rating * * * * *

- Stephanie