Book Review: Hollow City by Ransom Riggs

Hollow City
Ransom Riggs
Genre(s): Fantasy, Paranormal, Young Adult
Published: January 14th 2014
Pages: 396
Rating: 3.5 stars

“This second novel begins in 1940, immediately after the first book ended. Having escaped Miss Peregrine's island by the skin of their teeth, Jacob and his new friends must journey to London, the peculiar capital of the world. Along the way, they encounter new allies, a menagerie of peculiar animals, and other unexpected surprises.”

While I did like Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, I didn't really like it. It was good but I had issues with it. Hollow City wastes no time in jumping into things, starting exactly where the first book left off in a way that promised an action packed ride.

I liked how the pictures in this were more to do with the setting and surroundings than the peculiar children. I felt that they went with the story better and were more natural, and after reading Miss Peregrine's I knew how much attention to pay them in order to get the most from the story. Things also seemed to have taken a darker tone in the first few chapters and I really liked that, I think it reflected the situation and mood the characters were in without going overboard.

The characters were also a lot more enjoyable this time around. They had more distinct personalities that were unique to them, and their peculiarities felt more natural and developed - Jacob's especially.

I did, however, have a problem with the 'romance' between Emma and Jacob. I found it unnatural and weird, more so than in the first book where I thought nothing would come of it. The fact that she is - technically - a lot older than him, and was quite heavily involved with his grandpa just... doesn't sit well with me. I also found quite a few grammatical errors as I was reading, but that may be because the edition I read was still fairly new.

Overall, not a great book. A good sequel, just not amazing.