Review : The Hollow Kingdom(book 1) by Clare B. Dunkle

           

Title:The Hollow Kingdom

Author: Clare B. Dunkle

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Usually I don’t settle up buying any series book. But, one fine day, I went to the book shop where there was this crazy sale going on. I picked ‘The Hollow Kingdom’ (the first in a trilogy) instantly as the cover attracted my attention. No..no, I really don’t deny that a book cover Influences me a lot when I ‘m browsing the books that I haven’t ever heard of ! Anyway, when I read the back of the book, I loved it more! And so, I bought it! And now, I really want the next in the series, but can’t find it in the shop :( See, that’s the reason I don’t settle down with any series book!!


Ok, enough of my nonsense talks. Let me tell you what I felt about ‘The Hollow Kingdom’!

About the book:

Hallow Hill has a strange and tragic history. For thousands of years, young women have been vanishing from the estate, never to be seen again. Now Kate and Emily have come to live at Hallow Hill. Brought up in a civilized age, they have no idea of the land’s dreadful heritage – until, that is, Marak decides to tell them himself.

Intelligent, pleasant, and completely pitiless, Marak is a powerful magician who claims to be a goblin king – and he has very specific plans for the two new girls who have trespassed into his kingdom.


My Review:

Kate and Emily are recently orphaned and have come to live in hallow hill with their aunts and a very cunning legal guardian named Hugh Roberts.  The two sisters were coming home to land and relatives they had never seen before. A mysterious place with a dreadful past! On Their first expedition to the forests, Kate and Emily are lost while coming home and stumble upon a band of gypsies. Emily is a sweet little girl and finds it very interesting. But, Kate’s instincts tell her that something is not quite right. Unfortunately, Kate catches the attention of Marak, a goblin king. He has different intentions for Kate and Emily, and as soon as Kate finds it out, she does everything possible from her side to stop the dreadful things happening. I must say, at times, I was scared for Kate and Emily. But their adventures are full of surprises, turns and twists which eventually lead them to their fate.


I liked the fact that Kate Winslow is not shown dumb and stupid. She is smart, intelligent, independent, clever, very brave, believing and following her own instincts, and can do anything and everything possible to save her dear sister Emily from any trouble. The characters of this book are written very cleverly and the scenes are properly fleshed out.

This is not an exactly a love at first sight romance story, but, the way it built up, it touched my heart. (Did I tell you that there’s no kissing scene in it..!!??)
The book also tells you that “True beauty lies within the heart and soul! “.


In spite of the fact that, this book is the first in the series, it is a standalone. I really liked this book a lot. The entire 19th century setups, a remote place called hallow hill, the woods, the lake and the story kept me on the edge.
It’s a wonderfully written book that will take you completely to the classic supernatural world. A place where there are millions of stories and secrets buried deep in the Hollow kingdom.