Just Another Bookish Blog

Hollow City by Ransom Riggs
Hi everyone!
I just finished the book Hollow City, and I thought I'd give it a quick review! 

IF YOU HAVE NOT READ MISS PEREGRINES' HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN, AND ARE PLANNING TO READ IT, THEN PLEASE SKIP OVER THIS REVIEW! Thank you! 

Hollow city follows directly from its prequel, when the group of Peculiars are in a boat on their way to the mainland. Throughout their journey to London, they meet other peculiars, including peculiar animals, and learn that the book that they would read as children, Tales of a Peculiar, is in fact a sort of mirror for the peculiar world. With this, they find the next logical steps in their journey. 
However, Miss Peregrine is trapped in the form of a bird, and only another imbryne, (or person who can turn into a bird) can help her out of this state. If she stays in a bird form for over three days, she can loose all that makes her human. 


First of, I enjoyed this book more than its prequel. Whereas MPHFPC was extremely interesting in all of its strangeness, Hollow City was able to build on its prequel in such a way that it had a more interesting storyline that flowed in a much more coherent way. Now don't get me wrong, the first book was absolutely amazing. I just feel that it was missing something. One major difference was that the end of MPHFPC just... fell flat. The fact that the group of peculiars leave their island on a boat to get to safety felt more like the end of a chapter than the end of a novel. However, Hollow city ended on a combination of a plot twist and a cliffhanger. Now, having to wait an entire year to see what happens is just cruel. =P 
Another difference that I noted was that Hollow city helped me understand the characters from the first book in a better way. 
Another reason why I enjoyed this book is, of course, its connection to old photography. The way Riggs takes a bunch of black and white, war-time photos and weaves a coherent story with them is amazing, and makes the story just that much more believable

Finally, I highly recommend this series to anyone who is looking for a different kind of book. Something that is YA yet has that twist that other YA books don't necessarily have. 

Can't wait until book 3 comes out!