The Hollow Kingdom by Clare B. Dunkle: Beauty in the Beast but with Goblins

The Hollow Kingdom 

by 

Clare B. Dunkle

Do you ever start a book and think that it’s kind of ‘meh’, not really amazing but not really terrible either and then . . . 

A plot twist happens or a character shows up and suddenly the read is ten times more enjoyable. Well that was me and the Hollow Kingdom. For the first probably hundred pages (which is basically the first half of the book because it’s only two hundred pages long) it was a decent story. Then of said BOOM! happened and . . .well I'll get to it. Best of all it was written in a fairy tale kind of style which was awesome! 

Characters

Kate: She was a really strong character. She combined both great strength and a rather posh politeness which was a wonderful mix. Kate is a Victorian lady whose parents have recently died 

Yeah I know it's a shocker

She is now in charge of her little sister and a large plot of land around the Hollow Hill which is about as creepy as it sounds. Again another shocker the Hill isn’t what it seems and actually houses a land of goblins, elves (well it used too), and dwarves! 

Emily: I loved Kate’s little sister. She was so curious and always asking questions. Those questions were usually directed at a terrifying goblin with no fear whatsoever which was absolutely hilarious.

Marak: The Goblin King who apparently can’t marry one of his own kind so he has to go out an steal a human, elf, or dwarf woman if he actually want his race and it’s magic to survive. So of course he picks Kate because . . . reasons? 

But it really wasn’t as creepy as that makes it sound! 

I told you it was written like a fairy tale, where things like blinding via rosebush, or the cutting off of toes, or even the shoving of witches into stoves are done without so much as a blink so . . . really it wasn’t that bad. I mean just look at Beauty and the Beast. Still Marak was hilarious. He was just so sarcastic and matter of fact and very caring for Kate and M. yeah he calls Emily the little letter. 

I guess Goblins don't have nicknames like Em. 

Charm: Oh my gosh this was my favorite character! Though spoilers for the first hundred pages FYI (though it’s not like you could kind of tell. Because that's how fairytales roll). 

So surprise, surprise Kate becomes Marak’s wife and part of the wedding ceremony was to cast some weird spell of protection on her. This spell manifests as a tattoo of a snake that wraps around her arm. Kate, being Victorian, is just thrilled about that. 

But due to extraneous circumstances Kate activates the spell and begins to chat with her snake friend, she calls him Charm. He is so hilarious! He’s protected the wives of all the Goblin Kings and he’s basically a huge vat of useless facts pertaining to the wives which he spouts to Kate randomly.  He was my favorite!

Things I liked!

The writing style: I’ve said before and I will say it again! I love fairytale writing. Most of the time. The third person perspective often bites me in the butt. 

Still the Hollow Kingdom was spot on. It very rarely crossed the line into opulence when it came to the description and I found the characters’ dialogue actually quite witty.

The goblin world: I’ve already praised the description but one has to admire the beautiful yet utterly ridiculous world that lives under the Hill. I mean Charm was crazy enough but there was also a talking door and lake that was turned sideways.

CHARM!! Charm, the little snake, brought this book from decent to great. His dry little voice and ridiculous facts were the best part of this book and I will probably get the sequels simply because of him.

The last eighty pages:  

While the beginning when Marak and Kate were technically on opposite sides was interesting I enjoyed the part after they were married much better. Essentially a terrifying human sorcerer discovers the Goblin world and begins enslaving the goblins spirits? Magic? Power? I’m actually not really sure.

 Their bodies fell asleep and whatever was left of them were forced to serve the sorcerer. Including Marak which was a lot more traumatizing than I expected. And of course it now becomes Kate and Charm’s job to free everybody.

Things I didn’t like

The pacing was rather . . . uneven. There would be these short spurts of real terror and adventure and then BAM! 

The literary equivalent of Monday morning. It was actually a bit jarring the first few times.

Still I am very pleased. It was a lovely story made all the better by Charm. Yeah he’s still my favorite. 

So if I had to sum up my feelings for this book