I love this series. Books one and three are the strongest (book two spends the first half meandering before getting back to the plot), and I’m amazed at how much world-building and detail Dunkle can pack into such short books. I wish there were more (alas, she’s made it clear on her website there are no more to come and no movie ever). My only critique for book three is that I wish she’d spent more time building the relationship between Miranda and Nir. It happened a bit fast amidst all the other forces at work in the story. Book one is still probably my favorite, but there’s nothing quite as satisfying as re-reading a book you loved when you were young and finding it can still keep you reading late into the night.

Also, minor point—the covers of these books stink. The font, the artwork, everything. It’s my literary wish that all three could get a face lift! ( )

I actually liked this book better than the first two, only because it was a little less predictable. ( )

The third and final entry in Dunkle's Hollow Kingdom Trilogy, In the Coils of the Snake follows the story of Miranda, one of the human twins brought back to the goblin kingdom by Emily in Close Kin. Raised as a wife for Catspaw, the future Marak, Miranda's entire life is thrown into chaos by the arrival of the mysterious elf lord, Nir. Cast off by one powerful leader, Miranda soon finds herself the captive of another...

This was essentially the story of the return of the elves to their forest - something I had hoped for since the first title in the series - and I enjoyed that aspect of it immensely, finding Nir an engrossing character. But I continued to feel some ethical qualms about the "captured bride" theme that permeates the series. In the first title, The Hollow Kingdom, one could argue that Kate chose her destiny, and there is no question that in Close Kin, Emily loved Seylin long before Marak stepped in with his machinations. But I felt rather strongly that Miranda was treated as so much baggage by the male characters around her - her role was to be a bride, apparently, so did it matter very much whose bride she ended up being? If I had not liked the political narrative of this title so much, I might have been tempted to give it two stars, despite Dunkle's excellent writing... ( )

In the last book of this wonderful trilogy, the author finally bridges the gap between the goblin and the elvish world. Matilda is the first goblin king bride ever to be raised from birth for the position instead of being stolen. It has always been a great source of comfort and pride to her, as she grew up in the human world, that she was meant for this great destiny.

But when she is put aside for a pure elvish bride, she leaves the goblin kingdom and is instead captured by the elves. Now forced to live with the people who displaced her from her role in the world, she must come to terms with a new destiny.

Dunkle finally shows things from the perspective of elves that we're supposed to sympathize with. The culture is very foreign to the one she's created for the goblins, but she manages to show how the two races need each other to survive and thrive.

I'm not even entirely sure why I like these books so much, but I think part of it is that the adventure is more subtle here. Unlike many young adult novels, even those that I greatly enjoy, it often feels like the hero is just running from one adventure and crisis to another. Here, Dunkle takes time to develop the characters while still engaging the reader with mystery and heroism.

The last book in the Hollow Kingdom trilogy and I wasn’t disappointed. First off, this is the first book without an overly gruesome prologue. Which I’m almost sad about since I felt bound to continue reading the others to discover the reason for such horridness. This prologue begins with our beloved Marak getting ready to pass away and leave his kingdom to his son – not as gruesome and to tell you the truth not as intriguing either but still good. Back to the story: Old Marak has been raising a human girl, Miranda, to become the bride of his son for her entire life a fact which has left her ostracized from humans her entire life. Miranda has faced cruelty, disappointment and is now ready to finally take her place as the new Marak’s bride – only the arrival of a new and powerful elf turns her entire world upside down and she is caught between two strong rulers who both believe she belongs to them. This was the most emotionally developed of all three books in my opinion. There was so much love, loss, humor and growth that I couldn’t stop reading. I wasn’t sure how she would make the ending work out and to my amazement, I was completely happy with all that occurred. Such a great series I would recommend to anyone.This little section had me in stitches. This is when Miranda (a human) is trying to explain to Hunter (an elf) why she is reading a book – Robinson Crusoe:Hunter was astounded. “You’re learning the history of a man who didn’t exist?” he demanded. “Why would you bother to do that?”“Because it’s interesting,” said Miranda. “When I think about his troubles, I forget mine for a while.”“You want imaginary troubles to forget real troubles?” asked Hunter. “I don’t have to read a big long chronicle for that. I’ll just imagine I have a stomachache.”He rolled around on the floor, moaning and holding his middle. Miranda was disgusted. She headed back to her room to enjoy her book in peace. Hunter sat up laughing as she passed.“Wait! My stomachache’s gone!” he exclaimed. “I feel wonderful.” But she marched up the stairs without looking at him. “She’s mad at me,” he sighed. “Now we’ll never find out what happened to the man who didn’t exist.” ( )