I love Hollow Kingdom, with the exception of the very end. I figured we'd get a sequel at some point and I knew I'd read it, even though I didn't really need one. That probably influenced my mindset somewhat, though I was looking forward to more colorful commentary from S.T. Sadly, I did think this book was pretty mid

I didn't really find myself attached to any of the new characters and while S.T. is great, it sort of felt like he had to carry this novel for me (in terms of my enjoyment). There is an interesting element here, with the bizarre and horrifying evolution of the humans, but it still didn't pull me in the way the first book did.

The ending felt overly convenient and a bit cheesy. There's probably a case for a third book too, which I would still read, even though I absolutely don't need any more entries this series. I'm not mad I read it, but it was a bit of a disappointment. ( )

ST remains one of the greatest characters to be created -- he is just as funny in this one. Any fans of Hollow Kingdom will not be disappointed in this new adventure. This is a super fun read! ( )

This review contains spoilers.

****

This book carries on where Hollow Kingdom left off. Humanity (or as our crow narrator S.T. would call us, MoFos) has been irrevocably altered by a pandemic in which technology turned everyone into mindless zombies. Everyone, that is, except Dee, whom S.T. raises from babyhood to teenagerdom with the help of other wildlife. But it’s a dangerous world out there, and yet Dee wants to explore it. What’s a crow-dad to do?

I’m not sure that this sequel was strictly necessary, and it took me a while to get into. I had to borrow it multiple times from the library before I finally got into it, but it did pick up quite a bit at the end. It is certainly worth a borrow if you liked the first book, but I wouldn’t consider it mandatory.

On a side note, I found it utterly creepy that the Changed Ones (the former humans) were pursuing Dee for reproductive reasons. Repopulating the world with humans is THE WORST part of postapocalyptic scenarios, because you just know that the people who think they’re entitled to reproduce after that are precisely the people who should NOT reproduce because they are arrogant or dangerous or assholes. I’m always a bit skittish about reading dystopian or postapocalyptic fiction for this reason. Fortunately, nothing happens to Dee in this book. ( )

This wasn't nearly as good as The Hollow Kingdom, but it was still a fun read.

ST the crow is raising the only human left on Earth after a weird disease has made all humans evolve into zombie-like monsters. He has to keep her safe from animals who want to harm her in revenge for what humans did to Earth, as well as from zombie humans. Along the way, he gets help from a lot of other animals and learns some lessons about nature.

Like the first book, this one is hilarious, and full of some surprisingly poignant writing about nature. It doesn't have any of the fresh surprises of the first book, though, and it can be a little tedious because the plot revolves around Dee not listening to ST, ST not trusting anybody, and everything turning out okay despite ST's constant worrying.

I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator deserves a while pile of awards for all the different animal voices he does. The narration is amazing. ( )

While Buxton's writing is still laugh out loud funny in places, too much of this story is a repetitive pattern (S.T. yelling at Dee, Dee running off and getting in troublt, S.T. anxiously yelling at Dee, Dee getting herself out of trouble) and the listing of different species and subspecies is even more prevalent than in the first book. ( )