Kira Jane Buxton

One pet crow fights to save humanity from an apocalypse in this uniquely hilarious debut from a genre-bending literary author. S.T., a domesticated crow, is a bird of simple pleasures: hanging out with his owner Big Jim, trading insults with Seattle's wild crows (those idiots), and enjoying the finest food humankind has to offer: Cheetos ®. Then Big Jim's eyeball falls out of his head, and S.T. starts to feel like something isn't quite right. His most tried-and-true remedies--from beak-delivered beer to the slobbering affection of Big Jim's loyal but dim-witted dog, Dennis--fail to cure Big Jim's debilitating malady. S.T. is left with no choice but to abandon his old life and venture out into a wild and frightening new world with his trusty steed Dennis, where he discovers that the neighbors are devouring each other and the local wildlife is abuzz with rumors of dangerous new predators roaming Seattle. Humanity's extinction has seemingly arrived, and the only one determined to save it is a foul-mouthed crow whose knowledge of the world around him comes from his TV-watching education. Hollow Kingdom is a humorous, big-hearted, and boundlessly beautiful romp through the apocalypse and the world that comes after, where even a cowardly crow can become a hero.

Hollow Kingdom

Clara Gauthier

Ifyou are alive-whether of blood or bark-you will be struck by pain, love, longing, fear, anger, and the particular ache of sadness. There will be joys that quIver your leaves and betrayals that will sever your roots, poisoning the water you pull. These are the varying notes in the music of living. Look up, to close your eyes is to stagnate. To rot and stop the song. 

My gift to you is to know that we are here, all around you, talking to one another and dreaming of your success. Sorcery is everywhere, in the silver stroll of a slug and lighting up the very veins of you. Open those beautiful eyes to a world who is a mosaic of magic. She is just waiting for you to notice.

a charming horror comedy with such a delightful narrator that makes you forget you’re reading a zombie apocalypse novel. made me cry. surprisingly tender and hopeful about nature and evolution. thanks for the rec my fav millennial coworker nicole ❤️

Patty Pforte

Sarah Sammis

I'm bored out of my gourd.

Midway through the first chapter I already was regretting my decision, though not initially or the two items listed above. S.T. and his ex-human liked junk food. They lived on it. S.T. talks about favorite foods constantly and each time it comes with an ®. I get that these are real world snacks and they're all registered but come the fuck on. Each of those marks makes this train wreck of a novel read like a late night infomercial.

The second annoyance is S.T.'s stream of consciousness. I get that he's a bird and probably doesn't know about paragraphs and simple sentences, but why do we have to tortured with yet another book of word vomit. 

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2021/comm...

A humorous, big-hearted romp through the apocalypse, where even a cowardly crow can become a hero. Perfect for fans of Dawn of the Dead and Isaac Marion's Warm Bodies. 'A thoroughly enjoyable account of the end of the world as we know it. The Secret Life of Pets meets The Walking Dead.' Karen Joy Fowler 'It's transformative, poignant, and funny as hell. S.T. the irrepressible, cursing crow is my new favourite apocalyptic hero.' Helen Macdonald, New York Times bestselling author of H Is for Hawk S.T. is a domesticated crow. He is a bird of simple pleasures: hanging out with his owner Big Jim, trading insults with Seattle's wild crows (those idiots) and enjoying the finest food humankind has to offer: Cheetos. But when Big Jim's eyeball falls out of his head, S.T. starts to feel like something isn't right. His most tried-and-true remedies - from beak-delivered beer to the slobbering affection of the loyal, but dim-witted, dog Dennis - fail to cure his owner. S.T. is left with no choice but to venture out into a frightening new world, where he discovers that the neighbours are devouring each other, and the local wildlife is abuzz with rumours of dangerous new predators roaming Seattle... Humanity's extinction has arrived, and the only one determined to save it is a foul-mouthed crow. Readers love Hollow Kingdom... 'Beguilingly different' Bookist (starred review) '...wildly original and inventive, funny and profane' Laurie Frankel, author of This is How It Always Is 'I love this book so much! I wanted to set it on fire while hugging it.' Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

It's time to meet the world's most unlikely hero...

Lara Engle

This one just wasn't for me. The premise seemed promising and S.T. is a strong protagonist, but the storytelling style dragged. I know some people will think this makes me a terrible person, but I'm just not all that interested in animals and their supposed thoughts. Even in a zombie apocalypse where the animals are now going to rule the world.

Briar's Reviews

This one hurts to write... I did not enjoy Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton.

It's not the writing itself. Kira Jane Buxton is such a talented writer and brought these animals to life with such incredible skill. It's the content of the book that made it so hard. I wanted to DNF so bad, but I also wanted to know how it ended...I really should have DNF-ed, because the ending needed MANY trigger warnings.

Animal deaths, and brutal ones at that, of sweet and beautiful animals... It's hard on my soul. I know it exists and it's out there, but man... I can't handle it in writing. I needed ALL the trigger warnings.

I will say, the general idea of the book is wicked cool. What happens when us humans have used technology so much that we basically destroy our existence and become a bunch of zombies? The animals will take over the world again! I'm so curious to read Kira's thoughts on what would happen, but I'm going to have to stop at this book before another animal death sends me into a panic spin.

So my overall thoughts: Skillfully written book that is really good, but not made for me as a reader.

One out of five stars.

Petaco

I did not enjoy this book. It wasn't what I expected.

Claudia Guzman

First of all let me just say that I loved, loved, LOVED reading this book so very much.

In Hollow Kingdom, which takes place during the fallout of humankind, we follow a spunky, Cheeto-obsessed crow called Shit Turd who adores and was reared by humans (a.k.a MoFos), even longing to be a MoFo himself as he tries to make sense of a zombie apocalypse, find a cure for his ailed owner, and maybe even discover himself again. Joining Shit Turd is his companion bloodhound Dennis who I grew to love so so much because we learn that there's more to him than meets the eye as he helps Shit Turd along their journey. We also meet new (and old) feathered and furry friends along the way and even see into the pov of a few animals across the globe who are impacted from not only apocalypse, but also from the actions of humans before and after the great change. I did get confused at some of the povs only because some animals don't have the best grammar skills, but it didnt impact my comprehension of the story and I'd gladly read it all over again to gain a better understanding. I only wish I could have gotten to know more about Kraai the crow leader and Dennis's pov, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book overall.
The ending, oh the ending, was so satisfying and lovely. It brought upon me both tears sadness and joy. I can't wait to read more about our beloved Shit Turd's journey into this new world.

ben wolfson

Didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would've. Disappointing.

Paola C

Holy s**** was this book amazing! I don't think I have ever read a book like this one before. At fist I was a bit hesitant to keep reading it because there is a lot of cursing in here ( I was under the assumption that this was a YA book) and it felt weird to have a story from the point of view of a CROW! But honestly, that is what makes this book amazing. 
Humans have turned into zombies in this apocalyptical tale, the reader never truly finds out what happens to the humans, but it is implied that it has something to do with cellphones. S.T our main character or crow in this case and Dennis (S.T's 'brother' who is a dog) end up leaving their home to find out what is happening in the world. We figure out that the animals are pretty much the only survivors of this virus, but that some of them are also starting to turn. 
While reading this I laughed, I cried, and I truly loved it. I recommend it to everyone that I know.

libby g

Faith

Anastaciya

Unexpected, hilarious, deep
This is one special book. The reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is that at one point some things seemed repetitive to my taste (the way ST calls people, and all this talk about how he's a MoFo, too), but I understand why it's done.
Highly recommend.

Heather Harrington

Interesting premise, but I didn't love the execution.

Judy Hudgins

Just not feeling the talking crow and eyeballs falling out. May come back to it at a later date when I'm feeling the 'vibe' for this book.

Ben Nathan

I loved this book from cover to cover. The humor, the heart, the ideas... All great. Every time I think an idea has been ridden into the ground someone comes along. I'm incredibly excited to see where her career goes

Kate Standing 

Emiley Jones

Francine Corry

Michelle Miller

Christian West

Kerry McHugh West

"The Secret Life of Pets meets The Walking Dead" in this big-hearted, boundlessly beautiful romp through the Apocalypse and the world that comes after, where a foul-mouthed crow is humanity's only chance to survive Seattle's zombie problem. (Karen Joy Fowler, PEN/Faulkner Award-winning author of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves) S.T., a domesticated crow, is a bird of simple pleasures: hanging out with his owner Big Jim, trading insults with Seattle's wild crows (i.e. "those idiots"), and enjoying the finest food humankind has to offer: Cheetos ®. But when Big Jim's eyeball falls out of his head, S.T. starts to think something's not quite right. His tried-and-true remedies -- from beak-delivered beer to the slobbering affection of Big Jim's loyal but dim-witted dog, Dennis -- fail to cure Big Jim's debilitating malady. S.T. is left with no choice but to abandon his old life and venture out into a wild and frightening new world with his trusty steed Dennis, where he suddenly discovers that the neighbors are devouring one other. Local wildlife is abuzz with rumors of Seattle's dangerous new predators. Humanity's extinction has seemingly arrived, and the only one determined to save it is a cowardly crow whose only knowledge of the world comes from TV. What could possibly go wrong?

Hollow Kingdom

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