The plot was very predictable and I found the main character rather stupid and annoying. The ending seemed very odd and it didn't really compel me to read the next book. I found the style to be very simplistic and clumsy. ( )

I'm not sure about the appeal of this book. I like zombies, don't get me wrong. Unlike most apocalypses you can pretend you could survive if dropped into the middle zombie-pocalypse. Heck, all you need is a gun, but if you can't find that a lamp might do. No radiation, just don't get bit! What's not to love? And yet this book falls far short.

The narration is flat, with no anguish, no fear, no pain, no bitterness, no hope. Just the facts ma'am, which makes it a pretty dull read. The characters are frustratingly flat or stupid, take your pick. "Bad ass" Remy is an idiot, leaving a girl in the desert, presumably to be torn apart by zombies because she can't bare to pull the badass trigger (or, more realistically she doesn't want to waste bullets), then works her butt off to save some lion. She then immediately meets two boys she decides to pigeon hole based on her own small-mindness. Doctor boy is safe, but rockstar, who's doing just as much of the heavy lifting is an idiot? There's of course the worlds most cliche cult, and the marauders, and oh so much lameness. The twist is predictable by Chapter 2 if you can call it that.

And the lion, don't get me started with the lion. Should you meet a lion that survived the zombie apocalypse shoot it. It will never behave like any of these stupid felines. Wandering around with a lion that is unrecognizable as a lion and not a kitten is not cool, it's laughable.

The zombies! Weak! A 19 year old girl can punch their heads in? I feel like a broken record, but weak adversaries do not make a heroine strong, just the opposite! And she'll try to clobber them to death with junk, to save the bullets and then shoot randomly at windows hoping to hit human bad guys. Not smart. Not impressive.

And don't get me started on the virus. If you want a well thought out virus, with a well thought out apocalypse world read [b:Feed|7094569|Feed|Mira Grant|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327883721s/7094569.jpg|7351419] or [b:Deadline|8429687|Deadline (Newsflesh Trilogy, #2)|Mira Grant|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1314464938s/8429687.jpg|13292985]. No you won't get 40 million zombies going squish, maybe a handful, but there's emotion, hope, fear, and real bad guys, not to mention a virus so believable I'm literally convinced Grant is an unknown oracle.

And Biology Soap Box: Just for the record, the Rabies virus is a mammalian virus, it will not become human specific, it will never magically evolve in days to something that causes disease in hours to days, and if an outbreak did occur in people, as described, we'd have it quarantined in hours, seeing as the number of people actually exposed in the United States is tiny and it's literally so easy to vaccinate for Rabies that it was pretty much the first vaccine (ignore small pox!). Being immune to a virus does not make you a science experiment waiting to happen. It makes you lucky. If you don't produce protective antibodies, it means it's a genetic weirdness. They don't need to trap you in a hospital and practically kill you. Just ridiculous. A flu virus would be more believable than this. Pet peeve over.

So basically:
Flat writing = unemotional - don't care if you die
Flat MC = don't care if you die
Plotless wander = boring ( )

I enjoyed reading this book. It was an interesting vision of a post apocalyptic world overrun with zombies. I liked the main character, Remy, and how tough she was. I really liked the inclusion of the lion, Ripley. I liked her dedication to her brother, Max, and to her surrogate family Blue, Lazlo and Harlow. It was interesting how the zombies seemed to be evolving. I am sure they will become much more of a threat in future books. I wasn't real thrilled with the ending, only because I don't know how Remy will get herself out of it. But it will be interesting to find out. ( )

This is the first book in The Hollows duology by Hocking. This is a very typical zombie apocalypse YA novel. Parts of it were okay and other parts of it were very predictable and/or annoying.

I listened to this on audiobook and the narrator does a good job with narration. I would recommend listening to on audiobook if you enjoy audiobooks.

This book was incredibly predictable. The big mystery throughout the story is the mystery around Remy’s brother Max and why he is evacuated before anyone else in the beginning on the book. If you have ever read a post-apocalyptic zombie book you will figure this “huge” mystery out very quickly.

Additionally Remy and her traveling companions go through every typical post-apocalyptic scenario you’ve ever already read about. Do they run into a crazy religious cult? Yes. What about a Mad Max scenario...yep. Over-controlling military scenario? Yep, that too. I had to roll my eyes everytime anything happened exactly as planned.

Remy was a decent character but she was incredibly black and white in her thinking. The end of the book is ridiculous; she never once tries to compromise or strike a deal with the doctors she talks to. The doctor doesn’t seem like an unreasonable man...she should have at least tried to compromise with him. It was silly.

The other characters weren’t as well done. Harlow (who is thirteen and travels with Remy from the beginning) is just plain annoying. She almost gets the whole party killed a number of times with her squealing and stupidity. Does anyone ever talk to her about her behavior and point out how much she endangers the party? No.

The two boys that join the party aren’t well done either. Lazlo is incredibly immature and I never understood the attraction. Blue, who seems like a much more interesting character, ends up being very underdeveloped. My favorite side character in this whole book was the lion that Remy picks up on the side of the road.

Overall this is an okay book. The writing isn’t horrible and the story does move along at a quick pace. However, the story is incredibly predictable and not at all creative. The side characters are not well done and come across as either underdeveloped or just plain annoying. I will not be continuing with this series. There are so many other more well done post-apocalyptic zombie YA novels out there. ( )

Got while free for kindle and debating whether or not I will read. I liked her Trylle/Torn trilogy books; I generally dislike apocalyptic wasteland type of books and have zero interest in zombie or horror stories. That said, have read a few in both genres that were interesting and good reads. Definitely this will be a back burner one.