The Hollow Kingdom - Clare Dunkle
Genre: YA Fantasy
# of pages: 240 (pb)
Publisher: Henry Holt, Macmillan
Age-Level Suggestion: 13&up
Genre: YA Fantasy
# of pages: 240 (pb)
Publisher: Henry Holt, Macmillan
Age-Level Suggestion: 13&up
In nineteenth-century England, a powerful sorcerer and King of the Goblins chooses Kate, the elder of two orphan girls recently arrived at their ancestral home, Hallow Hill, to be his bride and queen.
I just read this book again last night, and I have to say, I love it *MORE* than the first time!! The Hollow Kingdom is absolutely one of my all-time favorite books!! WAY TO GO, CLARE DUNKLE!!!! Thanks for writing such an amazing story :)
Original Review: Wow! I started this at 7 at night and finished at 2something in the morning! It was that engrossing! The fact that Clare Dunkle's writing was praised by Lloyd Alexander (one of my favorite authors of all time) really impressed me, and I see why. Though published within the last 5 years, she writes with a lyrical narrative not seen among today's more "urban fantasy/modern" authors. I can't really describe it, but it sounded reminiscent of Alexander's own work: simple yet elegant. And I have to say, I was and still am almost entirely in love with the story! Although the story's order of events were...unconventional (certainly like nothing I've ever read before) I was not bothered or uneasy in the least. If you've read the story, you may know what I mean: there are some things in fantasy stories that you just don't expect to happen, and when they do, it's very surprising, to say the least! And in fact, the sometimes shocking plotline is what I remember most about this story - the things you'd never expect to happen actually do - and from those shocking twists and turns comes an amazing, beautiful story that will stay with you forever. At least, this story will definitely stay with me forever.
This is a simple enough love story, and I found myself found it a little similar to the Phantom of the Opera scenario...but it is still different... It doesn't take an English professor to crack the major themes and the overall message of the story. Typical YA: sometimes those "messages" tend to be a little "after-school-special" for my taste, but still... great story, very well-developed characters, and an extremely talented
author. 
PS... he's totally not described this way, but I couldn't help but picture the Goblin King as the one played by David Bowie in Labyrinth! I *LOVE* Labyrinth and you all need to watch this movie after you read the book!
