Hollow Earth(Hollow Earth, #1)
by John and Carole E. Barrowman
Hardcover, 382 p.
Synopsis
Imagination matters most in a world where art can keep monsters trapped—or set them free. Lots of twins have a special connection, but twelve-year-old Matt and Emily Calder can do way more than finish each other’s sentences. Together, they are able to bring art to life and enter paintings at will. Their extraordinary abilities are highly sought after, particularly by a secret group who want to access the terrors called Hollow Earth. All the demons, devils, and evil creatures ever imagined are trapped for eternity in the world of Hollow Earth—trapped unless special powers release them.
The twins flee from London to a remote island off the west coast of Scotland in hopes of escaping their pursuers and gaining the protection of their grandfather, who has powers of his own. But the villains will stop at nothing to find Hollow Earth and harness the powers within. With so much at stake, nowhere is safe—and survival might be a fantasy.
My Review
Have you ever sen a really pretty necklace, or pair of shoes, or some odd piece or accessory that you were all like, "that looks cool! I'm gunna buy it!" and then have it completely fall apart when you try to use it?
Yeah, Hollow Earth was like that.
I can't even BEGIN to describe how much I hated this book. I mean, I was sucked in at first because, who can't love a cover like that? But I couldn't love this at all.
Hokay, so where do I begin?
The writing. Stilted, awkward, and just...ugh. It had the weirdest chapter endings, and Lost of the phrasings were really strange too.
Em was paying attention to the man. She thought she remembered his face. He was kind of cool for a grown-up. Plus he had amazing blue eyes. He was tall and dressed nicely in a suit. His fingertips brushed along her mom's arm and rested lightly on the back of her hand. She let them rest there. ~pg. 47
That right there was a LEGIT quote from the book. First of all, notice how short the sentences are. They are ridiculously short, and the writing, even in this snippet, is extremely choppy and repetitive.
Now imagine 382 pages worth of that. Is it my fault that I didn't want to review this at all?
The kids. The twins, Matt and Emily, weren't very different in their characterization. Later, a friend named Zach (who, by the way, is deaf and mute), joins them. For about half of the book, I was messing up Matt and Zach, and wondering how the heck Matt had gotten the same way as Zach. If a reader can do that, this is a REALLY big hint that you have crappy characterization.
The special snowflakes. So apparently the twins can draw stuff, and "Animate" it with magical hocus-pocus. This really makes them invincible, because all they need is a canvas of some sorts and something to draw with *coughWATERcough*. And because of these super special snowflake powers, they're being chased after by evil people. They have a MANSION on an ISLAND to hide on. And they KNOW that they're special snowflakes too. They're all like, "ohohoho! REAL kids can't do THIS!"
The everything else miscellaneous. No special *spark*, no addiction whatsoever. It was a pain trying to get through this.
My Rating
Just...no. This was just such a cruddy piece of writing, I can't believe I even got through this one. I'd much rather read The Vengekeep Prophecies again--at least that one was cute and funny and, oh yeah, ACTUALLY HAD A PLOT.
In hopes that you will read books better than this,
Have you ever sen a really pretty necklace, or pair of shoes, or some odd piece or accessory that you were all like, "that looks cool! I'm gunna buy it!" and then have it completely fall apart when you try to use it?
Yeah, Hollow Earth was like that.
I can't even BEGIN to describe how much I hated this book. I mean, I was sucked in at first because, who can't love a cover like that? But I couldn't love this at all.
Hokay, so where do I begin?
The writing. Stilted, awkward, and just...ugh. It had the weirdest chapter endings, and Lost of the phrasings were really strange too.
Em was paying attention to the man. She thought she remembered his face. He was kind of cool for a grown-up. Plus he had amazing blue eyes. He was tall and dressed nicely in a suit. His fingertips brushed along her mom's arm and rested lightly on the back of her hand. She let them rest there. ~pg. 47
That right there was a LEGIT quote from the book. First of all, notice how short the sentences are. They are ridiculously short, and the writing, even in this snippet, is extremely choppy and repetitive.
Now imagine 382 pages worth of that. Is it my fault that I didn't want to review this at all?
The kids. The twins, Matt and Emily, weren't very different in their characterization. Later, a friend named Zach (who, by the way, is deaf and mute), joins them. For about half of the book, I was messing up Matt and Zach, and wondering how the heck Matt had gotten the same way as Zach. If a reader can do that, this is a REALLY big hint that you have crappy characterization.
The special snowflakes. So apparently the twins can draw stuff, and "Animate" it with magical hocus-pocus. This really makes them invincible, because all they need is a canvas of some sorts and something to draw with *coughWATERcough*. And because of these super special snowflake powers, they're being chased after by evil people. They have a MANSION on an ISLAND to hide on. And they KNOW that they're special snowflakes too. They're all like, "ohohoho! REAL kids can't do THIS!"
The everything else miscellaneous. No special *spark*, no addiction whatsoever. It was a pain trying to get through this.
My Rating
Just...no. This was just such a cruddy piece of writing, I can't believe I even got through this one. I'd much rather read The Vengekeep Prophecies again--at least that one was cute and funny and, oh yeah, ACTUALLY HAD A PLOT.
1 out of 5 stars
I was hoping you would like this one because I looove reading about twins.I'm a twin and i hardly ever read books that feature twins as the lead protagonists but the quote you posted showed such poor writing, I'm thinking i should pass on it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the helpful review, If i was choosing solely off the cover and blurb, I would have bought the book.
I love reading about twins too! Fred and George were some of my favorite characters awhile ago, and who can forget the Skywalkers? The only problem with having twins as the lead protagonists is that they have a tendency to get...overpowered. The whole telekenesis and/or double power trope is overused a lot.
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