The Hollows

by Amanda Hocking, Tony Lee, Steve Uy (Artist)

Welcome to the world of Amanda Hocking's bestselling novel Hollowland, as never seen before! It's Day One as a new pandemic sweeps the globe, and all over the world people are turning into mindless zombies. But for five people -- siblings Remy and Max King, med student Blue Adams, rock star Lazlo Durante, and teenager Harlow Smith -- it's the start of a journey that they can never return from! Learn for the first time how the characters of Hollowland started their journeys as we go back to the very beginning of the story!

Genres: Graphic Novels, Horror, Comics, Zombies, Manga, Dystopia, Science Fiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published March 18, 2014

About the author

AMANDA HOCKING is the author of over twenty young adult novels, including the New York Times bestselling Trylle Trilogy and Kanin Chronicles. Her love of pop culture and all things paranormal influence her writing. She spends her time in Minnesota, taking care of her menagerie of pets and working on her next book.

Several of her books have made the New York Times Bestsellers list. Her zombie series, The Hollows, has been adapted into a graphic novel by Dynamite. She has published over twenty novels, including The Kanin Chronicles, the Watersong quartet, My Blood Approves series, the Valkyrie duology, and Freeks .
For more info about her and her books, here are some other places to check out and ways to contact her:

Website: www.hockingbooks.com
Amazon Author Page: Amanda Hocking
Patreon: Amanda Hocking
Instagram: @amanda_hocking
BlueSky: AmandaHocking.bsky.social
Threads: @amanda_hocking
YouTube: aehocking
Facebook: Amanda Hocking Fans
Etsy: Hocking Books by Amanda
TikTok: @amanda_hocking
Goodreads: Amanda Hocking
Spotify : Amanda Hocking

Reviews

[Demian Katz · Rating 1 out of 5]

In my ongoing game of comic book Russian roulette (courtesy of Humble Bundle), this was my latest random selection. Some have been pretty good, but this was not one of the winners. It probably doesn't help that I'm pretty sure I don't fit the target demographic for this thing, but that's certainly not my only reason for disliking it.

The world really doesn't need another zombie comic, and I really didn't need to read one. But, as past reviews show, sometimes things can be surprisingly good, even within a tired subgenre, so I forced myself to keep reading until the end. If I had to describe this in a nutshell, it would be "Zombie Apocalypse, Jr." All of the zombie tropes and cliches are intact, and there's a fair amount of gore, but somehow it feels like it's meant for teenagers (which is probably because it is). The characters seem designed, not to create interesting stories or develop depth or engage the audience, but rather to allow fans to split into factions and argue over which one is the "best" (answer: none of them; they're all cardboard). There is an obligatory ham-handed romance. The book seems to be trying to keep things light even when it's dealing with dark themes, but the mix is not balanced well, with internal conflict generally represented by characters alternating gleeful zombie-killing one liners with "yuck, I don't like this."

The black and white artwork is vaguely manga-influenced, with a slightly inappropriate hint of cuteness behind all of the blood spatters and decapitations. While some of it was reasonably interesting to look at, the style further distanced me from the story and decreased my engagement.

I gather that the author of this story has become quite popular and successful. Based on what I've seen here, that popularity seems more likely to come from the existing resonances of well-established ideas being introduced to a new audience, rather than from anything new that's being brought to the table. Maybe that's okay, but I like to think that any work can be written to appeal on different levels to readers of different demographics... and this one does not seem to fit that category, at least for me.

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've never read the Hollows, so I didn't have any familiarity with these characters going in. But as it's a prequel, that worked out fine. This is an interesting prequel, gathering characters from disparate backgrounds over the first year or more of a zombie apocalypse. The characters are strong, and the events, while often familiar from other zombie books, still work together very well. There are some ideas that are tossed out (a hive mind for the zombies) that don't get resolved in the book, but I'm guessing they were kernels for the actual novel. Even so, the book works pretty well on its own. I'm curious to read more, but I got a complete story. The artwork is black and white, and not the fanciest, but it definitely gets the story across. For fans of the series, this is strongly recommended. For everyone else, it's not a bad introduction.

[C. Erani Kole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glad I got to it

I read the book when it first came out and finally decided to check out the comic. I’m glad I did. It starts off with the backstory so you literally get to see the buildup to the first chapter from every person’s point of view until they meet. It’s a cool way to go about it as a zombie comic and it really emphasized on the zombie apocalypse, giving you a bonus look of what everyone had gone through. Made it more personal.

I’ve loved these characters for a long time so it wasn’t hard getting into this. It did move very fast, so I don’t know what to think about that. I’m used to reading for the long haul but at the same time, I won’t complain about finishing something before it becomes too dragging. I know it made me want to reread the second book and that’s probably something I’ll do right after this even though it’s one in the morning. I think that if you’re a fan of anything tagged with this book, you should check it out.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got this as part of a Humble Bundle, some time ago. I'm not usually a big fan of post-apocalypse YA zombie stories, but I gave this a try. It's better than I expected. The first several chapters seemed rushed, like they were trying to get through a lot of material quickly. I guess that's a side-effect of it being an adaptation of a novel. The pacing in the later chapters was better.

I liked the art. Somewhat manga-influenced, but not in a bad way. The storytelling was well-done. Easy to follow, for the most part. Again, better than I expected.

If you like this kind of thing, you'll probably like this. And even if this isn't your usual cup of tea, you might enjoy it.

[Jahric Lago · Rating 5 out of 5]

'The Hollows' by Amanda Hocking reminded me why matagal ko nang love ang mga books niya, and for me this was easily a 4.5/5 stars read dahil sa ganda ng storytelling at character development na sobrang kinain ako ng story. Medyo fast-paced lang siya and I wished na mas na-improve pa ang illustrations, pero overall, I really enjoyed it. 🥰🌟

[Kareena Gaffney · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Amanda Hockings!

I enjoyed the original book and the graphic novel makes it better because you can see what is happening throughout the story. I actually wished that there was more than two books.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read the Hocking series but I liked this graphic novel adaptation. It has not been popular in my library, however, although Hocking's books continue to appeal to fans. This book reminds me of the comic adaptation of Rot & Ruin as well as Higgins' Enemy series, very similar story - young love and perseverance despite escalating onslaught of zombies, which are evolving and developing a pack mentality and becoming harder to kill. I like the zombie-killing lion in this version of the zombie apocalypse - that's a fresh twist.

[Albert Yates · Rating 4 out of 5]

not a bad graphic novel, despite a few issues with the placement of some of the speech bubbles (that totally drove me crazy).

the author really did a good job of condensing the contents of the book into an easy to digest size. there didn't really appear to be any missing pieces of the story during the translation. I'd still recommend someone reading the book over this as everything is covered in greater detail.

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first half switches back and forth between character groups fast enough to give you whiplash, with no time for character development. They meet up halfway through and it gets much better, but the events are still pretty abrupt.

[Simon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not like at all. Which is odd, because I usually love all things zombie.

[Househippo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was so terrifically bad I briefly thought it was a satire.

But no.

It's not.

BUT it is entertainingly bad. Like hilariously bad. Thus, the two stars.