Delightfully quirky, strange, and darkly humorous. I could not stop thinking about this book after reading it, and look forward to more from Buxton.

So I had this book as an ARC back in 2019, but I put it aside, unable to push through the darker apocalyptic setting. Thanks to a prompt on my reading challenge AND a prompt on a readathon (to finish a book you DNFed), I picked it back up. It's very well-written, hilarious, but also still a little soul-crushing. The first half of the book was my favorite, while the last half was a little harder to get through. The ending was great, though! I just wish there had been more cats in the story. I'm convinced they could have gotten things done. Ha! And I don't think I'll ever look at a crow the same way.

I have to admit that I wasn't sure about how well this premise would work, but I am a sucker for zombie stories these days, so wanted to give it a try. Surprisingly enough, following a zombie outbreak and the destruction of humanity through the eyes of the various animals - mostly domesticated, but also a few wild - was so much more interesting than I expected. Our main narrator, a domesticated crow named S.T. (Or Shit Turd, for those who don't want to use a nickname), attempts to save his human after the human starts acting strange...and his eyeball pops out. This ends up leading him onwards with his hound buddy on a quest to not just find other humans and save his person, but to help and free domesticated animals all over in the wake of the zombie apocalypse. Definitely recommend - it's funny and heart-warming, and occasionally heart-breaking.

Domesticated crow, S. T. , is absolutely hilarious. After his owner, his infected with some type of zombie-like sickness. S.T. sets out to save humanity. I never thought I'd enjoy a novel with all types of talking animals, but this one completely worked. I look forward to reading the second book in this series.

I am torn on this, the book was fun but also at the same time not quite for me. I do like the take of it but also it feels not quite what I expected, but I do think some will enjoy it.

I was lucky enough to get an eARC of Hollow Kingdom. Sadly, I was unable to read it until just recently when I listened to the audiobook. I think the story was creative and original, the issue was I was unable to bring myself to fully focus on the story and yet not caring to rewind to see what I missed. I have a feeling this opinion would have been different if we weren’t in our own pandemic and left completely tired of the ‘end of the world’ vibes.
We follow S.T. (Shit Turd) the crow as he and Denis lose their human (or also called mofos or hollows) Big Jim. What neither of them realize is that Big Jim’s illness and constant tapping on the wall is a symptom to some sort of virus in the humans that basically turn them into zombies. S.T. technically saw that it was the end of the world, that everyone was acting weird, but instead don’t share this information until later saying they were isolated after Big Jim broke up with his girlfriend. I don’t feel like the story pulls this off well at all. After all S.T. basically acts shocked only for him later to be like “oh wait, I saw news reports about it!” Basically, it’s just the characters moving through this new world in Seattle. They try to figure out who are the chosen ones with special names such as the one who spits and the one that keeps. Honestly that’s it. That’s the story. No plot. Very little character growth. I think the book was at it’s best the last chapter. It finally gave S.T. some sort of purpose as to why he hangs onto the human ways. Like I mentioned, the story itself is creative. It’s even extremely funny at times. But it’s not done in a way that sustains the story for long. I do think the fact I can’t read dystopian books to save my life right now doesn’t help. I actually went into it forgetting that it was about a pandemic and what comes after.
Maybe if I’d read it instead of listened and it had been at a different time, I would have liked it, but as of now, it was the wrong book for me. I give it three stars for being creative, but as for my feelings on it, it sits at a 2.5.

A new point of view! I loved it! Hollow Kingdom is hilarious. It's set in a post-apocalyptic world where zombies roam the earth. Humanity's only hope is a rather unconventional hero, S.T., a common crow. The book brings us along on S.T.s's journey of growth and discovery while asking what makes humans, well, human.

A post-apocalyptic horror that is equal parts hilarious and heartfelt. A crow named Shit Turd, who believes himself to be more human than animal, and his dog, Dennis, brave a world without their MoFo. (MoFo is what S.T. 's owner, Big Jim, called humans.) MoFos have turned into zombies and it is up to S.T. to save the animal kingdom.

This book was not for me, I don't want to leave a negative review as it will be a good fit for many others, just not me.

While the cat’s away, the mice will play. Only in this case, the humans are the cats and they’ve certainly gone away. Well, not away away, they’re still around. Just in a very much useless, zombie capacity.

HOLLOW KINGDOM is the story of the fall of humanity and the rise of the animal kingdom through the eyes of a very sarcastic and lovable crow that fancies himself a MOFO. Which is what he believes humans are called, since his owner Big Jim was quite fond of calling other humans mofos. S.T the mofo crow was such a delightful bird and I absolutely loved hearing the story from him pov. It’s no secret that I am in real life a lover of crows, and it’s their intelligence and their memory that make them such incredible creatures (fun fact: crows can remember human faces. Don’t be mean to crows.) Buxton did such an incredible job of capturing the essence of a crow, or what I imagine a crow would be if they had the ability to speak, and I loved this particular crow’s loyalty and his incredible heart.

The fall of humanity in this instance was certainly something I could see bringing about the apocalypse. Aside from being a zombie tale, this book was just so much more. It isn’t just a tale of an anthropomorphic crow, it’s a story of the beauty of the natural world and the incredible network that ties all living creatures together. It’s so easy to get lost in the digital world and all of the other things that are so appealing to humans, that it’s easy to forget that the natural world is out there waiting to show us her secrets, if only we would put down our phones.

All told — HOLLOW KINGDOM is going straight to my favorites shelf, and it’s certainly a book I’ll be revisiting again in the future. I listened to the audiobook and I highly recommend the audio. It was funny, it was heartbreaking, and Robert Petkoff gave the perfect voice to sweet S.T.

Absolutely loved this book. It's weird and wonderful, and full of surprises. Who knew a post-apocalyptic novel narrated by a crow could be so good?

I loved this book. It was so readable, laugh out loud funny at times, and yet had depth and pathos. The author got inside of the way we live today - the compromises we have made from the limited choices we are given, and how unaware we are of our own sheeplike tendencies to just follow along. It is hard to make animals become philosophers yet in this book they are!

"I cannot recommend this to you enough: find something that you believe in, right down deep in the depths of your silvery plumage, and then throw your heart at it, blood and valves and veins and all. Because I did this, the world, though brambled and frothing at the mouth, looked more vibrant; blues were bluer, and even the fetid puddles that collected under rusting cars tasted as sweet as summer wine."

This book surprised me. I knew within the first page that it was going to be hilarious, but I didn't expect the tenderness of it. Basically, as others have pointed out, Hollow Kingdom is a mix between The Secret Life of Pets, The Walking Dead, and The Road. It starts off with the protagonist of the story, a domesticated crow named Shit Turd, or S.T. for short, playing in the yard with his owner Big Jim and another fellow pet, a bloodhound named Dennis when the unexpected happens:

"Big Jim’s eyeball fell out. Like, fell the fuck out of his head. It rolled onto the grass, and to be honest, Big Jim and I were both taken aback."

(Just saying, I literally laughed out loud at that paragraph). Thus begins the zombie plague on humanity. Animals are left behind by their turned owners. And so, a quest begins wherein S.T. and Dennis save fellow domestic pets from being trapped in their homes without their humans. Along the way, they face off against predators looking to take over the land.

A lot more happens and it's worth experiencing, especially if you like zombie apocalypse stuff with humor and heart also thrown in. It's a unique perspective and the author, Kira Jane Buxton, is SO good at writing it. It's moving and complex and brings up some important points about appreciating what we have, what we give to the world, and also what humans can take away from the natural earth. It also made me hug my corgis extra hard. Dogs are just so pure!!!! Overall, this whacky book kept me hooked from beginning to end. I really enjoyed it.

Highly recommend this book! 4.25 stars.


TW: animal violence, death

This book was SO WEIRD. Like, I didn't know what was going on half the time. But it was enjoyable and one hell of a ride. The main character is A CROW! WHO EATS CHEETOS! How fun is that! It was definitely a unique read and it was unlike anything that I've read before. I heard about this book at Book Expo and was excited to get my hands on it!

This is one of the strangest books I have ever read, and I'm not going to sugar coat this review--it's probably not every reader's cup of tea, but it is absolutely brilliant, and it's definitely a literary breakthrough on many levels.

Fair warning, There are many harsh scenes described in vulgar detail. It is after all about an apocalypse. But it's told through the POV of a crow, ST, who had been a domestic pet and learned many human words. Essentially, ST sets out with Dennis, the dog he lived with, after a terrible illness turns most all people into animalistic zombies, and the two of them go on a journey that becomes a mission to save domestic pets and to help them learn to negotiate a new world where people are horribly infected, dangerous zombie-monsters. These sound like spoilers, but I assure you that these plot points are not what makes this book exciting.

The actual plot is secondary to the brilliant, witty, hilarious thought process of ST, the crow, and the other domestics he encounters. The commentary provided from their POVs is just outrageous and clever, and if you can stomach plots that include disgusting zombies, I strongly encourage you to read this book. I read it in one sitting, and it's really something completely unique and quite genius. I would not be surprised if this book won many awards, and certainly it deserves to do so. So many fantasy plots, even very good ones, seem so familiar these days. This however is utterly fresh, and the humor and wit alone makes it a fantastic read!

This is one of the most unusual books I've read. It reminded me of The Walking Dead with the domesticated animals as the survivors. The main protagonist is ST, a snarky, darkly comic domesticated crow who longs to be human. We follow ST and his sidekick, the dimwitted bloodhound, Dennis, as they set off on a quest to save the world from apocolypse. This book is a bit graphic and the dark humor involving eyeballs popping out and rotting flesh won't be up everyone's alley. But if you're in the mood for something clever, smart and completely unique, this is definitely one to try.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this. I will be posting a full review to Goodreads, Amazon, and Instagram.

This was a really lovely story told from the prospective of an intelligent crow who is the witness to the apocalypse. I loved the Crow's narrative voice and the story arc. There is some amazing humor and a strong emotional bond is easily formed with the characters.

I didn't make it very far into this book because there seemed to be a lot of casual violence. Really not for me. The humor (and I did recognize it as such) was just a bit too crude for my taste. I have too many other things to read to keep going with something I'm not enjoying.

Really enjoyed this one! I don't often read outside of romance and mystery, but the humor in this crow-narrated novel really worked for me. It made me enjoy dystopian and I don't like dystopian settings!