Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton

 

If the world ended, what food would you hope would survive? For S.T., a crow who survives the apocalypse, it’s Cheetos.

I first discovered this book from @readingbeagle and I was intrigued.  Who doesn’t want to read a book about the apocalypse as narrated as a foul-mouthed bird?  I thought it would be a nice change up for my Rogue Book Club and chose it for the August read. 

S.T. is a domesticated crow.  He enjoys his life until one day, his owner, Big Jim, loses his eyeball.  Big Jim is no longer the same and appears to have turned into a zombie.  S.T. and Dennis the dog escape their home and start to explore Seattle to determine what has happened to the mo-fos (humans).  A strange illness has taken over humans and the dynamic duo set off to try to find any unaffected humans and other domestic animals.

I enjoyed this unique story.  It was harrowing at times, and I may had shed a tear and put the book away for a bit after the climax at the end of the book.  I really liked seeing the apocalypse through the eyes of the animal survivors and how the world would change without humans.  S.T. was the main narrator, but there were also random chapters from various creatures around the world which were interesting as well.  The book was laugh out loud funny at times . . . and S.T. is profane as his owner. Even his real name is hilarious.

I also enjoyed that the book had a reading group guide with questions at the end perfect for book club.

I look forward to reading the next book in this series, Feral Creatures.

Favorite Quote:  “The trauma of nearly being eaten by my best friend was the single greatest pain I had ever known.”

Overall, I loved that this was a book unlike anything I’ve ever read before.  It was a great take on the zombie apocalypse and made me think about the impact of humans on the world overall. 

Book Source:  Purchased from Amazon.com