The Hollow Kingdom: Book I -- The Hollow Kingdom Trilogy

I absolutely love this book. This was one of my favorite books as a child, and it was an absolute pleasure to read it again. The Hollow Kingdom is about a girl named Kate who, newly orphaned along with her sister, Emily, travels to Hallow Hill to live with her new guardians. Enchanted by her mysterious surroundings, Kate enjoys her new life until she starts to have the reoccurring feeling that she's being watched. Soon Kate discovers that her secret admirer is none other than the Goblin King. A battle of wits ensues as Kate desperately tries to avoid being stolen away to become a goblin bride. The book is definitely darker now that I read it as an adult, especially the fact that Kate is often made powerless. Whether its the king of the goblins or her guardians, Kate has difficulties getting other characters to listen to what she has to say. Often, they discredit her words and ignore her wishes for their own personal ideas. However, I was willing to forgive this substantial flaw because Kate is a really strong heroine. Even though the people around her ignore her, Kate never stops fighting for what she wants. Even when she loses a battle, she does so on her own terms. Despite ignoring her wishes at the beginning, towards the end all the characters grow to respect her and to realize the mistake they made by underestimating her. What really keeps calling me back to this book however, is the world building. I absolutely love the goblin kingdom and I think it's one of the most unique and interesting fantasy worlds that I've ever read. I am most impressed by the diversity of the goblins. Dunkle isn't scared of putting off the readers by making her mythical creatures horrifying. In fact, Marak, the male protagonist, is absolutely grotesque. Through this choice, she illustrates a world in which beauty is not important and the most important thing to a race of people is strength and community. So, although some people may apply the same arguments against Beauty and the Beast to The Hollow Kingdom, I feel that the good points of this book outweigh the bad. The writing is well done and the world building is wonderful. Kate's and Marak's relationship may stem from a terrible tradition, but it resolves itself into one of mutual respect.

This is a great book. I bought the entire series (Trilogy) for my daughter for her birthday. Has Goblins, fairies, humans and magic. Told from the perspective of the goblins. Really, really liked it. Another good author(s) are Michael Wisehart and Jonathan Renshaw.

This first book in a trilogy sets a great beginning for what is to come next. If previous reviews to the following sequels to the series are remotely true, then I can't wait to find out about more of Marak, Kate, Catspaw and Seylin. Dunkle's writing is clear and easy to decipher - unlike many authors who sometimes bog down stories with too much minute detail. But this also is a double-edged sword for there were times I wished for more details in this tale, especially toward the end of the book. This was a great quick read that I gobbled up hours of having it shipped to me, but I wish I was able to know if Marak and Kate really loved each other. Actions said it and actions speak louder than words, but there's also something definitive in actually saying the words. I'm a big romantic and maybe because of that I wanted there to be more proof of Kate's affection for her husband and more details of their personal life. On top of that, I wish it could have been more clear on how goblins age. Marak seemed to be much older than Kate and if so then how much older? That's more curiosity than anything else, though and has little in weighing my decision on it rating. In all, I liked this book and I plan on getting the following two as soon as I'm able. I hope that in the following books that the details I wanted so badly will be hit upon in the next books but we'll see. I recommend this book for teenagers anywhere from 12-18. It's a good, clean read and full of fantastic characters and the promise of more for future. Other recommendations: The Once Upon A Time series by collective authors; Donna Jo Napoli; for more mature audiences I recommend Susan Carroll's books and Robin McKinley's Deerskin.

I’ve loved this book series since I was in grade school. Unique story and appropriate for younger readers.

I found this book when I was in middle school, and I have reread it many times since then. The adventure always pulls me back in -- no matter that I know what is going to happen in every scene -- and the characters are so real to me -- no matter that more than half of them are goblins. Kate's resourcefulness and Marak's straightforward manner create a wonderful clash as they come together, causing me to enjoy their story every time I read it.

Kate and her sister Emily have been orphaned, and their guardian and relative has sent them to live with their great-aunts as he has no desire to raise them. The girls have inherited the estate that they now live on, and there is something odd going on at Hallow Hill nearby. Kate begins to fear that they are being watched, and when they meet an odd group of "gypsies" she worries even more. Their uncle scoffs at her worries, but Kate finds out that their leader is the Goblin King who lives in the underworld beneath Hallow Hill and he intends for Kate to become his queen. All is not what it seems, and determining who has evil intents is a bit trickier than it first appears. After escaping a few attempts from the goblins, when Emily disappears, Kate fears that the goblins have her and makes a grand bargain to save her. The story integrates some elements from the Persephone myth but takes the story to a whole other level as we see Kate grow in understanding about the goblins and her fate in life. This is the first of a trilogy and I look forward to more of this delightful fantasy series.

I remember reading this book when I was a child and I am happy to say it’s just as good if not better than before

Harry Potter books are what made me interestested in YA fantasy books. Since reading that series and the Twilight series I honestly didn't think I would find other books up to those standards. I stumbled on this book at the library and was completely captivated by it. In my opinion it is just as good as my other favorites. The story is unique in its own way and the romance is sweet with out crossing the line a lot of books do. If you are looking for a book that you can read to children of almost any age, this is the book. A lot of YA books have a tendency to be full of questionable language and sex. Not this one. It is truly a great read and I look forward to reading the other two in the series.

This is a wonderful fantasy story, with some really great elements to it. It's tremendously charming, original (who writes about goblins anymore?) and it has great characters with some wonderful humour. Definitely give it a read!

The Labyrinth meets Beauty and the Beast . Winner of the 2004 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature. If you love Diana Wynne Jones and 19th century fantasy fiction romance then this book is ideal for you. Positives: 1. Awesome action-packed plot 2. Strong heroine. She's the gentle, ladylike quietly intelligent type with an inner strength that she's slowly beginning to realise. 3. No unnecessary drama, theatrics or long tedious internal monologues 4. No insta-lust!!! 5. Slow-build romance with incredible chemistry 6. Plenty of magic 7. Sarcastic, sardonic but extremely caring older hero. 8. Lots of banter 9. The author uses hardly any modern or American English (apart from the glaring "mommy" and a few other words) it was almost like reading a Diana Wynne Jones novel. ------------------------------ Negatives: 1. I'm not sure about the sequels. --------------------------------------- Excellent plot, lots of adventure, magic and No insta-lust but a wonderful romance.

Love this book! i read it years ago, (when i was about 13 or so) and recently ordered it again to base a school project on. I thought it would be ok, but not great - something that i would have grown out of - but i still love it as much as i did when i was 13..