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Hollow City ignites readers’ sense of adventure

Hollow City The new book by Ransom Riggs is an all-around adventure that is sure to charm readers all the way through. With a peculiar cast of characters, an entrancing writing style, and a plot strung with twists, Ransom Riggs is sure to be a name that readers will not forget for a long while.

Hollow City is the sequel to Riggs’ debut novel, Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children. It chronicles the adventures of the protagonist, Jacob Portman, and his band of peculiar friends as they head out on an adventure to save their caretaker.

This novel takes place in a world of time loops, children with strange abilities and frightful monsters known as hollowgast. The creativity of this world is easily Riggs’ best quality as a writer. His concepts are fresh and keep the reader thinking. A great example of this is the abilities he gives the children: a boy who can control bees and stores them in his stomach; a girl who has to wear lead-soled shoes to keep from floating away; and a young man who can bring just about anything to life with the use of animal hearts.

Even if the characters abilities appear unimpressive, their personalities will not. Though the first novel in this series lacked much wanted depth, Hollow City very well makes up for it. Readers finally receive some backstory from their old favorites, none of which are even slightly disappointing. Their stories are riveting, detailed and are sure to capture sympathy from the reader.

Story and character aside, this novel possess something else that is beautifully original. That being its actual design. For years authors have found different ways of incorporating visuals into their work. Whether it be with illustrations, video links or photos, the point is usually for a show of some sort of uniqueness or originality. Riggs takes a haunting step forward with his visual effects.

Accompanying his story are a set of vintage photographs taken from many different time periods, all seamlessly integrated into his story. All of these photos are authentic, some simply found at flea markets or vintage paper shows, many of them borrowed from collectors. They are also all in black and white, making for a strange and beautiful reading experience.

If wondrous adventure, inventive ideas and perplexing photos sound interesting, a sincere suggestion is to check out Riggs’ series, starting with Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children and moving on to Hollow City. While the first book has a few dissatisfying quirks, the second does anything and everything to make up for it.

Give the books a try because the writings of Ransom Riggs is an experience that is truly like no other.

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