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A review by skylacine
The Gift of Dark Hollow by Kieran Larwood
4.0
There is something nicely cozy and whimsical about this book series so far. I am genuinely getting attached to these little anthropomorphic rabbits in their medieval-inspired world.
This second installment still has this nice vibe to it and I greatly enjoy the character writing and the adventures these rabbits go on. It can be dark, fun, inventive, lots of things. Zarza and Krum are my favorite characters.
If I did have to pick a flaw it's that it's kind of starting to become forced for the child characters to go on these missions. Like, literally the reason they go is because "it was foretold" according to this one character, but the story makes it clear that otherwise these children really shouldn't be going on life-threatening missions like this. Like usually child and YA stories have a better way to include the child characters into the plot without it feeling forced, but it really feels like Pook, Paz and Pod only go on this journey because the plot demands they do and not for any reasons within the story itself that feel genuine. Especially Pook shouldn't be on this adventure, he's a darn toddler who can't even form coherent sentences yet.
But overall still a nice read. I also really like the parts with Rue and the Bard, even if they're not technically a part of the main plot but rather just a framing device.
This second installment still has this nice vibe to it and I greatly enjoy the character writing and the adventures these rabbits go on. It can be dark, fun, inventive, lots of things. Zarza and Krum are my favorite characters.
If I did have to pick a flaw it's that it's kind of starting to become forced for the child characters to go on these missions. Like, literally the reason they go is because "it was foretold" according to this one character, but the story makes it clear that otherwise these children really shouldn't be going on life-threatening missions like this. Like usually child and YA stories have a better way to include the child characters into the plot without it feeling forced, but it really feels like Pook, Paz and Pod only go on this journey because the plot demands they do and not for any reasons within the story itself that feel genuine. Especially Pook shouldn't be on this adventure, he's a darn toddler who can't even form coherent sentences yet.
But overall still a nice read. I also really like the parts with Rue and the Bard, even if they're not technically a part of the main plot but rather just a framing device.