If you had asked me just last year, I would have told you I didn't have a favorite fairy tale. I grew up hating "Snow White" and while I adored nearly every "Cinderella" movie re-telling I'd seen, the original story was not among my favorites at all. As a child, I never actually saw "Beauty and the Beast" or read the book, until one fated French class when we saw an old black-and-white version of it in French. Granted, I didn't understand everything that was said as it was only my second year of French, but I fell in love with the atmosphere and the very idea of the tale: of finding beauty where other people could not. Needless to say, what makes The Hollow Kingdom such a successful re-telling of "Beauty and the Beast" is its ability to perfectly capture that very same atmosphere I so fell in love with years ago. For me, the joy of a re-told story lies not in its similarities to the original, but rather in its differences. As such, The Hollow Kingdom pleasantly surprised me by being a tale, not of a love that could transform a hideous beast into a beautiful prince, but rather one of a love that could look beyond a monstrous exterior to the beauty that lay within.When The Hollow Kingdom begins, it reads much like a Gothic mystery. Hallow Hill, the countryside residence where Kate and her younger sister, Emily, have recently moved to is a place with a dangerous past, one where young girls vanish, never to be seen again. One night, when Kate and Emily lose their way back home, they come upon an encampment of gypsies who help lead them home. Yet, these nighttime travelers are no gypsies, but goblins, who have lived under Hallow Hill for centuries. And now, it is time for their powerful king, Marak, to marry. Very quickly, Marak decides on headstrong and stubborn Kate to become his bride, but exacting her acceptance to his proposal is far harder than he imagines. From the moment you read the first page of The Hollow Kingdom, it is virtually impossible to set the book down. Everything about it, from its dark atmosphere to its witty banter, will keep you flipping the pages frantically. Kate is the type of heroine we all love - strong, intelligent, and quick to avoid traps that most protagonists would have fallen for due to naivete. Not only does she fight fiercely against Marak's advances, but she even turns the tables on him during more than one occasion. Emily, her younger sister, is no less compelling, charming us with her inquisitive nature and deep attachment for her older sister. It is Marak who comes across as murky, indefinite, and hard to figure out. Although Marak desperately needs Kate to become his bride - and is willing to go to extraordinary lengths to take her underground with him - it becomes obvious that he grudgingly respects Kate. As he patiently deals with the curious nature of Emily, answering her questions about his magical world, it becomes evident that whatever Marak's plans are, hurting Kate isn't one of them. Furthermore, despite his sarcastic and rather rude nature, he cares deeply for his subjects and something about him ceases to be annoying and begins to become endearing. We know that Marak is supposed to be the villain of this tale, but gradually, it becomes impossible for our hearts not to thaw towards him.Moreover, Marak sees Kate for who she really is, not simply a beautiful girl who can continue his lineage and not as a weak-willed lady who babbles about nonsensical creatures either. As such, he respects and even comes to love the very qualities that make her such a burden to her guardians. Although both Kate and Marak are fiercely stubborn - a trait which seems to cause them both nothing but irritation during their first few meetings - it is this same quality that later binds them close to one another. All in all, the love story in this novel is flawlessly executed, all side-by-side with descriptive prose and rich world-building. Nevertheless, while The Hollow Kingdom had me completely besotted with it, I couldn't help but be rather disappointed by the end. In retrospect, it isn't a huge qualm at all, but one of the ending plot threads, built to make Kate realize the extent of her affection for Marak, was not one I particularly enjoyed. I felt as though the same idea could have been built in a much more poignant manner and this particular scene seemed to be thrown in to rush the inevitable ending for these two characters. Additionally, the writing leads you to believe that kisses lead to babies, probably because it is written for a MG audience. While I don't so much mind the latter issue, I was expecting more of a slow-burn romance till the end rather than a sudden twist into adventure. Yet, let me re-assure you, The Hollow Kingdom is amazing. A re-imagined tale of "Beauty and the Beast" where the beast never turns into a handsome prince is a rare and wonderful thing to come by, so don't let this one slip by your hands. Even if you can't find yourself falling for an ugly goblin, Dunkle will ensure that you do and, believe me, you won't want to leave this underground world, even for just a glimpse of the stars.You can read this review and more on my blog, Ivy Book Bindings.
I first read this book when I was younger, and I absolutely loved it. It was one of those books that I enjoyed reading over and over. There are a lot of things I hate about this book now, which really breaks my heart, because I used to love it so much. When I was young, naïve, and blind to—or at the very least ignoring—all of the disturbing elements. But first to the positives. I absolutely adore the world Dunkle creates. The goblins are really cool, and it’s kind of fun to watch Kate go from regarding them as monsters to accepting them for who they really are. The goblin city sounds absolutely beautiful, and totally a place I would love to live. The King’s Wife ceremony had me fascinated. The King’s Wife Charm is hilarious, and his monologues on all the Wives he’s guarded are truly entertaining.Of course, I still love all of these things, but now that I'm older I notice a lot more. I now find the whole "stolen bride" premise to be more disturbing. Kate is being stalked by the goblin King Marek (no doubt modeled after Jareth from Labyrinth), who intends to make her his wife…no matter how she feels about it. It’s kind of like Twilight, in that we’re supposed to go, ‘aw, he’s stalking really wants to be with her, how romantic’. However, unlike Bella, Kate doesn’t like being stalked in the least. Don’t worry, though, she ends up falling in love with him. In fact, every one of these King's Wives kidnapped over the centuries ended up falling in love with their captors…so it’s all okay in the end. I just don’t buy that! I cannot see the likelihood that ALL of these women WOULDN’T end up harboring lifelong resentment towards the men who ruined their lives. My feelings towards Marak are divided. Sometimes, he can be really funny, and his snark makes me laugh. Other times, he’s just a dick. For one, his apathy towards Kate’s pain at being forced underground makes me furious! He has no choice but to kidnap her—the King has to steal a wife to give him a strong heir in order for the goblin way of life to continue—and yet he still shows NO remorse, whatsoever! “It’s not my problem,” He declares with a shrug. Yes, it is! The very least he could say is, ‘I’m sorry for taking you away from everything you’ve ever loved. I had no choice, but I’m sorry.’ Nope, Marak doesn’t say he’s sorry, or do anything besides waving off, and even laughing at, Kate’s misery. He doesn’t say sorry because he knows that he won’t have to; she’ll fall in love with him, like they all do…so it’s all okay in the end.I suppose one thing can be said in Marak’s favor (all of the Kings in this series, actually): they don’t start the…uh, King-bearing until the abductee gives her consent. Definitely keeps this story from getting as disturbing as it potentially could. On a side note, it’s mentioned that goblins “marry” animals…funny how now that I’m older, I totally recognize that for what it is: WEIRD. I love how she says "marry", though. Gotta keep this PG, folks! Of course, we all know what she REALLY means; the goblins are pulling a Loki (obscure joke, sorry; if you don’t get it, just look up “Sleipnir”). Anyway, there’s a small plot line near the end of the story. It was rather random, but it connected to the rest of the book in an interesting, albeit small, way, and served to highlight how much Kate has changed in the year and a half since her capture. By then Kate is already in love with Marak, and comes to realize that she fell in love with him at their first meeting…when he was being Mister Stalker, might I add. So I guess the first part of the book—him chasing her down, trying to wrestle her into submission, laughing at her grief at being taken prisoner—only served to deepen her irrevocable love for him *dramatic sigh*. Hey, turns out she was in love with him all along…so it’s all ok in the end.
What do You think about The Hollow Kingdom (2006)?
This book is about goblins, plain and simple. But don’t be fooled into thinking this is your average goblin story. In fact, what Clare Dunkle does is actually pretty cool. Dunkle doesn’t make her goblins suddenly beautiful creatures with noble intentions. No, she leaves them with all their warts and their monstrous features. Their intentions are questionable, their methods underhanded, and they are thoroughly dangerous. Yet I grew to sympathize with them, because Dunkle gives them a point of view. The reader learns why goblins do some of the nefarious things they do in old faerie stories, and their logic makes perfect sense. This turnaround (without changing the basic goblin nature) is what I enjoyed the most about The Hollow Kingdom. After all, let’s face it, usually goblins are mean-tempered and dodgy, even in modern day books like Harry Potter, so it was great to see them given a different slant.The main goblin is Marak and he’s an interesting character. He’s spooky and grotesque, but even from the beginning he always struck me as having a lot of charisma. I couldn’t help but think of him as Robert Carlyle (with his Scottish accent) dressed up like Rumplestiltskin. The story is pretty simple. Basically it’s another version Beauty and the Beast, but what I liked was how the beast doesn’t really change. It’s Beauty’s perception of him that changes. Maybe goblins aren’t so ghastly as originally thought? Dunkle is imaginative, creating a lush new fantasy world, yet she also incorporated all kinds of faerie tale lore that gave everything a firm base. This is probably the best modern day faerie book that I’ve read. I enjoyed it a lot. :D
—Willow
Why do I love this book?? More than anything, it's a great love story! At first I was terrified that the Goblin King would succeed in capturing Kate...but then I knew it was inevitable. I love that Marak loved Kate's fiery personality and he tells her "My God Kate, what a king you'll bear!" I love that Kate eventually recognizes his kindness and his strength when she is defending her husband to the Sorcerer, telling him that goblins "aren't pretty, they're strong." And of course when Kate tells Marak that she is going to have a baby, and then bursts into tears when she sees him! I think Marak is the greatest king, he loves his wife and son above all, he loves Kate and wants her to be happy. And true love is not a surface kind of love, but a deeper affection. I also love Charm and that he only cares about the wives! He says the funniest things!
—Donna
Poor Marak. As King of the Goblins, he was not only accepted but revered in his world down-under. His subjects actually thought he was 'elf-pretty': almost too beautiful. But to most humans, he was monstrously ugly. With oddly colored hair similar in coarseness to a horse's tail, sharp teeth, bushy eyebrows and two different colored eyes, a disfigured shoulder and one hand that included six fingers, he looked like a beastly freak. He knew he was in a difficult situation. As King, he was required to marry and produce a son to continue his posterity. Except goblin kings could not have children with goblin females and, as far as he was taught, the elves had died out. He was required to choose a human as his father had done. He chose Kate Winslow. Beautiful, kindly, -up until she met Marak- Kate: except she abhorred him. To make matters worse, she thought he was disgustingly rude. He laughed at her. He gazed at her. He had the nerve to talk to her!I liked Marak. But then, I didn't have to marry him. I enjoyed his endearing speech and quirky truisms. But then, I wasn't forbidden to return to the human realm. The goblin world embodied blisters, blemishes and flaws. It was by no means perfect when the kings always captured their unwilling queens. Read this story if you enjoy an off-the-wall young adult fantasy. Read it if you enjoy magic and charms in an alternate society. Read it if you like a very unlikely hero and his initially-prudent heroine. Just don’t take it seriously or you will find issues with the plot.
—Linda
