Book Review: Rarity of the Hollow

Notice: I was given a free copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest, which reads as follows:

Details:

Title: Rarity from the Hollow

Author: Robert Eggleton

Publisher: Dog Horn Publishing at Smashwords

Date Released: March 16, 2012

Genre: Adult, Science-Fiction

Pages: 290 (eBook)

Synopsis:

Lacy Dawn’s father relieves the Gulf War, her mother’s teeth are rotting out, and her best friend is murdered by the meanest daddy on Earth. Life in The Hollow isn’t great. But Lacy has one advantage – she’s been befriended by a semi-organic, semi-robot who works with her to cure her parents. He wants something in exchange, though, it’s up to her to save the Universe.

Will Lacy Dawn’s predisposition, education, and magic be enough for her to save the Universe, Earth, and, most importantly, protect her family?

Rarity from the Hollow is adult literary science fiction filled with tragedy, comedy, and satire. It is a children’s story for adults, not for the prudish, faint of hear, or easily offended.

What I first Thought:

After reading the description of the book, I didn’t know what to expect from this story. It sounded like it would be an interesting experience, one that will definitely be a first. I had never heard of an adult book being marketed as a children’s story for adults, so I was curious as to how this book would read!

Overall Thoughts/Opinions:

This story has no doubt been an interesting ride! I first started reading this story back in the spring, towards the end of my spring semester at college. At the time, it was difficult for me to read this story (I had been reading it on my laptop) and school had become more demanding than I expected, so I opted to read other books. When I got to a better place, I decided to give this book another read (especially after I started using a tablet) and I’m glad that I did!

As before, the beginning was a bit rough to get through. There was a lot going on and at times some events seemed rather disconnected from the rest of the story. The author’s writing style was also a bit tough to get used to as well. The story was written in third person and mostly followed the main character, Lacy Dawn, and occasionally the story would follow some of the other characters when they were away from our heroine. I’ve read stories written like this before, and that didn’t bother me, what did was that the author showed readers the thoughts of almost every character, even when the story followed Lacy Dawn. In the beginning, it was hard to tell which thought belonged to who, but after a while it became easier to discern as you got to know the characters and how they acted. At times it was very insightful to read the thoughts of the other main characters, however, there were instances when the thoughts seemed unnecessary, and overall distracting to the situation.

As far as characters go, Eggleton’s characters were the most unique individuals I have ever come across. For someone who has read a lot of books, that’s impressive! It was interesting to read how they interacted with each other and how those interactions changed as the characters grew. Each of the characters seemed to have their own journey as the story focused on Lacy Dawn and her coming of age. Dwayne became a better husband and father. Jenny was able to repair her self-esteem and become the person she used to be. Dotcom had the most interesting journey as he learned what it meant to be human. I loved reading how his interactions with the other characters changed, becoming more human-like, and even noticing how his speech and terminology morphed with him. And of course, it was refreshing to read of Lacy Dawn’s evolution as she went through early childhood and how she matured.

This was no normal coming of age story involving a little girl, or any child for that matter. Most of the coming of age stories that I have read about younger kids are rather innocent. Sure, they deal with tough issues such as divorced parents, going into middle school, or starting puberty while trying to save the world. And Lacy Dawn deals with similar issues, except her reactions and different and appear to me to fit more with our current culture. For instance, at some point, one way Lacy Dawn decides to deal with the stress of saving the universe is to try to masturbate. Seems a bit scandalous to some of you, right? The author did warn that this story was not for the prude or faint of heart! At first, I was taken by surprise by her reaction to stress, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. At the age she was at that part of the story, most kids are starting to conduct sexual experimentations. It’s something natural that we as a culture try to cover up, making it taboo even in some areas. It was refreshing to read this about a child character, especially since children in stories are almost always portrayed as innocent, not necessarily sweet, but definitely not showing any interest or knowledge of anything sexual. Lacy Dawn was a surprising character that grew on me quickly. She was a colorful and never ceased to surprise me, showing how quickly children can mature due to difficult situations and how those situations affect them for the rest of their lives. I loved how the author portrayed her as she started puberty, showing how her actions and thoughts change due to all the hormonal changes going on in her body. There has never been a character similar in children’s books, and I doubt there will be for a very long time to come.

As a side note, Dotcom’s character development was also very interesting. Due to spoilers, I can’t really go into detail about his change as the story progresses. In many ways it’s similar to Lacy Dawn’s but a bit more unique, adorable, and equally awkward. In short, you won’t be seeing a character development like his in a children’s book either, coming of age or otherwise…

The story as a whole was quite a ride. For the first few chapters I wasn’t quite sure where the author would take his story. It was a rather rough and awkward start in my opinion, which may or may not have been intentional. It may have mostly been on my end, taking more time than usual to get accustomed to the author’s voice and humor. After the story picked up though, the story became really fun to read. There were many times in which I wanted to put aside my homework to see what happened next! As a satire, the material wasn’t as heavy as others that I’ve read, but there were some clear jabs at certain things in common culture and way of thinking.  But the author never beat the horse to death, it was more like side comments and random situations that were brief but concise.

There were some things in the story I didn’t really sit with me well. I’ve mentioned the character’s thoughts being a bit jarring or distracting at times. There were also a few instances where the author would make an effort to giver odd details that stuck out, or create situations that appeared to be quite random. In most of those cases, the details or randomness had nothing to do with the overall story, at least from what I could tell, and the author never mentioned them again. So the flow of the story wasn’t as smooth as I would’ve liked it to be, but overall not bad.

Personally, I wish that the author used more of Lacy Dawn’s magic, or at least explained it a little more. I don’t know why exactly she needed to have magic, it seemed like a random character trait that ended up having no real impact on the story. She didn’t really use it during the final conflict. It just made her appear to be even more unique than your average little girl. It’s possible that the author may have more uses of her magical abilities later, if he decides to write more of her adventures, but for this story it just seemed a bit odd when looking back.

Final Thoughts:

As the author said, and as I feel I must stress, this story is not for the prude, faint of heart, or easily offended. There are topics within this story that may make some readers uncomfortable, possibly in some cases angry. When reading, you must remember that this is also a satirical story. Satire isn’t for everyone, so if you aren’t a fan of it, then stay away.

This story mentions sex, drugs, puberty, and other related topics. While there is mentions of sex, there are never any sex scenes. If you can get past these themes or aren’t bothered by such topics this story may be quite an enjoyable read for you. The science fiction isn’t very heavy, and is very easy to understand. If you can’t get past such themes listed above, then don’t even try.

Rating:

3/5

Overall this story is pretty decent. However, I believe it will be one that readers to find absolutely fantastic or confusing as hell! My suggestion: read carefully and pay attention. There were times in which I had to reread certain sections because I completely missed a subtle detail that ended up being very important.

Rarity from the Hollow was a fun, interesting story to read. The beginning was kind rough, I had to reread it twice before I ended up continuing. There were points and details mentioned over and over in the story, but ended up having no actual effect or role in the climax. I’m hoping that there may be another adventure with Lacy Dawn that may explore those details that felt oddly left or uncompleted. By the end of the story I absolutely loved this oddball cast of characters and wouldn’t mind reading more about them, especially after Bucky’s transformation! So yes, overall this is a pretty decent story that was fun to read, full of laughs, and interesting character development!