The Outside (The Hallowed Ones, #2)
*No spoils.
As far as sequels go, The Outside reads more like the first book in a series. There was a big disconnect from the first book as far as tone goes. A bunch of very random things happen and I was reminded of countless other books of survival I’ve read. Meeting random strangers. Wild and exotic animals. Yeah. Wild and exotic animals. Brought me right back to the horror that is Hollowland. *Shudder.
I can't say I was overly impressed, nor can I say I was completely disappointed. I'd say I was mostly disappointed.
My biggest complaint (and there weren’t many) of its predecessor, The Hollowed Ones, was the lack of vamp action. What little there was creeped me the hell out, but left me wanting a LOT more. I had hoped this sequel would have more gore time and it did. Totally delivered on that front. The vamps have this frenzied quality about them, much like zombs do. The difference is their cognizance. These vamps will hiss at you and say really unlovely things that’ll make your skin crawl. Then they’ll eat you. Sign me up for more of that. This is pretty much what saved this book for me, enough to drive me to finish.
What nearly ruined this book for me was the religious tone. In the previous book, Katie made this big production of doubting her faith and questioning everything she grew up with. In this installment, there's little reference to all of that. We’re bombarded with religious references, religious people spouting religious nonsense, Katie pitting religion and science, Katie praying (a LOT), etc. And I mean, it was practically every other page. No really. The word “God” appears 130 times in this 325-page book. Like, whoa. “Pray” appears 57 times. It’s one thing to have a character pray a bit. It’s a whole notha’ thing to have a character pray a lot.
Look. I ain’t tryin to hate on religion, but the thing is, I didn’t sign up for religious fiction. I sure didn’t. So, don’t bombard me with all of that. The first book explored Katie’s faith and it was done well and in moderation. It was interesting to read, even for this non-religious/grew up-religious person. Constantly smacking me with her newly cemented rock-solid faith is a drastic change in this sequel. Was that the purpose all along? I hope not, but my suspicious mind has a… mind of its own. Most of the religious stuff didn’t feel like it was necessarily being pushed onto me, which I’m glad about, but then there was the pitting of religion and science that rubbed me the wrong way. Katie evens says “Your science cannot explain that.”
Just… stop right there. Unless you want me to go into a rage and start listing alllllllll the things that religion cannot explain, just. stop. right. there.
I may be coming off as overly-sensitive to religion and heck, likely I am. Regardless, I don’t think it’s too much to ask that my fiction be labeled/marketed appropriately. This just fell too heavily on the religious side for my tastes. Your mileage may vary.
I did finish and enjoy parts of this book, namely all the vamp bits, but I can’t say that I’m highly satisfied. The first book was so much better IMO. It does appear to be a duology and so, I’m not anticipating a third book. Truth be told, though, I wouldn’t be anticipating it either way.
