THE HALLOWED ONES is a creepy and
wonderful YA series.
wonderful YA series.
The background for these is books is modern... sort of. I say that jokingly because the first book begins in an Amish community where Kate, our heroine, lives with her parents and little sister. Kate has friends and is generally happy, but also terribly curious about sampling the modern world by going on the Rumspringa.
These plans get dropped though when the end of world erupts. When suddenly a strange 'disease' breaks out that forces the elders to 'close' their community so that none may go out and none may come in.
This declaration sets into motion a series of events which threaten Kate and her family. For one, Kate's best friend, Elijah, decides that he will take his vows, and everyone in the community, including Kate's parents, want her to join him so that they also be married. Kate however isn't eager to give up on her Rumspringa dream. No one knows after all whether this unknown threat will blow over.
It also creates a crisis of faith and obedience for Kate when an injured young man collapses at the fence at the periphery of their community. She wants to do the 'right things', but the elders have made their choice and turned away from helping the boy. As expected, she can't be so hard-hearted, and by helping the college-aged boy, both of them (and an adult friend) end up being exiled from the community.
Amish. Vampire apocalypse. There's so much that fresh and new about these books.
I really enjoyed all the interesting information about daily Amish life. And Ms. Bickle wields it in a way that makes Kate's world very, very real. So when we jump off in the creepy vampire aspects of this story, it's from a concrete-solid world.
I also loved that it's not clear where these vampires come from. Are they truly, biblically Evil? Or is it an infection? Or somehow both.
In any case, some good reading. Enjoy.
Pam~
**all ratings from GoodReads
***mild swearing; some violence; some sexual situations
THE HALLOWED ONES
**Starred Review** Kirkus
4.02 avg rating — 1,176 ratings
***mild swearing; some violence; some sexual situations
THE HALLOWED ONES
**Starred Review** Kirkus
4.02 avg rating — 1,176 ratings
Reading Information:
Word Count: 79,375
Page Count: 320
Accelerated Reader: 4.8 / points: 12.0
AR quiz: 156924
--get sample pages and other reviews available
THE OUTSIDE
**Starred Review** Kirkus
3.80 avg rating — 175 ratings
Word Count: 78,335
Page Count: 320
Accelerated Reading level: 4.8 / points: 12.0
AR quiz: 161169
--get sample pages and other reviews available
2 comments :
I've been seeing this one a lot the past few months. I'll have to add it to my list.
I enjoyed both books. The second is not as strong as the first, but that can be said about most series.
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