Hollow Stars

The Hollows #3

by Amanda Hocking

Six months ago, Lazlo Durante entered a military quarantine to escape the zombie apocalypse, and he hoped he had somewhere safe to live with his found family. But when the quarantine falls, Lazlo is alone and on the run through a harsh wilderness. He has nothing but the stars to guide him, and zombies howling at his heels. As he searches for those he’s lost, he learns disturbing truths about the world he lives in. The Hollows continues with its darkest chapter yet - Hollow Stars coming to ebook and paperback Friday, October 13, 2023

Genres: Zombies, Romance, Fiction, Horror, Paranormal

280 pages, Paperback

First published October 13, 2023

About the author

AMANDA HOCKING is the author of over twenty young adult novels, including the New York Times bestselling Trylle Trilogy and Kanin Chronicles. Her love of pop culture and all things paranormal influence her writing. She spends her time in Minnesota, taking care of her menagerie of pets and working on her next book.

Several of her books have made the New York Times Bestsellers list. Her zombie series, The Hollows, has been adapted into a graphic novel by Dynamite. She has published over twenty novels, including The Kanin Chronicles, the Watersong quartet, My Blood Approves series, the Valkyrie duology, and Freeks .
For more info about her and her books, here are some other places to check out and ways to contact her:

Website: www.hockingbooks.com
Amazon Author Page: Amanda Hocking
Patreon: Amanda Hocking
Instagram: @amanda_hocking
BlueSky: AmandaHocking.bsky.social
Threads: @amanda_hocking
YouTube: aehocking
Facebook: Amanda Hocking Fans
Etsy: Hocking Books by Amanda
TikTok: @amanda_hocking
Goodreads: Amanda Hocking
Spotify : Amanda Hocking

Reviews

[❥ KAT ❥ Kitty Kats Crazy About Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 📚'𝙼𝚈 𝚁𝙴𝚅𝙸𝙴𝚆 𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙾𝚃𝙷𝙴𝚁𝚂'📚 can also be found on my blog: ╰┈➤KITTY KATS CRAZY ABOUT BOOKS

❀⋆.ೃ࿔* HOLLOW STARS°❀⋆.ೃ࿔* Is the third full length zombie book in the (Hollows) series by author Amanda Hocking..

I’ll be seeing the new year in by playing catch up on this series…Happy New Year 2026 🍾!! Here's to finding new authors, reading more, and loving more fictional characters..

This picked up right where the previous book left off but in Lazlo's POV, which I was so ready for. We've waited a long time for this book and I'm glad I can read this series back to back.. I wanted to get his spin on things, his thoughts, his feelings, what happened to him and Harlow when they split up from Remy when she took her brothers place within the Blaine County Quarantine Zone.

With the weakening of the Quarantine Zones perimeter walls from the hordes of Zombies, Lazlo along with eleven other survivors took off in an army vehicle to a destination unknown other than heading where the temperatures are much colder and less likely where the zombies won't thrive.

Until their truck runs over some spikes left on the road their on, the group gets split up, some not surviving. And it's here where Harlow and Lazlo are split up, both thinking the other dead.

This one went a little bit darker than the previous books and I was all here for it all especially the zombie farm where Harlow ended up, that was some f#cked up sh#t..

This series just gets better and better, along with more losses, more zombies, but more connections are made along these characters journeys.

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[Kai (CuriousCompass) · Rating 5 out of 5]

After Reading: HOLY. SHIT. Some of these reveals just hit different after waiting a decade for answers! I always wanted to know where Harlow and Lazlo went, what fates befell them, if they found some semblance of safety or peace in this hell-world.

I feel like between writing the first two Hollows books and this one, Amanda Hocking definitely watched the Walking Dead. The zombie genre has evolved a little, and it was cool to see her incorporate that here with people farming zombies, training them as cattle/hunting dogs, using them for various purposes. It was fascinating to see this world evolve as time goes on and people need to survive in a world flooded with the undead.

Of course in zombie stories other uninfected humans should be a threat as well, but why hold back? Animals should be in the mix too. I love the detail of wild animals being more hostile to anything remotely human-shaped now because of their run-ins with so many zombies. That's an amazing detail that adds a new element of danger. The moose attack scene left me shocked because genuinely if you've ever seen a moose in person you know they are bigger than a van and absolutely look like some ancient Pagan forest gods. Those fuckers aren't playing around. And they can swim! They can't climb though, so climb a damn tree and hide there instead of trying to run away from them. JS.

The new characters we met, both allies and villains alike, were so so so fascinating to me. I was impressed by how scared and disturbed I was by these human villains. They felt straight out of a season of American Horror Story or a Resident Evil game. I could sense Hocking's absolute love of horror through the pages, the sense of world and atmosphere was impeccable.

This book reads like a love letter to the original duology and a thank-you to fans who have stuck with her since the beginning and I ABSOLUTELY ADORED IT. I only wish we had gotten more chapter's of Sage's journal because I felt her mind was fascinating and I enjoyed seeing her try to logic and reason surrounding the virus and the infected, not enough of the characters were asking those questions.

Amanda Hocking has certainly not lost her skill over the years. She may not write and publish as fast as she used to, but when the final product is this fun, engaging, pleasing for fans, and combines her longtime creative voice and spark with the more refined and heightened level of skill and intelligence she has now after years and years more life experience and writing experience? It's worth the wait IMO.

You can definitely tell in writing this book Hocking was focused a little more on the logistics. I think that makes sense; the original duology was so fully focused on Remy's immediate POV and experiences and her adrenaline surges in combat. They were action-thrillers. And this IS still a dark horror action-thriller in a post-apocalyptic hellscape, BUT it's also been a decade, so Hocking has had time to ask herself questions about this world and muse out some things through a more objective lens than just what is happening to Remy, and you see it in play here.

I loved Riva speculating about how many zombies there were, groups of survivors disagreeing about their next plan and splitting up, the lingering questions you have about people you know you'll never see again, etc.

I'm always into seeing a zombie apocalypse in the initial stages as society crumbles and people wander the zombie-infested countryside, but I am way more into the post-post-apocalyptic stuff right now, when the zombies have been around for years and years and it's kind of become the new normal, and seeing how human lives evolve and change on an anthropological level as their world adapts to the change.

Learning more about the zombies and seeing a new side to them was absolutely the best part of this book. Lazlo and Harlow obviously being a close second. And don't get me started on The King. He better show up again! (Even though the mere idea of him terrifies me beyond freaking belief.)

Ultimately this book is for established Hocking fans who loved the Hollows back in the day and it provides everything we could want and more. Cannot wait for book 4. All the undead stars for this one.

EVEN THOUGH LAZLO AND NOVA SHOULD HAVE MADE OUT >.> MAYBE IN THE NEXT BOOK M'KAY BYE

Short spoiler section below!

HOLY FUCK THANK GOD FOR THESE PLOT REVEALS. For the last ten damn years or so I've constantly thought about Harlow and hoped she lived somehow and Lazlo just had a misconception. I was so thrilled to see her survive AND GET HER OWN HALF OF THE BOOK IN HER POV. That's good shit right there. Talk about fanservice.

I also loved to see Lazlo immediately leap up to rescue her. And Nova not even try to talk him out of it, because of course if she could save her own sister she would, but she can't, so she'll help save someone else's because she knows that pain. I adore her and feel so sad for her. At least she's a strong person who had her adorable wolves.

Lazo is such a good big-brother-dad. He gives Matt from the Trylle trilogy a run from his money. I love how he doesn't question adopting Harlow, she's just automatically his and of course that's how it is. Every time he would take out her stuff and cry I was devastated, seeing a parent/caretaker mourn their child was dark stuff, you could sense and feel the amount of guilt and shame he felt over not being able to save her.

The king ripping Gacy in half....oh my god. For a tiny accident that hurt nobody? Eradicate the entire Loth family tbh. I feel like some of them survived and we may see them come back for vengeance. I'm dreading it. That bloodline needs to be absolutely removed from the gene pool, sorry, those are psycho genes.

Nova asking Lazlo if he was in Green Day made me cackle. She was trying so hard not to ask throughout the entire book then? Like she thought it would be rude? I love her lmao.

Lazlo's POV was so good! I adore him. It struck me that we've never seen Hocking really focus on a dude's first-person POV for a book or main character. We've seen brief glimpses of it, like chapters following Daniel or Lucas in the last two Watersong books, or a few bits and pieces in the Seven Fallen Hearts, but I'd love to see her write a few more male main characters. I'm always rooting for her to write a paranormal romance about two gay dudes. Not that Bestow The Darkness didn't give me some good M/M paranormal romance tidbits!

I can't wait to read the next book in this series. Halloween can't come fast enough!



Before Reading: Crazy that more people aren't talking about this! This series is returning next month after like a decade, and people have been asking for a book three for years! And it's about Lazlo! Yay! I adore the cover tbh.

[Chanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome addition to the series!

At first I wasn’t sure I’d like a book that wasn’t from Remi’s perspective, but dude… I could not put it down and I can’t wait for the next one.

[Beth Skye · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m always down for some great zombie fun. I loved the first two books and never knew this was going to be anything more than that. A decade later and we have book three!
I never really attached to Lazlo and so having him as the main voice was a different experience for me. The world building really grew, changed, and expanded.
Since there is going to be a fourth book I’m really hoping *fingers crossed* that our original bada$$ heroine, Remy, will collide once again with Lazlo and Harlow.
As a person who has read the original two books so many times and just loved them intensely I can’t wait to see what happens next and hope it is from Remy’s POV simply because I connect to her voice easier.
If you like some good zombie violence, gore, and apocalyptic survival, then I totally suggest this series starting with “Hollowland”.

[Lord · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written

"Hollowland" was one of the first books that I read when I started to love reading. 12 years after I read the last book, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I still remembered the characters while I was reading this book. I had been waiting for a long time for it. Thank you, Amanda. 😊

[Nikki Minty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was most definitely worth the wait! I couldn’t put it down. I absolutely loved it. There was a twist revealed around mid way, which I was completely thrilled about. The potential of this particular twist had crossed my mind and I hoped it would turn out to be the case, but I wasn’t confident. Once the twist was revealed, I seriously wanted to cry.
Amanda Hocking is honestly my favorite author of all time. Her books always give me the right feels.
She has a way of pulling me into her stories, like as if I’m there, and I grow strong attachments to her characters. They’re all so real and vibrant to me. They become my friends.
I can’t recommend this series enough. Also, this was my favourite book in the series by far.
I can’t wait for the next one.

[Beverly Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

Keep them coming!

I could read Hollows all day and night. It’s been a favorite of mine for years. Great zombie read and I was super happy for some happy times. Everyone deserves a break, I hope it lasts for a while!

[celeste · Rating 5 out of 5]

It wasn't that scary

I did enjoy it a lot but Hocking said it's her scariest book yet but I thought the The Hollows and Hollowmen was way scarier. The Zombies were almost friendly in this one.

[Mark A Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you so much

I can't tell you enough how wonderful it was to see this new book. It was an excellent read and I look forward to book number 4!!!!

[Jess Conley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was so glad Amanda Hocking wrote this book to continue the series. I look forward to seeing what happens next, really hoping Max comes back into the stories.

[Samantha Smollett · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was interesting getting Lazlo and Harlow’s POVs. Still a well written book and I’m looking forward to see what might happen next.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

After waiting almost 14 years for another book in the series, I had forgotten the plot and most of the characters. So I had to Google and kind of get a summary again.

The book was really good, but I felt like it was kind of rushed, especially the ending. What happens with the Loths and the zombies? And the king? 2 day travel doesn’t seem that safe or a distance from the trackers.

I felt like the ending definitely could’ve given us more closure especially if this is Hockings way of finishing out this series.

[sammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok

I liked the imagination of a zombie farm. I don’t like same sex relationships being in every book I read now. I have nothing against them.I just don’t want to pay money to read about them. Probably my last Hocking book.

[Skye Burch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this series!

I have read a lot and I mean A LOT of zombie fiction and this is the best series that I have read on the topic. I am so happy that the book ended the way it did (I won't spoil it). On to the next book!

[§amantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was a nice surprise a decade later to get closer on Lazlo and Harlow. I had to reread books 1 and 2 to refresh myself on what happened but overall it was just an ok book.

[junnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Lazlo conveniently forgot about Remy and his promise to find her in Canada. 😡 😡 😡 😡

[Karen Quallio · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy these easy reads. The only problem was that it had been so long since book 2 that I forgot what was going on in the story.

[Margot Westermen · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a dark and heart-wrenching continuation of this story. This is definitely the darkest of the three novels. Again, it is so beautifully written. This book is going to stick with me forever. I will be jumping right in to the last book to see how this story ends....

[Gabrielle Zastrow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need to know more!!!!!

[Kendall P · Rating 4 out of 5]

ILY Lazlo and that’s all I’ll say. Team Lazlo forever.


LOVED getting into the bigger world here. Gives me TWD:Beyond vibes. Society finds a way and the Loth family plot line was fantastic, but almost too short. I didn’t hate them enough at the end for that to be justified. I also really wanted one of the sons to be a good. I think it would’ve been a good juxtaposition/callback to the original gang (Remy/Laz/Blue.)

Generally, I find AH cuts book short and rushes through them. Flesh it out, girlie. Let it cook and build the anticipation.