I started this book the second I finished Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. I decided that I was in the mood to marathon this series and once I finished this one (I finished it in 5 hours), I started the third one.

That’s how good these books are, and Hollow City – which is the second book in the Miss Peregrine series – was even better than the first one. There was still the stupid romance between Emma and Jacob but I looked past it and concentrated on the actual storyline.

 September 3, 1940. Ten peculiar children flee an army of deadly monsters. And only one person can help them – but she’s trapped in the body of a bird.

The journey continues as Jacob Portman and his newfound friends journey to London, the peculiar capital of the world. There, they hope to find a cure for their beloved headmistress, Miss Peregrine. But in this war-torn city, hideous surprises lurk around every corner. And before Jacob can deliver the peculiar children to safety, he must make an important decision about his love for Emma Bloom.

You know why this book was so much better than the first one? Because there was so much character development, there was much more action and it was mostly set in 1940 London where we got to experience the war alongside the characters. What you’ve got to remember is that the peculiar children have been living in the time loop of 3rd September 1940 and at the time where their day restarts, is moments before their home gets bombed – so the children never get to experience the war first hand, and they think it’s all make-believe. Well now, they have to dodge the dropping bombs and hide from planes flying over their heads. It made it so much more exciting (I know the war isn’t supposed to be exciting, it was horrifying, but in this case being set against the backdrop of World War II added tension and fear).

Again in this book, Riggs included never-seen-before photographs to coincide with his plot and as I said in my review for the first book, the photos aren’t creepy (apart from the odd few) but they add a whole new dimension to the story. The story feels more real, it feels like it isn’t just fiction, you feel like you know the characters just by looking at the photographs that look similar to what Riggs is describing.

Also, just ignore the relationship between Emma and Jacob and everything will be fine…

The ending as well was brilliantly written and when I finished Hollow City at quarter to 12 at night, I didn’t want to wait until the morning to start reading Library of Souls. But I had to… So I waited. And that night, I dreamt I was walking alongside the peculiars and Miss Peregrine. It was such a good book which lead to an amazing dream. I thoroughly recommend everyone to read this series.