The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan

The Dark and Hollow Places (The Forest of Hands and Teeth #3)by Carrie Ryan
384 Pages
Delacorte Books for Young Readers
March 22, 2011
Source: Publisher
Format: ARC

There are many things that Annah would like to forget: the look on her sister's face before Annah left her behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, her first glimpse of the Horde as they swarmed the Dark City, the sear of the barbed wire that would scar her for life. But most of all, Annah would like to forget the morning Elias left her for the Recruiters.

Annah's world stopped that day, and she's been waiting for Elias to come home ever since. Somehow, without him, her life doesn't feel much different than the dead that roam the wasted city around her. Until she meets Catcher, and everything feels alive again.

But Catcher has his own secrets. Dark, terrifying truths that link him to a past Annah has longed to forget, and to a future too deadly to consider. And now it's up to Annah: can she continue to live in a world covered in the blood of the living? Or is death the only escape from the Return's destruction?

   This series just keeps amazing me! When I read The Forest of Hands and Teeth, I was shocked by the completely different and terrifying world Carrie Ryan had created. Now I am shocked by how much each new addition exceeds the previous one.

    The Dark and Hollow Places takes place in the same generation as The Dead Tossed Waves, except instead of being from Gabry's point of view, it is from the point of view of her twin sister, Annah. Since Elias, whom she's been living with in the Dark City, left for the recruiters three years ago, Annah has been used to taking care of herself and trusting no one.  That is until Catcher; good-looking, mysterious and reserved, shows up looking for her. He claims that Elias sent him to find her, but at this point she doesn't know what to believe. As the hoard, a massive group of unconsecrated, threaten to overtake the city, Annah finds herself running for her life once again and fighting through the dark and hollow places within herself.

   I loved this book! I don't know if love is quite the word though... It tore my heart out and had me looking for shadows behind me. Each page had me on end and I couldn't even guess what was coming next. And, whew! It was dark.Simply said, this one the best book in the series so far (am not sure if there is going to be more). If you've read the first two, you should definitely go out and buy this one- you will be speechless. If you haven't read the series, I don't know what you're waiting for- this series is incredible. At this point, I honestly don't know what else to say. Except go get it on March 22nd! I do not have a single complaint or anything negative at all to say. This book is one of the few that has made my list of absolute favorites (and that is saying something!)

*Update*

    There are so many things that I couldn't have even thought to say when I was writing this review. It was as if this novel hadn't fully digested with me yet. But a comment I wrote on Jen Bigheart's (I Read Banned Books) says alot that I forgot to say before. Below is my comment because I feel that I talk about a really important aspect of the novel.

   "Oh my goodness, it was so good! And yes, it was definitely dark and "creepy, slimy, gritty". I was appalled by the Recruiters and I thought it was sort of morbid and scary that darkness in this installment stems from human beings not from zombies themselves. Was I the only one who felt bad for the zombies in this book? I thought it was amazing how Ryan was able to completely turn the opinions of the reader around, making them see the humans as bad and the zombies as unfortunate."