BOOK REVIEW: The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan

Name: The Dark and Hollow Places (FHT #3)
Author: Carrie Ryan
Number of Pages: 374
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Date Published: March 22nd 2011
Source: Review (Bought)
Rate: 4/5

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?
[ Summary taken from GoodReads ]




When I had first head The Dark and Hollow Places I did not realize that it was the third installment to the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Yet I found that even if you did not read the first two books, this book has the information given that you would need to understand what is happening. I have been wanting to read a good zombie book for awhile. Maybe it is my obsession to zombies and apocalypses or just the need for a good thriller, which this book offered.

Carrie Ryan has written an exceptional book about the walking dead and I couldn't be more content. Annah is a broken, mistrusting girl that is just trying to survive what is left of the world. On top of the roofs she watches the dead roam below wondering if today is her day. Annah honestly became my favorite character, in some zombie movies or books characters act like nothing bad ever happens that they can just hide away forever and be safe, she never once thought that she had forever. I am really glad that she was thinking realistic thoughts and making really mature choices, even if she is put into situations that she must. She is strong in her own way and not with out her flaws.

She becomes stronger when she meets the mysterious Catcher who weirdly has a connection to her past. Catcher makes Annah come out of her shell and become an actually living being, who is ready to feel. I loved the romance that formed between the two, it wasn't too fast and not to slow. It was sweet and pure. Even with Annah's scars Catcher still saw the beauty in her.

Ryan was perfect at depicting the thunder of the hoards, the rain, and the cruelty of the world. I will honestly admit that I didn't like to read this book before bed because the dead roamed my dreams, it was freaky.

Although this book was a bit hit to me I wish that Ryan would not have ended with such an opened ending. I hope that this book does not turn into a fourth because then it would be too much a drag. There were also a few drag areas that I would wish get to the point, but other than those few quirks I quite enjoyed this flesh eating piece of literature.

Read On!!!

xx Kat xx