Review : The Dark and Hollow Places

Posted by on September 27, 2011 2:50 am in 3.5 stars reads | 6 comments

The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan
Pages : 374
Genre : YA, Post-Apocalypse, Zombies
Series : The Forest of Hands and Teeth, Book 3
My Rating :

From the book’s jacket :

Annah lives with a lot of regrets : the first is when she left her sister behind in the forest, never to be seen again. The second is the morning her friend Elias left to become a Recruiter, three years ago. Every day she hopes to see them again, and every day her despair grows.

When life brings back in her life the ones she had lost, with a new friend on top, Annah hopes things can get back to the way they were, despite the Horde advancing towards her dark city. But having spend those years apart, fighting for their lives or trying to find their way home, not everything is as it used to be, and Annah has to face that things will never be the same.

My Thoughts :

Having enjoyed the first two books of this zombie-fest post-apocalyptic trilogy, I was waiting with some excitement to read this last installment. Not only this book had, like its predecessors, a fantastic title, it also promised to give me the answers I had been hoping for. I was looking forward to seeing again Elias, Catcher and Gabry, and to get to know what happened to Annah.

Ryan’s writing was as fantastic as before. I love how her words give us an intimate look into her main character’s thoughts, leaving nothing out, the good and the bad. Annah was certainly a troubled young woman, living in dark times with a terrible weight on her shoulders. From the first few pages, her guilt is heavy, haunting her every word and every move. She is stuck both in the dark city and in that moment of her life, unable to break from her mold.

When she finally does, she comes across her sister and there the story really begins. I was so curious to see how the two sisters would interact together after all those years and there again, the other delivered in portraying the complexity of their relationship.

However, I found the story itself extremely slow. So much so that it took me long to finish the book – or so it felt like. Ryan has a very quiet type of writing, which I enjoy, but this time around I just wasn’t gripped by the story like I had been before. Something was lacking, and sadly I would have a hard time pointing out what, exactly, was needed.

This being said, I’m very lonely in my camp! Most reviews I have read were extremely positives, raving about the book and often choosing it as the best of the series. It’s possible I just read it at the wrong time, but in any case, it was still a really good novel I could recommend to fans of the series. If you love the genre, then you need to grab the first book and start reading. 🙂

Series Reading Order :

  1. The Forest of Hands and Teeth
  2. The Dead-Tossed Waves
  3. The Dark and Hollow Places

6 Comments

  1. I just finished this book and loved it. I found it a little slow at the beginning but I think eventually it worked for me.

    • Interesting how our reactions vary! I thought the middle was slow, but I loved the beginning and the ending. I’m wondering what Ryan will work on next?

  2. I have the first book in this series, and am looking forward to getting started with it. I have heard so many great things. I am sorry to hear that this one was not a favorite though, and I will have to keep your review in mind when I do finally read it. It will be interesting to see if we feel the same way about it. Thanks for the very thoughtful review!

    • I would be curious to hear your thoughts on it, too. 🙂 I think many readers preferred the next two books because Mary, the lead in the first novel, wasn’t that likable. But I still enjoyed it from start to finish!

  3. I’m not sure this series is for me, but I really do want to give it a try.

  4. I loved The Forest of Hands and Teeth, but I haven’t picked up the sequels. I need to get to that!

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