Carrie Ryan: The Dark and Hollow Places
If you're a long-time reader of this blog, you know that I'm a BIG fan of Carrie Ryan's The Forest of Hands and Teeth trilogy. You'll also know that zombie stories aren't my thing, so the fact that I fell so hard for this story and these characters speaks volumes about just how awesome Carrie Ryan is. I spent a lot of time pining for the publication of The Dark and Hollow Places, and it was worth the wait.
Annah is a survivor. Literally. After escaping The Forest of Hands and Teeth as a child, she and her friend Elias moved to the Dark City. But three years ago, Elias joined the Recruiters and left Annah on her own to fend for herself and fend off the Unconsecrated.
Her past haunts her.
Her future seems dark.
She doesn't live, she merely exists.
Then, believe it or not, the present gets worse. A lot worse. The Horde overtakes the Dark City, forcing Annah to flee the only home she's known since leaving the Forest and wonder if she'll ever be reunited with Elias again. And she meets Catcher, a boy with a link to her past and secrets of his own. The Dark City and her world start to crumble all around her.
Now it's up to Annah to decide whether she wants to continue to fight and find a way to live--really, truly live--in such a hopeless world or give in to the darkness.
There's so much I loved about this book -- a resilient heroine, characters that I genuinely cared about, a fast-moving plot, and nail-biting terror. Even better, Carrie Ryan tied all three novels together perfectly, weaving the lives of different survivors from different families together brilliantly.
Despite the bleak nature of the story, I saw a tiny ray of hope at the end and smiled. It was a satisfying ending to an exceptional trilogy.
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
For more information on Carrie Ryan, visit:
@carrieryan
carrieryan.com