Review: The Dark Hollow Places

Title: The Dark Hollow Places
Author: Carrie Ryan
Published: 2011
Pages: 384
Rating: 3.5/5

Annah knows she has a twin sister, but she forgot her long ago. Back when they went to play in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, she and Elias lost her, and after that there was no going back to the village. Life's been hard, but Elias has taken care of her, and living in the Dark City can help one to forget the horror of the Unconsecrated—if you try hard enough. But when Elias disappears, Annah's world crumbles. To her, life isn't worth much more than the walking dead who roam the wasted world she lives in. It's not until she meets Catcher that she cares to start living again. Yet Catcher has secrets. Dark, terrifying secrets that link him to a past she's longed to forget and to a future too deadly to consider. Annah must decide: Can she continue to live a world covered in the blood of the living? Or is death the answer to all her problems?


This third book in the Forest of Hands and Teeth series follows the actions of the main character, Annah. The twin sister of Gabry (formally Abigail) who is the main character of the second book, The Dead-Tossed Waves, who's mother, Mary, was the lead in The Forest of Hands and Teeth. 


I wasn't sure what I was expecting from this third book to the trilogy(?). I loved the Forest of Hands and Teeth, but I didn't love The Dead Tossed Waves nearly as much. I would say that I enjoyed this one more than the second, but not as much as the first. 


As a stand-alone book, I really enjoyed this and thought it flowed well. But as the ending to a trilogy, I wasn't impressed. I felt as though the ending rounded things off for the one book well. But as a trilogy it didn't, as I felt like it should of gone back to some of it's old roots from the first book. 


The first two books proved that Ryan likes to put her lead characters through hell, and this book was no exception. Annah has had an even harder time physically than the previous leads, though I don't think she has as much weight on her conscience. I liked the strength in Annah. But overall I found her to be winy and surprisingly vain. There is not a chapter gone by where she doesn't talk about how much she hates the scars on her face or blames them for something. Even though it cannot be nice, there are far more things of colossal importance. I also hated how after one look at her sister, she spent the whole time moaning about how much more perfect than her she was, even though she knew nothing about her. But alas, she does develop well as the book goes along, and the vanity dies down. 


The plot-line of this book seemed to be split into three: the love square of the four main characters, the Unconsecrated and the Recruiters. This book was set in the Dark City, where Elias and Annah had been living since being broken up from Gabry in the Forest all those years ago. Our four leads go to the last possible resort to survive the Unconsecrated, and have no choice but to do what the cruel and evil Recruiters say. I also think that I liked the character Gabry in this book a lot more. Though that's probably because we weren't in her head this time.   


As I said before, I loved the story-line as a book alone. There was plenty of action, and Ryan really went into exploring how human's have degraded since the Return. And overall, I liked it, and thought the book came together well. My only problems were some of the traits of Annah and the fact that I didn't finish of the trilogy for me. If you were a fan of the previous books, however, I think you'll enjoy this.