The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan

Synopsis
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?


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I really love this series but I must say the first two books blew this one out of the water. I think this book was more focused on tying loose ends then telling Annah's story, which is what I was mostly looking for! Also there wasn't as much action/drama/loss than in the predecessors. However the story was excellent and I loved Annah... most of the time.

She is so closed off and is severely crippled in trust and love from the time Elias left her to join the recruiters. I never did like Elias much, and after reading this my opinion hasn't changed. I'm more a Cather fanatic myself <3 :) Though I wish he had found someone more "right" I guess for himself. Awfully convenient for Catcher to fall in love with the sister. :/

Like I said earlier there wasn't as much action as the last two novels. In the others the tension was constant, palpable almost. It was like a train wreck you can't not look at. Here though it was more subdued and a little monotonous even towards the end. Not that there wasn't any action, there was some, but that felt more subdued as well. There was none of Mary's tenacity or Gabry's selflessness. For Annah I didn't see a specific trait that kept popping up, that made her stand out. And while the ending was beautiful, I couldn't help but think 'This is it? This is what I waited for?' This seems like a very mixed review so I'll say this: An excellent story, but not the one I was hoping for.