The Dark and Hollow Places (Forest of Hands and Teeth, #3)

by Carrie Ryan

[Angie]

I was sadly disappointed by The Dark and Hollow Places. Most of it had to do with me just not liking Annah, Gabry’s long lost twin. As Gabry and Catcher are entering the Dark City, Annah is on her way out. But she sees her twin and pushes her way back in. From there it’s just disaster after disaster, as the girls are ripped apart, thrown together, ripped apart, thrown together. And the Recruiters are controlling her in order to control Catcher, because he’s their only hope at survival.

The Dark and Hollow Places could have gone down the dark and depressing path or the hopeful path. I never knew which it would take, since either would be a fitting ending to this series. I was kind of hoping for the dark and depressing ending though, since those tend to be super rare. But there was enough awful things happening along the way anyway. Annah cannot catch a break. She’s constantly being abused by Recruiters and chased by the undead. It does get very repetitive though, which had me bored.

I also just really did not like Annah. She’s one of those characters who pushes everyone away because they’re not worth loving or whatever. She’s scarred all over from falling into a tangle of barb wire as a kid, so she feels like she’s ugly and unworthy. I get that her scars bother her, but it’s not up to her to tell others how to feel about them. She’s constantly telling Catcher that she’s ugly and no one wants her. Then she has this whole martyr complex, where she thinks because she’s ugly and useless, she has to sacrifice herself for everyone. It was just annoying. She wouldn’t listen to anything anyone said and kept trying to tell them what they think. I do not like characters like this.

Then the great escape plan at the end made me roll my eyes. Everyone is trapped on this island, the last safe haven from the horde. At least until they start crossing the river. Annah had a really great plan to get them off the island, but I do not believe for a second that they were able to tell other citizens, have them get all the needed supplies, and pull everything together in one day. There is no way. I believed that Annah and her group could do it, since she had already started on it. But everyone else? Nope. It was just too easy.

The Dark and Hollow Places didn’t hold my attention like the previous two books. I didn’t like Annah, and I wasn’t behind that romance at all. It came out of nowhere, same with the solution to get off the island. This world is utterly ruined, but there’s always been hope throughout the series. Even though this finale did nothing for me, I do think the series is worth a read. Especially if you like to read about bad things happening to good people.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.