Review: The Dark and Hollow Places

by Brittany Geragotelis

I'm a big fan of zombie stories. Forget vampires...they're so overdone right now. But zombies? Well, they've certainly been done, but I really feel like there are so many good stories out there just waiting to be written!

photo credit: Ember

I recently finished reading the third book in the zombie series by Carrie Ryan. Now, I have to admit, I mostly picked up The Dark and Hollow Places because I'd heard of the other books Carrie had written: The Forest of Hands and Teeth and The Dead-Tossed Waves. And though I hadn't read either, I'd heard from others that they were really good, and thought it was about time I checked them out.

photo credit: Ember

And I've gotta say it was worth it.

The Dark and Hollow Places is about a girl, Annah, who's just trying to survive the current outbreak of zombies in the city where she lives. She's been waiting for several years for her old friend—and onetime crush—Elias to come back home after joining up with an army of men called the Recruiters. She's just about to leave the city for good, when she runs into her long-lost twin sister whom she'd always thought was dead. Even more shocking is that Elias is with her sister and tagging along is another handsome young man called Catcher. When this new group of loners escape from the incoming horde of zombies and find refuge on an island nearby. But the same place where they've gone to seek safety is about to become just as dangerous as the streets filled with the undead. Now Annah and the others must find a way out...and they might not all make it out alive.

I really enjoyed reading The Dark and Hollow Places and understand why Carrie's books are so well-liked. She writes very epic tales...not just about creepy crawlies that go bump in the night or a zombie or two popping up out of the darkness. But instead, it's more about the infestation of a disease—in this case, zombies—and the will to survive. I'd thoroughly recommend this book....of course, since it's sort of a spin-off of the other two books, I'd probably pick up those ones first. Which actually works out well, because The Dark and Hollow Places doesn't come out until March.

5x5,
B.