The Dark and Hollow Places

 The Dark and Hollow Places, the third in the Forest of Hands and Teeth series follows Annah, Gabry's sister who has grown up in the ruins of New York City.  While leaving the Dark City Annah catches a glimpse of her sister Gabry and returns to the city.  She is found by Catcher Gabry's boyfriend who is immune to the virus who warns her of the Horde of Zombies (which are referred to by many different names).  The two then head to an island controlled by the recruiters (a super evil police force) to escape the horde and to find Annah's sister.

I did not like this installment as much as the other two.  The book was super dark, super violent and I never felt any hope.  Annah spends the majority of her time a prisoner on the island which is run by men that are so evil they're unrealistic.  These men have not a shred of humanity left in them and Annah is under constant threat of death, injury or rape throughout the entire book and is nearly raped several times.  The romance seemed more of convenience than of a connection between the characters.  The zombie scenes were fantastic and there were many scenes that had me engrossed.  Readers who enjoy true edge of your seat horror will love this novel it does have a completely different feel than the other two books in the series.

Appropriateness:  This book is violent and scary.  The main character is under almost constant threat of rape and death (although younger readers might not view the threat as rape).  Readers who have read the other two books in the series need to be prepared for the change in tone that comes with this novel.  I would recommend this book for readers aged 15+ that enjoy the horror genre (this is not a fluffy paranormal romance).  Each book in the series focuses on a separate character and each has a different feel so these books can be read out of order.