Book 57 - The Dark and Hollow Places

My fifty-seventh book was The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan. It's the third book of the Forest of Hands and Teeth series. This book is about Annah, who is revealed in the last book to be a relative of someone in the series. Annah was devastated when Elias left her to join the Recruiters three years before this book starts. Since then, she has become hard and tough, having to learn to take care of herself even more. The scars she got from the barbed wire help keep people away from her, but the scars also give Annah a reason to keep people away from her. As she's planning to leave the Dark City, she sees something that makes her go back in. And when she gets back in, she sees that the city is being taken over by a Horde, thousands, maybe even millions, of Unconsecrated swarming over the city. And it turns out the only place that is safe is the Sanctuary, an island that is surrounded by a wall (the reader can only assume that the Dark City is New York and the Sanctuary is Manhattan). As she's trying to get there, she meets a mysterious stranger named Catcher who saves her from the Unconsecrated many times. As they try to get to the Sanctuary, Annah learns many things about Catcher, including that she might love him. This book was very hard to review without giving too many things away. This was my favorite book in the series. The other two were great, but this was much better.
Grade: A++
SC: 5
V: 10
C: 3

Book 55 - The Dead-Tossed Waves

My fifty-fifth book was The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan. This book is the sequel to The Forest of Hands and Teeth. This book is about Gabrielle (or Gabry) who is Mary's daughter. Mary named her after Gabrielle, the girl from another village that was turned into an unconsecrated by the Sisterhood. At the end of the last book, Mary was found by a lighthouse keeper, who trained her to take care of the lighthouse. Now, many years after the first book, Gabry is sixteen and scared of everything. So, on the night that her best friend Cira and her very handsome brother, Catcher, try to talk her into crossing over the fence and into the abandoned amusement park, it is out of character for her to listen. She knows that she shouldn't go beyond the wall. Everyone has always told her that it's not safe and Gabry has never even been tempted to go beyond it before. But, Gabry is too in love with Catcher to resist. As everyone else in the group is racing to the abandoned roller coaster, Catcher and Gabry climb on the old carousel. They are the only ones that see the Breaker (an Unconsecrated, or as they are called in this town Mudo, who has died and turned in an area where there are no other Mudo around. To continue the infection, they are much faster than anyone else) that comes running into the park and heads towards their friends. As Catcher races off to save Cira, one of Gabry's former friends races towards her and Catcher is able to save her just in time. But he gets bitten and tells Gabry to run back to the town. The kids that were in the park that night are punished by being forced to join the military. But Gabry notices that Catcher isn't in the group that has been captured. Gabry, so afraid of everything, must risk her life and get over her fears to find Catcher in the abandoned town outside of the park. But she finds something there that truly surprises her, including a Mudo worshipping cult, a mysterious boy who seems to know who she is, and Catcher, now infected, but still alive. The first book was great, but I think this book topped it. Gabry is much less annoying than Mary was in the first book. Definitely worth reading.
Grade: A++
SC: 5
V: 9
C: 3

Book 52 - The Forest of Hands and Teeth

My fifty-second book was The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. I heard that this book was similar to The Hunger Games. And it is, except that it isn't at all. Instead of being forced to fight other children (like Katniss), the main character of this book (Mary) has to fight people that have been infected (they're basically zombies) and are trying to eat her. Her father disappeared months before and her mother watches for him outside of the fences every day. Mary knows that she is supposed to be with her mother, because if she wandered too close to the fence, one of the many Unconsecreted could bite her and infect her. Which happens, of course, because Mary gets sidetracked with the laundry and the boy named Harry asking her to the banquet. Mary's brother, Jed, is so angry with her for allowing their mother to pick to live in the jungle as an infected person instead of killing her that he will not allow her into his home. So, because no one has spoken for her, she is sent to live with the Sisterhood at the cathedral and become a sister. It soon becomes clear that they have many secrets from Mary, and even from the entire town. Travis, Harry's brother and the boy Mary is really in love with, gets hurt and is cared for in the cathedral. Mary realizes just how much she loves him while caring for him. She also finds out about a girl that has come from the outside world, walking on a fenced in path that connects to the village. No one can use this path, so it means that the girl, Gabrielle, came from another place. When Mary sees a flash of bright red outside of the fence the next day, she realizes that it is Gabrielle and that the sisters have turned her into an Unconsecreted because she would have revealed their secret. But she's different from the others. She's very fast and even finds a way to knock down the very secure fences. After the invasion, there's no turning back. Mary, Travis, Harry, Cass (Mary's best friend), a little boy named Jacob, Mary's brother Jed and his wife Beth are able to make it into the fenced in path, which they walk down for many days. They don't know what is at the end of the path, if there's even anything at all. Very good book. I the entire 308 page book in one day.
Grade: A++
SC: 5
V: 9
C: 2