The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan

The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan
The Forest of Hands and Teeth #3
Release Date: March 22, 2011
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Source: Bought
Rating: 3 out of 5

Buy the Book: Amazon UK

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? - Goodreads

So, I really, really liked this book, guys! I was a bit wary of this book after the mess that was The Dead-Tossed Waves but I really think The Dark and Hollow Places is (mostly) back on form. There were a few things that mildly annoyed me but overall I enjoyed reading it and as a whole have loved the entire series. Carrie Ryan, teach me how to write like you.

The Archived by Victoria Schwab

The Archived by Victoria Schwab
The Archived #1
Release Date: January 22, 2013
Publisher: Hyperion
Source: Borrowed
Goodreads Stars: 4
Rating: Enjoyable

Buy the Book: Amazon UK

Imagine a place where the dead rest on shelves like books.

Each body has a story to tell, a life seen in pictures that only Librarians can read. The dead are called Histories, and the vast realm in which they rest is the Archive.

Da first brought Mackenzie Bishop here four years ago, when she was twelve years old, frightened but determined to prove herself. Now Da is dead, and Mac has grown into what he once was, a ruthless Keeper, tasked with stopping often—violent Histories from waking up and getting out. Because of her job, she lies to the people she loves, and she knows fear for what it is: a useful tool for staying alive.

Being a Keeper isn’t just dangerous—it’s a constant reminder of those Mac has lost. Da’s death was hard enough, but now her little brother is gone too. Mac starts to wonder about the boundary between living and dying, sleeping and waking. In the Archive, the dead must never be disturbed. And yet, someone is deliberately altering Histories, erasing essential chapters. Unless Mac can piece together what remains, the Archive itself might crumble and fall.

In this haunting, richly imagined novel, Victoria Schwab reveals the thin lines between past and present, love and pain, trust and deceit, unbearable loss and hard-won redemption. - Goodreads

There's been so much hype surrounding this one! I had been dying to read it ever since it was released, because it felt like every single blogger was talking about it. People still are talking about it, and it's been two months! So because of all that hype, I was excited, and my expectations for this were through the roof. I can honestly say that I did enjoy this book, but it wasn't as great as everyone had led me to believe.

WoW: School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins

School Spirits by Rachel Hawkins
School Spirits #1
Release Date: May 14, 2013
Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Goodreads

The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan

The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
The Forest of Hands and Teeth #2
Release Date: March 9, 2010
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Source: Bought
Rating: 1 out of 5

Gabry lives a quiet life. As safe a life as is possible in a town trapped between a forest and the ocean, in a world teeming with the dead, who constantly hunger for those still living. She’s content on her side of the Barrier, happy to let her friends dream of the Dark City up the coast while she watches from the top of her lighthouse. But there are threats the Barrier cannot hold back. Threats like the secrets Gabry’s mother thought she left behind when she escaped from the Sisterhood and the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Like the cult of religious zealots who worship the dead. Like the stranger from the forest who seems to know Gabry. And suddenly, everything is changing. One reckless moment, and half of Gabry’s generation is dead, the other half imprisoned. Now Gabry only knows one thing: she must face the forest of her mother’s past in order to save herself and the one she loves. - Goodreads

This bloody book. I don't even know where to begin tbh. I'd read The Forest of Hands and Teeth and loved it so much I immediately ordered the next book, naively thinking the series would be consistently good throughout. Alas.

New Releases: March 26 - April 1, 2013

In which I tell you about some of the books that are coming out this week. I found as many as I could, but (as always) I have probably missed some. Some of these sound really good, especially Going Vintage!