The book never really explained why the Guardians existed nor much of what they did. I actually want to know more about the creepy Sisterhood that everyone listens too. I don't get why they were in charge. Too bad for everyone else, I'm not normal. And my Vanilla Ice-listening, parachute pants-wearing ass just loooooooves bad YA.*

Anyway yes I finished the book, and of course the ending gives us that YA first book in the series ending where there's not enough closure to create any sort of satisfaction. And since the second book is about this main character's daughter I guess any lingering questions on the fate of the people who weren't mentioned how they ended up at the end are probably answered barely in passing in book 2. It is told from Mary's point of view, but I didn't really like her very much. I found her obsessive need to see the ocean a little annoying. I know, I know. Without it, there would be no plot. Still. She didn't come off as an adventurous young woman who wouldn't settle. She came off (to me, anyway) as a girl who's single-minded selfishness caused everyone around her nothing but pain. Ok, maybe that's too harsh. I think she did care about the other people in her life, just not enough to think about them until it was too late. I've mentioned before that I have a love/hate relationship with zombies. On one hand, I love reading zombie books and watching zombie movies. On the other I will then spend two weeks wide awake clutching a baseball bat while waiting for the shuffle of feet and the moans of the undead outside my bedroom door. At the end, there's still a lot of unanswered questions. This chapter of Mary's life has ended, but her story is not over. If you like cold calculated revenge involving hidden identities and lots of secrets: Daughter of Deep Silence.This last third book in the trilogy (though I really, really hope there are others!) unites all of the characters we've met since the first book together in a frenetic union of panic and love, lust and hurt. Annah's love of her sister combined with the hate that springs forth once she learns how Abagail/Gabry grew up is a tasty treat, sweet and sour, to be enjoyed slowly as it simmers to a head near the middle of the book. Just as the first book was Mary's story and the second was Gabry's, make no mistake that this last story in the trilogy belongs to Annah and Ryan never lets us forget that. We're deeply immersed in Annah and her psyche the entire time, and how she fights with herself on whether she loves or hates her sister, Catcher, and Elias. Yet, despite my utter hatred of the main character by the time I finished this novel, I still can't give it less than five stars.

While November means turkey, football and marathon shopping for some, it’s a month of being hunched over at a laptop slurping cup after cup of caffeine for others.

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The world has been overrun with Unconsecrated (flesh-eating zombies). Mary lives in the middle of a forest, in a small village protected by fences. One day she hears sirens alerting the village that there may be a breach in the fences.

The ocean is more important to her than her friends (and her brother). When the gates end, Mary refuses to hang with her friends to figure out what to do next. In her mind, it's the ocean or nothing. She rationalizes that she "promised Travis that I wouldn't give up hope […] that I wouldn't accept safe and calm. Not at the expense of my dreams" (34.15). So she leaves her friends behind and stumbles out alone into the Forest to find her dream. Mary was a bit too wishy-washy for me. She wanted Travis more than anything. No, she wanted to leave to find the ocean. No, she felt really close to Harry. What did she want? Maybe I'm being hard on her, but I just found her frustrating. It's all brilliantly written. The settings, the different protagonists, the passion, the helplessness, the hope, it adds up to give a very realistic world. It made my adrenaline pump and my heart ache. I thoroughly enjoyed it all. I also have to mention that the covers are gorgeous!! That alone is worth having these on your shelves! Unfortunately, Ryan also has a desire to write about teenage angst and lurve. While this worked well in The Forest of Hands and Teeth, it’s old hat by now. At this point the zombie scenes and the supporting characters are meant only to hinder the romance and heighten the angst. Teenagers talk philosophically about the nature of life, love and death and manage to be the only good guys amongst many of the survivors we encounter. *yawn* Near the beginning of The Dark and Hollow Places Annah makes the decision to move on--Elias has been gone three years when he only signed up for two. She knows that there is a good chance he's dead or worse. She knows it's foolish to continue living in the same building they lived in together as it's been declared unsafe and the city is getting more dangerous every day.However when zombies are able to breach their compound one night and rebels take Iza hostage, she has to decide for herself what it really takes to survive in this world filled with betrayal and death. But it burns so, so good. Ryan has only honed and perfected her craft of agonized teenage affection throughout all three books, which is really well represented in this last story.