soulswallo (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
soulswallo) wrote2009-06-26 07:17 pm
soulswallo) wrote2009-06-26 07:17 pm
You knew there would be consequences ...
Okay. So I just finished this book and it has a lot of really great things going for it, starting with the fact that (a) the name is AWESOME and (b) the cover is a little haunting. So, you're getting the whole kit and caboodle with this review. Picture, quote, long ass review!
Don't say I never gave you anything!
Book #47 - The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan - First off this is a book about Zombies ... Oops, infected. This is a book about the infected (who are also called the Unconsecrated) and the village of uninfected that lives in the middle of this undead forest. The village is surrounded by a fence which no one ever crosses. The lovely Mary remembers stories that her mother used to tell her (passed down since the time before the infected roamed) about the ocean and she longs to see it some day. Only a vast stretch of infected lie between her village and her dream. When the village fence is breached one day, Mary must convince those that escape that the only chance they have is to follow the old fenced paths to find somewhere safe.
I absolutely LOVED parts of this book. The imagery of these Zombies clawing endlessly against this wire fence was chilling. The idea that these people are conditioned their entire lives to living this way and that there are those within the village hierarchy that know that there's more out there but who refuse to share their knowledge is frightening. I liked how Mary's aloneness was portrayed. I liked how she's driven by this impossible dream of finding an ocean that she's only heard about in stories.
But there were also things that made me not quite as thrilled. I'm never keen on an overabundance of godliness being thrown into my books. In Mary's society, the Sisterhood controls everything and their word is the word of god. But, it did work for the book. Very well, in fact.
My biggest complaint is that I have questions that weren't answered. How did the world fall to this? (The beginnings of an explanation were given) What other secrets were the Sisterhood hiding? The really, really good news is that this looks to be the first in a series (The Dead-Tossed Waves comes out in March of next year) so those questions could easily be answered.
As a whole, I found myself really enjoying this book. Mary could be a bit self-centered, but she grows as the book progresses. I'd like to know what happens next and I will be buying the next book when it comes out. Boo-yah!
I used to have all my Zombie themed books in one place on my bookshelf, but I don't anymore. It's those Stephan King books, they take up nearly an entire shelf by themselves and one of them was Zombie-fied (Cell) and I HAVE to have books by the same author grouped together. That's just the way it is. So my Zombie books are no longer huddled together waiting to infect. They're scattered. Sad.
In other news ... no, there is no other news. Just Zombies. I apologize. You know, I hope I don't have nightmares tonight since Cole isn't here (he's in Carmel visiting his other grandparents and celebrating his birthday). I won't have his sweaty little hand to hold in the middle of the night. His hand's not actually little anymore. The kid's nearly as tall as I am. Boo. I guess my dog will just have to keep the Zombie screaming nightmares out of my head. Can dogs even do that?
Oh, I nearly forgot! The bottom section of our stairs is (mostly) completed. Everything except the top of the top stair. The guy can't put the hardwood on it until he pulls up the carpet above it and he's not doing that until tomorrow. Someday I'll take pictures and you'll be all Oooooh, pretty! :)
I'm done now.
Happy Zombies!
Don't say I never gave you anything!
But then I'm distracted by movement in the Forest, a glimpse of red at the edge of my vision. She's no longer running, no longer even walking or standing, but crawling now. Dragging her broken body across the ground toward me, her fingers clawing at the dirt. Her progress is slow, unbearably so. Such that it's almost sad to see her reduced to this. Her body has used up it's stores of energy and has begun collapsing in on itself.
Book #47 - The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan - First off this is a book about Zombies ... Oops, infected. This is a book about the infected (who are also called the Unconsecrated) and the village of uninfected that lives in the middle of this undead forest. The village is surrounded by a fence which no one ever crosses. The lovely Mary remembers stories that her mother used to tell her (passed down since the time before the infected roamed) about the ocean and she longs to see it some day. Only a vast stretch of infected lie between her village and her dream. When the village fence is breached one day, Mary must convince those that escape that the only chance they have is to follow the old fenced paths to find somewhere safe.
I absolutely LOVED parts of this book. The imagery of these Zombies clawing endlessly against this wire fence was chilling. The idea that these people are conditioned their entire lives to living this way and that there are those within the village hierarchy that know that there's more out there but who refuse to share their knowledge is frightening. I liked how Mary's aloneness was portrayed. I liked how she's driven by this impossible dream of finding an ocean that she's only heard about in stories.
But there were also things that made me not quite as thrilled. I'm never keen on an overabundance of godliness being thrown into my books. In Mary's society, the Sisterhood controls everything and their word is the word of god. But, it did work for the book. Very well, in fact.
My biggest complaint is that I have questions that weren't answered. How did the world fall to this? (The beginnings of an explanation were given) What other secrets were the Sisterhood hiding? The really, really good news is that this looks to be the first in a series (The Dead-Tossed Waves comes out in March of next year) so those questions could easily be answered.
As a whole, I found myself really enjoying this book. Mary could be a bit self-centered, but she grows as the book progresses. I'd like to know what happens next and I will be buying the next book when it comes out. Boo-yah!
I used to have all my Zombie themed books in one place on my bookshelf, but I don't anymore. It's those Stephan King books, they take up nearly an entire shelf by themselves and one of them was Zombie-fied (Cell) and I HAVE to have books by the same author grouped together. That's just the way it is. So my Zombie books are no longer huddled together waiting to infect. They're scattered. Sad.
In other news ... no, there is no other news. Just Zombies. I apologize. You know, I hope I don't have nightmares tonight since Cole isn't here (he's in Carmel visiting his other grandparents and celebrating his birthday). I won't have his sweaty little hand to hold in the middle of the night. His hand's not actually little anymore. The kid's nearly as tall as I am. Boo. I guess my dog will just have to keep the Zombie screaming nightmares out of my head. Can dogs even do that?
Oh, I nearly forgot! The bottom section of our stairs is (mostly) completed. Everything except the top of the top stair. The guy can't put the hardwood on it until he pulls up the carpet above it and he's not doing that until tomorrow. Someday I'll take pictures and you'll be all Oooooh, pretty! :)
I'm done now.
Happy Zombies!
no subject
no subject