Floating and Desperate

It has been a long time since the fabulous Forest of Hands and Teeth series ended, but that doesn't mean we don't miss it. While we spent a lot of time in the world after the zombie plague ravaged civilization, what happened to the people who survived those first few weeks? Carrie Ryan gives us a snapshot of two such guys. 

Together, alone, floating on the ocean. He wished Nancy, his crush, had made it onto the boat, but all he got was Jeremy. They know they should try for land, but they can't bring themselves to leave the cruise ship they abandoned. That cruise ship holds their friends, no matter what state they might be in. To make things even worse, Jeremy is hiding a bite. 

This was a super short little story- maybe 20 pages or so, but it was fun. I really liked this story, and haven't seen much from Carrie Ryan since its conclusion. I wish she would come back and add more companion novels set in that world. She had such a knack for a really beautiful zombie stories, if there is such a thing! 

Short Story from Forest of Hands and Teeth

Hare Moon by Carrie Ryan is a small novella that is part of the Forest of Hands and Teeth series. It takes place before the first book, giving fans of the series a little insight into one of the supporting characters, Sister Tabitha. In the previous book, Sister Tabitha was a stern woman who tried to stifle Mary's desire to live outside the small village surrounded by fences and the Unconsecrated (zombies). Now we know why she was so hard on Mary.

Tabitha didn't marry, so she was sent o spend her life with the sisters in Sanctuary, taking over the responsibility of running the village and keeping everyone safe. She doesn't mind because she spends her days dreaming of life outside the fences. She starts slipping out the first gate and wandering into the fenced paths when the daydreams are no longer enough. After a few excursions, she finds a second gate a ways down the path. At the gate, she hears someone call to her and meets Patrick, a man from another village. Tabitha, like the rest of her village, has been brought up believing there were no other villages, so Patrick is a surprise, to say the least.

Patrick and Tabitha meet once a month on the path. Slowly they begin to fall in love. When Patrick doesn't meet her on the designated day, she worries something is wrong. The whole next month she spends exploring the Sanctuary until she finds a hidden tunnel in the basement. It leads her to a room and a book. The book gives her the history of the village, and it shows why the village decided to cut themselves off from the rest of the world- to protect themselves from infect refugees, raiders, and a host of other problems. When Tabitha goes back to meet Patrick, she is surprised when he shows up with his little brother claiming his village fell to the infection. Now she must decide between her true love and protecting the village. Which is more important? Life or living?

This was a really interesting little story that explains so much about Sister Tabitha. It won't make much sense to someone who hasn't read the other stories, as it doesn't spend a lot of time on background knowledge, but it would be good for someone who loved the trilogy. My biggest concern is that it is only available as an ebook. I don't like this trend. I have a Kindle, which I love, but some people I share YA books with don't, and that makes it hard to share this story with them. While I understand the reason so many authors publish electronically these days, I wish authors with previously paper published books would also publish this type of thing with paper and binding. Still, if you have and e-reader, you will enjoy this little tale!

Might be Dark but Definitely Isn't Hollow!

Authors need to stop waiting a year or more before releasing their next book in a series- I almost died waiting for this one! The Forest of Hands and Teeth series has been a roller coaster ride. Zombies, dystopian settings, fenced towns, and lost family and friends- who could keep up?! With the final book, The Dark and Hollow Places, Carrie Ryan exceeds expectations and brings a great series to a bittersweet end.

Annah has survived for three years in the Dead City without Elias. When he left to join the Recruiters, he did it to find Annah's twin sister- the one they left behind in the fences and never found again. Annah survives day to day in the horrible city, but she has never gotten over her guilt for leaving Gabry behind. When she decides Elias is never coming back and she should leave the city, she sees someone at the gate she never thought she would see again- Gabry. She manages to fight her way into to the city just in time to see the gate dogs go after Gabry's companion, indicating he was clearly infected. To Annah's horror, Gabry goes after the Recruiters to help her companion escape into the icy river below.

As she watches the Recruiters drag Gabry off, she knows she must find a way to save her sister. On her way home, Annah is surprised by the same guy who Gabry protected: Catcher. Catcher tells Annah he was sent to find her by Elias. He also tells her he is an Immune. Catcher was bitten, but didn't die- instead he can walk among the Unconsecrated (zombies) without being bothered, but the virus is still inside him. When the Unconsecrated start piling into the city, madness begins that is not unlike the horrors of when the virus first broke out. The Recruiters are holed up on their island, the only defensible part of the city, and when Elias is reunited with Annah, the three of them decide to make there way to the island where they assume Gabry is being held.

What Annah doesn't realize is that to get onto the island, Catcher must give himself to the Recruiters. The Recruiters love having Immunes to do their dirty work and get food and supplies where the others can't go. They know, however, the only way to keep an Immune is to hold onto someone they love. In order to get onto the island, they must accept that they are prisoners. The island, full of dangerous Recruiters and a leader who can barely keep them from murder and rape (and sometimes doesn't), is almost as bad as the Dark City, now overrun with zombies. Together, Elias, Gabry, Annah, and Catcher must find a way to get themselves off the island and to a safe place where they can be together... but how can they do that when even the river is filling up with the Unconsecrated and the Recruiters put people in cages with zombies for fun?

This was an amazing follow up to the first two books, and I think the primary reason for its success is that none of these books are true "sequels". They do not pick up where the story last left off or continue with the same characters, although they are all connected in very important ways. Master Plot Weaver Ryan has the ability to tell completely different sides of the story without losing her audience. She knows how to make you love the characters, even though the characters are flawed and damaged. Catcher was my favorite reprise in this story, as he struggles with loving Annah, feeling responsible for Gabry, and fearing even the slightest kiss will infect the woman he loves. He brings guilt to a whole new level!

The language and violence in this book is slightly more mature than the previous books. I would say this was the most dark of the three stories. The Recruiters are simply evil, and there are things that happen on that island I can't seem to forget no matter how hard I try! This is a great series for any student, male, female, young, older. It will appeal to a wide range of students, and it really matures with each book, giving the reader a chance to grow along with the story. I absolutely loved this story and am sorry to see it end!

Dead-Tossed Companion

When I read The Forest of Hands and Teeth, by Carrie Ryan, I was astounded how she could write a zombie novel that flowed like poetry and was full of beautiful imagery. Aren't zombies supposed to be gross and scary? But this book wasn't- it was like a whole new genre. So naturally, I was very excited when the second book came out to continue Mary's story, but when it arrived, the cover said "A Companion Novel." Companion?! I wanted more of the last story! But The Dead-Tossed Waves doesn't disappoint, I assure you. A new story, perhaps, but the ties to the first book are interesting and very creative on Ryan's part.

The book starts in the small village by the ocean called Vista. The Forest's Mary keeps to herself and raises her daughter Gabry (named after Gabrielle from the first book) in the lighthouse that protects the town from Mudo (zombies) that wash ashore. But Gabry and a few of her friends jump the barrier wall to go to the amusement park ruins. While there, a Breaker (fast-moving zombies that form when there aren't any slow moving Mudo around- designed to infect quickly) comes at the group. Two kids are attacked and turned instantly, others are infected, and all are in trouble by the guards of Vista. When Gabry sees her boyfriend, Catcher, bitten, she follows his advice and runs over the barrier and to the town so she won't be caught by the guards. The town doesn't know she was at the amusement park, but Gabry can't live with the guilt of what happened to her friends. When she goes to see her best-friend, Catcher's sister Cira, she promises to find Catcher before he turns.

On her travels, Gabry is saved from dormant Mudo by a boy named Elias. Elias keeps her safe and gets her to Catcher and back home, but doesn't want her to return. When she does return, she learns something she never thought possible: Catcher is immune. The virus is still in him, and he can walk among the Mudo unnoticed, but he hasn't become one of them. Now Catcher, Gabry, and Elias must rescue Cira and escape into the Forest they always thought was abandoned in order to keep Catcher from falling into the hands of the Recruiters who would do anything to keep an Immune for their own uses.

This is an amazing "companion" to the first to the first novel and picks up the story years after Mary with great ease. The transition gives the story the ability to grow with new characters without losing anyone who loved the first novel and its characters. Like in the first book, the zombies are not terribly scary or gory, but rather a backdrop to the real story that is full of hope and survival. Some criticize the ever-present romantic tangle Gabry finds herself in, but it didn't bother me much. Some of the descriptions could have been less flowery, but it wasn't overwhelming.

This is a great series for kids who are interested in post-apocalyptic literature or sci-fi but aren't ready for real gore or complexity. The language isn't overly complex, the plot-line is easy to follow, and the characters are interesting and easy to like or dislike. This is a good series for both boys and girls who are interested in this sub-genre. Give it a chance, but get ready to start building your barricade!

Take a Bite out of the Forest of Hands and Teeth

We have all experienced the weekend when we should be doing work, but instead we get sucked into a book that we simply can't put down... meet my weekend with The Forest of Hands and Teeth. So much work, yet I couldn't put it down! So I should premise this review with the fact that I am terrified of zombies- to the point that two students once had to stand outside with me armed with a cleaver and an ax in order for me to walk my dogs after they had forced me to watch I am Legend. And those were wimpy zombies! Yet, despite my fear, I am inextricably drawn to books about zombies and must then put furniture against the door and sleep with the lights on for weeks.

So my summer's obsession with post-apocalyptic books has spilled into the school year and I subsequently stumbled upon The Forest. It is a mixture of M. Night Shyamalan's The Village and the new Dawn of the Dead (talk about nightmares!). This story begins generations after a zombie plague has ravaged the earth and one small civilization exists surrounded by fences. A highly religious group run by The Sisterhood, they have guardians who patrol the fences and protect against "The Unconsecrated" (zombies) as well as a loyal town of several hundred who don't ask many questions and whose sole purpose is to marry and reproduce to continue the living human race.

Mary, the main character, cannot accept that this is it for humanity. Her mom has told her of oceans and wonders she couldn't possibly imagine in this race for survival. Mary is torn between wanted to be dutiful to her civilization and wanting to know what exists beyond the fence. When the fence is breached and a few are forced to flee down "the forbidden path of fences," Mary gets her chance to see what is really out there. But is it what she hoped for?

This is a wonderfully written book and though the zombies are an ever-present threat, it is more about hope in a time of pure desperation and survival. It is well-written and uses the zombies more as a back-drop than the focus. It isn't for the blood and gore folks who want brains and body parts to be chomped on, but rather for those who like a great story with a hint of danger in the background (ok, so the undead aren't exactly a "hint of danger"). It is mild with the violence but high on desperation and survival. Great read! Just make sure you leave the lights on and stock up on canned goods!