We start this novel with Mary and her brother facing some family issues. Then there's the Sisterhood, the nun-like group who controls the fenced in town where she grew up. There's also Henry and Travis and Cass, her closest friends. And of course, a horde of Unconsecrated (AKA zombies) waiting outside the vigilantly guarded fence.
The combination of the fabulous setting, complex characters and brilliant writing make this whole series stand out. It's brutal by nature, with many of the characters not surviving long past adulthood. It's also heart-breakingly beautiful, especially Mary's desperate desire to someday see the ocean.
Many of the same elements of the first book appear in a different form in the second. This time, the narration follows Gabry and her best friends, brother and sister Catcher and Cira. It's not long before tragedy strikes, in the form of mudo (AKA zombies). And then the journey begins :)
I loved the change in setting (not that there was anything to dislike about the forest) - Gabry lives in a coastal city with a different set of zombie problems as the forest. As in, they wash ashore and have to be beheaded before they invade the town. And just like Forest, this novel has the same suspenseful energy that makes it impossible to put down.
And now I have to wait for the library to get The Dark and Hollow Places.
These two books are more that I would never in a million years have picked out for myself to read - it's not really a secret that I can't watch horror movies and I'm really jumpy when watching anything remotely suspenseful. I ended up reading The Forest of Hands and Teeth one night when my roommate wasn't home and I had to check the whole apartment for zombies, just in case but I still am SO GLAD that I read them. They would definitely be in my top 10 of the year, if I sat down to figure that out.
More Blessed Word Count: 16,117 (plus I've been working on a short story)
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