Newbie with a review.
Hi everyone, I'm really glad to have spotted this community on the front page. Nice to meet you all. Anyway, here is my little offering to the community:
Okay, to start off and be fair, I didn't entirely hate this book. Half of myself actually enjoyed the process of reading it, while the other half of myself is screaming and throwing it against a wall.
The book: (Copy+Pasted from the official website)
In Mary's world, there are simple truths.
The Sisterhood always knows best.
The Guardians will protect and serve.
The Unconsecrated will never relent.
And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village. The fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.
But slowly, Mary's truths are failing her. She's learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power. And, when the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness.
Now she must choose between her village and her future, between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded by so much death?
At first glance:
I read about this book online, and immediately searched every bookstore I could for it. Not only was the title creative and interesting, but the whole concepts of post-apocalypse fantasy, zombies, and a female protagonist involved in a horror story instantly appeal to me. So I was incredibly happy to snag a copy a few weeks later at a Books-a-Million. I read the whole thing in about two days.
The Setting:
The setting to this book was interesting. The cult-controlled village was an interesting idea and portrayed well mostly, but there were so many things unexplained to it. There were so many interesting ideas Ryan put into the setting, but instead of elaborating them, she went off to talk about things I didn't really think were necessary or were completely unneeded. The village also had some unrealistic aspects to it. For how long it lasted, it fell very quickly with little to no explanation other than "Oh, one fast zombie automatically makes generations of fence building irrelevant." There was far too much build up and I thought pointless scenes until the actual forest is entered, and while it wasn't entirely boring, there wasn't anything special or interesting about it.
The Characters:
Probably my least favourite aspect of the book. The main character was whiny, annoying, shallow, and selfish. It seemed throughout the entire book the only thing she cared about was getting to the ocean, even at the expense of getting her best friend, fiancé, and only living family member killed. The only character who seemed to have any depth at all was her brother, but ultimately I found that halfway through the book I didn't really care about any of them.
The Plot:
It jumped around too much, and it seemed like the author was just making up everything as she went with little to no planning. The relationship/romance between the main character and her love interest was rushed, annoying, and generally a boring part of the story. Mary spent so much time telling the reader that she loved Travis, how deeply she felt for him, and yet did not bother to let us know what it was she loved about him or how this love came to be. I felt more of a connection between her and Travis's brother, who seemed to be a little more interesting at least. The story ends abruptly without explaining anything, leaving so many questions open in hope of forcing the reader into getting the sequel.
Overall:
I was disappointed with this book. It took so many interesting things I liked, and twisted them into something long and boring. The few parts that interested me were brief and discarded early to be replaced with something less interesting and far more monotonous. I did not find anything in this book scary, at all.
Though, I didn't entirely hate it. I enjoyed the world created by Ryan, just not the things that took place in it. I don't know if I'm going to bother with a sequel or not. I wouldn't tell someone not to read it if they wanted, I believe this is a book you would have to read and decide for yourself if you liked it or not.
It will probably be sitting on my shelf for a few years before I attempt at re-reading it. Maybe my opinion will change, and I'll see something in it I hadn't before.
Okay, to start off and be fair, I didn't entirely hate this book. Half of myself actually enjoyed the process of reading it, while the other half of myself is screaming and throwing it against a wall.
The book: (Copy+Pasted from the official website)
In Mary's world, there are simple truths.
The Sisterhood always knows best.
The Guardians will protect and serve.
The Unconsecrated will never relent.
And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village. The fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.
But slowly, Mary's truths are failing her. She's learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power. And, when the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness.
Now she must choose between her village and her future, between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded by so much death?
At first glance:
I read about this book online, and immediately searched every bookstore I could for it. Not only was the title creative and interesting, but the whole concepts of post-apocalypse fantasy, zombies, and a female protagonist involved in a horror story instantly appeal to me. So I was incredibly happy to snag a copy a few weeks later at a Books-a-Million. I read the whole thing in about two days.
The Setting:
The setting to this book was interesting. The cult-controlled village was an interesting idea and portrayed well mostly, but there were so many things unexplained to it. There were so many interesting ideas Ryan put into the setting, but instead of elaborating them, she went off to talk about things I didn't really think were necessary or were completely unneeded. The village also had some unrealistic aspects to it. For how long it lasted, it fell very quickly with little to no explanation other than "Oh, one fast zombie automatically makes generations of fence building irrelevant." There was far too much build up and I thought pointless scenes until the actual forest is entered, and while it wasn't entirely boring, there wasn't anything special or interesting about it.
The Characters:
Probably my least favourite aspect of the book. The main character was whiny, annoying, shallow, and selfish. It seemed throughout the entire book the only thing she cared about was getting to the ocean, even at the expense of getting her best friend, fiancé, and only living family member killed. The only character who seemed to have any depth at all was her brother, but ultimately I found that halfway through the book I didn't really care about any of them.
The Plot:
It jumped around too much, and it seemed like the author was just making up everything as she went with little to no planning. The relationship/romance between the main character and her love interest was rushed, annoying, and generally a boring part of the story. Mary spent so much time telling the reader that she loved Travis, how deeply she felt for him, and yet did not bother to let us know what it was she loved about him or how this love came to be. I felt more of a connection between her and Travis's brother, who seemed to be a little more interesting at least. The story ends abruptly without explaining anything, leaving so many questions open in hope of forcing the reader into getting the sequel.
Overall:
I was disappointed with this book. It took so many interesting things I liked, and twisted them into something long and boring. The few parts that interested me were brief and discarded early to be replaced with something less interesting and far more monotonous. I did not find anything in this book scary, at all.
Though, I didn't entirely hate it. I enjoyed the world created by Ryan, just not the things that took place in it. I don't know if I'm going to bother with a sequel or not. I wouldn't tell someone not to read it if they wanted, I believe this is a book you would have to read and decide for yourself if you liked it or not.
It will probably be sitting on my shelf for a few years before I attempt at re-reading it. Maybe my opinion will change, and I'll see something in it I hadn't before.