“All you zombies…”
I was hesitant on reading yet another living dead book after all the vampire books last year and then I read Forest of Hands and Teeth.
Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
My hesitation was warranted. It’s a post-apocalyptic settlement in isolation from the rest of the world. The inhabitants are under the control of a group of nuns called the Sisterhood. Mary, the heroine, has a tunnel-vision memory her mother passed to her about the existence of the ocean and blast anyone or thing that gets in her way. There are zombies, but they are tertiary characters, more like pests. All of the character, Mary’s older brother, his wife, the boy she likes, the boy she marries, her best friend and the head nun all revolve like planetary systems around her. None are able to deter her one desire to see the ocean no matter how hard they may try to dissuade or stop her.
I couldn’t find one character that was likable or that I could relate to. There was no arc or growth of anyone. The story is oppressive making me feel just as trapped as the characters. I kept wanting the inhabitants to evolve from their compliance from the overrule of the Sisterhood but it does not happen. The story never explains the how the settlement became so cut-off from the rest of the world which left this reader not invested in it.
This is the first book by Carrie Ryan. I wish the author had developed her characters and story background more fully. I thought the Sisterhood history which was tentatively explored but never resolved, would have been an interesting plot line to explore. Especially since Mary unknowingly defied traditions and was a thorn in the side of the head nun. I wish the plot had been given more thought and allowed to grow.
According to Ryan’s website, SevenStar Pictures has film rights and is fast-tracking the movie.