Bookworm Wednesday

I almost forgot that today was Wednesday, but with a few hours left I am here to get my bookworm on.

This week's review is actually a trilogy which includes

The Forest of hands and teeth

The Dead-Tossed Waves

and

The Dark and Hollow Places

by Carrie Ryan

While the books are meant as a trilogy they don't actually have the same main character, though they are interconnected.  The first book is The forrest of hands and teeth.  In an undefined future after some sort of zombie apocalypse, Mary lives in a tiny village that is hyper religious and surrounded by a fence that keeps them "safe" from zombies.  Mary's mother was from "outside" and she always told her daughter of the sea.  When a zombie attack goes terribly wrong the village ends up in a lot of trouble and Mary and a few of her friends flee into the forest in hopes of finding safety.

The next book, The Dead-Tossed Waves, moves many years further into the future and stars Gabry, who lives in a well protected city by the sea.  In a moment of teenage weakness, she follows some friends and her crush over the wall into a zombie infested park and of course terror ensues.  While Gabry escapes her friends find trouble with the town's officials and are banished to military duties outside the town.  Gabry decides to search for her crush and spends time travel back towards the village from the first book and then in search of the Dark city, which offers possible 'safety'.

The last book, The Dark and Hollow Places, takes place in the Dark city, and stars Annah.  Annah is alone, her brother having left with the military and she fights to survive.  In the third book characters from the other books begin to meet and storylines conclude, well as much as anything can conclude in such a world.

My personal opinion is that the first two books are amazing.  By far the The Forest of Hands and Teeth is my favourite. Mary has such a longing, that Ryan writes in such a striking manner that you really feel her urge to seek out something, anything that has meaning, even in the face of overwhelming odds her spirit carries her forward.  The Dead-Tossed waves has a completely different feel, where Mary was adventurous, Gabry is cautious.  Gabry has no wants, no desires outside the safe life she has always known.  Her fear is palpable but she is no less brave than Mary.  As for Annah in The Dark and Hollow places, which was my least favourite of the series, she is strength personified.  Her hopes and fears take a back seat to the simple act of surviving and when she discovers things outside of survival it is both sweet and fragile.  

Small complaints, yes this is written for teens, but the love triangles are slightly forced and sometimes take away from the movement of the story and also seem a little cheesy.  

I love me some zombies.  and Ryan doesn't try to event the wheel here, her zombies are traditional and scary, and secondary to her characters who are the main focus.  They are scary and satisfying but should not deter those who are not horror fans from picking up these books.  While the last book doesn't have the same emotional impact as the first two.  All in all I highly recommend the series.