Bring On the Undead (part 1)

One of the things I enjoy most about reading so many books is the opportunity that it affords me to compare and contrast the writing styles of authors or the way in which they choose to approach a particular genre.  For example, I've found the collection of Zombie novels out there to be very interesting for one particular reason:  the variety in the way the whole concept of zombies has been approached.  There are the classic zombies (mindless dead-come-back-to-life), the undead but not mindless, and the mindless but not dead.  While reading these books, I have interpreted all three to be types of zombies, and the creativity of the writers tackling this broader concept amazes me.

I read my first zombie novel about six years ago.  It was The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan.

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 about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, 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 in so much death? - excerpt from book jacket

I didn't even realize that this was a novel about zombies until I was quite a few chapters into it. (The copy I picked up had a different cover, without the phrase at the top to give it away.)  The story kept referring to the Unconsecrated outside the fence, and after a while I was like Hey, wait a minute! Those are zombies!  Maybe I didn't make the connection right away because the story wasn't what I would have expected a book about zombies to be like.  Six years and hundreds of books later, the details have become a bit fuzzy in my mind, but I remember thinking at the time that it was a nice coming-of-age story with a thoroughly developed theme, and I was like, Huh. Who knew a story about zombies could be so deep and thought-provoking?!

From what I've seen, most people who have read this book either loved it or hated it.  I fell somewhere in the middle.  It had some romance, some mystery, and a little action and suspense thrown in, too.  It wasn't an amazing novel, but it is definitely worth the read if you are interested in zombies and want a book with more substance than just having scared, alive people trying not to be eaten by mindless rotting undead people.

Oh, and The Forest of Hands and Teeth is the first book in a trilogy, so if you enjoy it, you'll have two more to look forward to.

Rating:  3.5 Stars
Reading Level:  5.8
Age Appropriate:  Upper Grades
Page Count/Word Count:  310/ 86,485
Genre:  Mystery, Post-Apocalyptic/Pandemic, Romance
Keywords: zombies, family, secrets, survival