♥ zombies!
Jun. 3rd, 2009 08:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
impyYesterday I read The Forest of Hands and Teeth.
And loved it. Until I started thinking about it. And then I still loved it, but I did have to call bullshit on something. Now, with a title like that, you do wonder how I ever missed the fact that I was heading squarely into zombie territory. I mean, really. But yeah, I didn't know and it's for the best because it was a fun ride.
Thing is, as much as I enjoyed it, and I really did as I gave up most of my sleep yesterday for the book, it... kind of falls apart at the seams when you poke at it a little. And that's making me sad.
General info: Mary lives in a fenced in village. The fence, which you should keep well away from, is meant to keep the Unconsecrated out... and to keep everyone else in. Mary's village is run by the Sisterhood and the book makes a huge deal about this, but by the end of the book it doesn't matter. Cuz by then we've moved onto zombie territory. Anyway, with a name like the Sisterhood you know they're up to something. There's a huge emphasis on God and doing your part for the village. Mary's father has been missing for a little while and her mother is losing her mind without him around. Everyone else figures Mary's father has become one of the Unconsecrated, Mary included, but her mother holds out hope. Mary and her brother make sure that Mother doesn't go near the fence alone, because they know she'd do something stupid if she saw her husband.
Valid fear. While Mary is being asked out [but far more serious] by Harry, her childhood friend whom she's not really interested in, her mother makes a break for the fence. We're never told for sure, but in all likelihood, she sees her husband and goes to him. She's bitten and Infected and the siren wails. Mary runs to her mother and the decision is made to let Mary's mother go into the forest once she's turned.
Mary's brother is out patrolling the fence and doesn't make it back until their mother turns and is released. Mary is taken to the Cathedral where the Sisterhood takes care of her until they send her home. Only brother dear doesn't want her back at home, and Harry hasn't spoken for her, so her only choice is to go back to the sisterhood. Mary isn't thrilled about this, but Sister Tabitha likes being last choice even more and basically lets Mary know she's not exactly welcome, and oh yeah, the Sisterhood? Totally hiding Big Things from the rest of the village.
Time passes and Mary falls in love with her best friend's betrothed. To complicate matters, Cass [the best friend] is actually in love with Harry, and Travis [Harry's brother and the object of Mary's affection] is in love with Mary... but Harry is as well. One of the better bits of the book deals with how Cass isn't totally thrilled that everyone loves Mary, but she doesn't hate Mary for it, though when Mary thinks everyone loves Cass, she kinda hates her. Fun!
Blah, blah, blah. An Outsider comes to the village, and for whatever reason [seriously, there isn't one given aside from no one can know that there's an Outside to come from] the Sisterhood manages to turn the Outsider into one of the Unconsecrated. Only... Gabrielle [the Outsider] is faster and more dangerous than all the other zombies [cuz that's what they are.] and of course this blows up in everyone's faces. There's a bit of romance and some serious communication issues thrown in, and then the zombie horde finally breaks through the fence and all hell breaks loose.
Awesome, ja? No. I freakin' hate zombies for this reason. Your small band of survivors [including a dog!] escape and are headed down the Path they didn't really know existed. They end up at what Mary assumes is Gabrielle's village, only it's a zillion times better than their own, if you ignore the fact that the zombies have totally taken over. But remember, better prepared. So the survivors hole up in different homes during their stay in Camp Hell and... this is where my brain breaks. We're mostly done with the book at this point, btw. They're in this village long enough for everyone to get over their various "we nearly died getting here!" issues and they're... bored. Not to mention the sound of the zombies is really annoying, i would imagine. Anyway, we find out that Mary and company can kill the zombies [and they stay dead!] with bows and arrows. Mary kills 20 or so of them for sport.
But it never occurs to them to just wipe the damned zombies out while they're loafing around, being bored. Seriously? Is it because the fences are toast and the zombies will just keep coming or... what? Seriously, I want to know. Because it's keeping me from enjoying the story past this point. Why not take out as many of them as possible? I get that Mary has the wanderlust, but no one else really does at this point, not even Travis. Dude. Take. Out. The Zombies. Jesus.
Anyway, the zombies push forward and there's a fire and they have to flee back to the path, and their little group keeps dwindling in numbers [sad when you realize they only had 7 and a dog to begin with] and... Mary decides to chance the zombies on the outside of the fence and race towards what she hopes will be freedom. You don't know what happens to the others once she ditches them [her brother may or may not be dead] and you never find out what the hell happened to create the zombies, or why exactly Gabrielle was so super fast.
Thing is, by the third or fourth page, you could already imagine the entire village and the creeping dread and horror of the wall o' zombies just outside the fence. It's not until the adrenaline rush of the book ends that you stop and think wait... I laughed, I cried, I muttered, "bull. shit."
Recommended, if only so you can explain that little issue I'm having.
And loved it. Until I started thinking about it. And then I still loved it, but I did have to call bullshit on something. Now, with a title like that, you do wonder how I ever missed the fact that I was heading squarely into zombie territory. I mean, really. But yeah, I didn't know and it's for the best because it was a fun ride.
Thing is, as much as I enjoyed it, and I really did as I gave up most of my sleep yesterday for the book, it... kind of falls apart at the seams when you poke at it a little. And that's making me sad.
General info: Mary lives in a fenced in village. The fence, which you should keep well away from, is meant to keep the Unconsecrated out... and to keep everyone else in. Mary's village is run by the Sisterhood and the book makes a huge deal about this, but by the end of the book it doesn't matter. Cuz by then we've moved onto zombie territory. Anyway, with a name like the Sisterhood you know they're up to something. There's a huge emphasis on God and doing your part for the village. Mary's father has been missing for a little while and her mother is losing her mind without him around. Everyone else figures Mary's father has become one of the Unconsecrated, Mary included, but her mother holds out hope. Mary and her brother make sure that Mother doesn't go near the fence alone, because they know she'd do something stupid if she saw her husband.
Valid fear. While Mary is being asked out [but far more serious] by Harry, her childhood friend whom she's not really interested in, her mother makes a break for the fence. We're never told for sure, but in all likelihood, she sees her husband and goes to him. She's bitten and Infected and the siren wails. Mary runs to her mother and the decision is made to let Mary's mother go into the forest once she's turned.
Mary's brother is out patrolling the fence and doesn't make it back until their mother turns and is released. Mary is taken to the Cathedral where the Sisterhood takes care of her until they send her home. Only brother dear doesn't want her back at home, and Harry hasn't spoken for her, so her only choice is to go back to the sisterhood. Mary isn't thrilled about this, but Sister Tabitha likes being last choice even more and basically lets Mary know she's not exactly welcome, and oh yeah, the Sisterhood? Totally hiding Big Things from the rest of the village.
Time passes and Mary falls in love with her best friend's betrothed. To complicate matters, Cass [the best friend] is actually in love with Harry, and Travis [Harry's brother and the object of Mary's affection] is in love with Mary... but Harry is as well. One of the better bits of the book deals with how Cass isn't totally thrilled that everyone loves Mary, but she doesn't hate Mary for it, though when Mary thinks everyone loves Cass, she kinda hates her. Fun!
Blah, blah, blah. An Outsider comes to the village, and for whatever reason [seriously, there isn't one given aside from no one can know that there's an Outside to come from] the Sisterhood manages to turn the Outsider into one of the Unconsecrated. Only... Gabrielle [the Outsider] is faster and more dangerous than all the other zombies [cuz that's what they are.] and of course this blows up in everyone's faces. There's a bit of romance and some serious communication issues thrown in, and then the zombie horde finally breaks through the fence and all hell breaks loose.
Awesome, ja? No. I freakin' hate zombies for this reason. Your small band of survivors [including a dog!] escape and are headed down the Path they didn't really know existed. They end up at what Mary assumes is Gabrielle's village, only it's a zillion times better than their own, if you ignore the fact that the zombies have totally taken over. But remember, better prepared. So the survivors hole up in different homes during their stay in Camp Hell and... this is where my brain breaks. We're mostly done with the book at this point, btw. They're in this village long enough for everyone to get over their various "we nearly died getting here!" issues and they're... bored. Not to mention the sound of the zombies is really annoying, i would imagine. Anyway, we find out that Mary and company can kill the zombies [and they stay dead!] with bows and arrows. Mary kills 20 or so of them for sport.
But it never occurs to them to just wipe the damned zombies out while they're loafing around, being bored. Seriously? Is it because the fences are toast and the zombies will just keep coming or... what? Seriously, I want to know. Because it's keeping me from enjoying the story past this point. Why not take out as many of them as possible? I get that Mary has the wanderlust, but no one else really does at this point, not even Travis. Dude. Take. Out. The Zombies. Jesus.
Anyway, the zombies push forward and there's a fire and they have to flee back to the path, and their little group keeps dwindling in numbers [sad when you realize they only had 7 and a dog to begin with] and... Mary decides to chance the zombies on the outside of the fence and race towards what she hopes will be freedom. You don't know what happens to the others once she ditches them [her brother may or may not be dead] and you never find out what the hell happened to create the zombies, or why exactly Gabrielle was so super fast.
Thing is, by the third or fourth page, you could already imagine the entire village and the creeping dread and horror of the wall o' zombies just outside the fence. It's not until the adrenaline rush of the book ends that you stop and think wait... I laughed, I cried, I muttered, "bull. shit."
Recommended, if only so you can explain that little issue I'm having.
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Date: 2009-06-06 12:36 pm (UTC)Damn it, South Carolina. Must you always be breeding this kind of insanity?