A young woman caught between following her heart or keeping her duty for the village. Tabby longs to leave her village behind and see what is out there beyond the path; too find another life and villages. Unfortunately, she is trapped by both her duty and the unconsecrated (zombies) that are beyond the fence. I really enjoyed this short story set in the Forest of Hands and Teeth universe. ( )

A short story and goes back to before Book 1 (Forest of Hands and Teeth) it helps to explain why one of the characters, Sister Tabitha, is why she is like she is - took me half an hour to read. Set the scene moodwise to prepare me for The Dark and Hollow Places which I have just picked up. ( )

Can I just say how much I love Carrie Ryan’s zombie-filled world? I LOVE IT. And she finally granted my wish of having some backstory to the Forest Village before the first book! YAY!

So here with have Sister Tabitha (who makes her appearance in the first book) and her own little backstory – and surprise! One of the reasons she’s so hard on Mary is because she herself was like Mary in that she wanted out of the Village and wanted to go out in the Forest to find freedom, and when she meets the boy on the other side, love. Only to be betrayed by his little Infected brother, of course.

Now, at least, we know where the last entry in the Village Records came from.

Anyway, at 27 pages, this was a delicious bite of what would be a wonderful prequel, if there’s one scheduled or being written. I really hope there is, because I just love this world far too much to give it up for one trilogy and a novella. Ryan’s really sharpened things up in this novella – you can almost smell the dead flesh that’s haunting the forest, hear the wind in the leaves, and feel the rattle of the fence in your bones. The sensory input is stunning, and Ryan’s at her best in this novella (and in the final novel in the trilogy – I have the feeling that both were written at or around the same time due to how well the sensory language has been sharpened from the previous two novels. It’s lush, horrifying, and gorgeous all at the same time. We become Tabitha like we become Mary in the first book, longing for the wild Forest beyond the fence – so surreal that I had to shake myself back to this reality after reading it.

Anyway, I’m not one for novellas, usually – but this one takes the cake. I still demand more, though!

(crossposted to shelfari, goodreads, and witchoftheatregoing.wordpress.com) ( )

This might be a short story, but it packs a lot of punch in its 27 pages. In typical Carrie Ryan fashion, this story will have you holding your breath until you finish. If you're a fan of The Forest of Hands and Teeth, you should definitely check out Hare Moon. ( )