zombies, horror, dystopian, romance, escape, death, survival, religion, LRC, KS3, KS4 ( )

I really liked this book for the first few chapters. In fact I was so excited about it that I nearly finished the book in one day. However, the more I read past the half-way-point, the more disappointed I got. This book had everything going for it until the main character suddenly became so selfish and callous that I felt she had as much humanity in her as the zombies who chased her. Every time she got something she had previously been desperate to get, she suddenly decided she really did not want that anymore and just threw it away like a piece of trash. She left a wake of desperation and suffering behind her that rivaled anything a zombie could produce. Basically, the main character totally fell apart and became a vapid idiot that would throw her own grandma in front of a bus without a second thought. Seriously disappointed. ( )

Mary lives in a world that is set in stone; there are things you just know and things that you just shouldn’t wonder about. Some things are simple, true, and have been for as long as anyone knows:
1. The Guardians will always protect
2. The Sisterhood is always right.
3. The Unconsecrated are always there, and always trying to break through.

Mary has spent her entire life surrounded by these infected shells of people, some of which were her friends, family, neighbors, etc. They attack the fences, crave human flesh, and moan the most chilling sound you’ve ever heard. Think of every zombie movie you’ve ever saw, and combine all those creepy figures into one and that’s the image that goes through my mind when I think of the Unconsecrated. Now imagine living in a lone village, smack in the middle of a forest that is full of these “people” with only chain link fences and the armed Guardians to protect you. This is Mary’s life.

The Sisterhood controls the knowledge; they control what everyone else knows about the world outside the fence, and what everyone doesn’t know. Mary dreams of life outside the fence, of life at the other end of the gate that leads to the path, the only path that leads to and from the village, the path that no one has ever been allowed to go down. Slowly everything Mary has ever known starts falling apart one by one; the Sisterhood has secrets and Mary learns things that she was never supposed to know.

One day the fences are breached, the Unconsecrated descend upon the village, upon the only lives these people have ever known. The village is in chaos, there’s only one safe place to go, and it’s forbidden. Now Mary has some choices to make: Will she stay in her village and fight for it or will she save herself and the people she can and take the path? Will she choose the one she loves or the one that loves her? Will she find out if there is life outside a village and a forest that is surrounded by so much death and constant danger?

This is such an amazing book! I am having trouble putting how much I actually love this book into words outside of a fangirl scream “OMG”! I am also tickled purple (not pink, pink is too girly and not exciting enough!) to find out from Carrieryan.com that there is not only a sequel called The Tossed-Dead Waves that will come out Spring of 2010, but there will be a THIRD (!!!!!!) book that will come out Spring of 2011. And the possibility of a movie, because Seven Star Pictures (which is a new company, but they are doing K-11, with Kristen Stewart and Nikki Reed), and it is listed on their website as an “Upcoming Film”. This is such an amazing read, as I have already said, but it chilling, gripping, it has just enough romance to satisfy someone, without overwhelming the horror, and the hope that the story employs. It’s such a dark and terrifying tale, but at the same time it’s extremely beautiful and hopeful; and that mix is just what the doctor ordered. ( )

I've been waiting awhile to read this one - it's about a zombie apocalypse, and zombies are my thing.

Mary's lived in a town surrounded by a fence, surrounded by zombies, surrounded by the Forest of Hands and Teeth, and according to the town's Sisterhood (the religious leaders), the Forest is unending. However, Mary's mother has been telling her stories of what the world was like before the Unconsecrated, and Mary dreams of a day she, too, might see an ocean.

There's plenty of zombie action, for which I am appreciative, and plenty of fear and desperation. Mary's hope and longing muck up things for her - especially for those who escape with her, and the two brothers who've both fallen for her.

I was a bit disappointed - the ending is a bit of a non-ending, and very little seems resolved, but Mary's tough and the the zombies were scary, so I did end up enjoying it! ( )

The first half was so awesome that the second half didn't stand a chance. It was a fun read! -- Ms. Lopez-Gerlach