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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 enormously misleading cover copy for this YA novel makes it sound like a certain stinker of an M. Night Shyamalan film, in which tons of portentous build-up lead to the totally unsurprising shock ending reveal that There Are No Monsters Outside The Village. Actually, there are monsters outside the village. Zombies! Tons of ‘em! They first appear on page two, so this is not a spoiler.
Mary lives in a post-apocalyptic fenced village surrounded by "the Unconsecrated." Unlike anyone else in her village, she longs for some other life, which to her is symbolized by the ocean she saw once in a faded photograph. A mysterious religious organization called the Sisterhood calls the shots in this otherwise sexist society. Needless to say, the Sisterhood is keeping (very predictable) secrets.
When Mary’s mother is bitten and becomes an Unconsecrated, her brother Jed blames Mary, and local boy Henry doesn’t propose, Mary is forced to become a Sister. She is soon entangled in a complicated love quadrangle between her best friend and the two brothers who both love Mary, and is too curious for her own good about the possibility of life outside.
The first chapter is gorgeously evocative, there’s a number of arresting images and set-piece scenes, and the whole book is a gripping read. Ryan pays a lot of attention to imagery patterns and thematic linkages, such as between real and symbolic zombies, and this is generally done well. Mary’s desperate desire for Henry’s brother Travis is vividly written even though Travis is a non-entity.
But except for Mary, the characterization is barely even two-dimensional. Several significant characters have about one recognizable trait each. This is a big flaw in a zombie story, as we ought to care when people are munched by zombies. It also made the central character relationships fall completely flat. The culture of the village is barely indicated, but what little we see of it seems to be small-town every-America that’s far more generic than any real town. I’m assuming the Sisters are Christian, but we never get any details about their religion. All this adds to an overall sense of blandness.
Additionally, several crucial explanations about what’s going on make no sense at all. (A prisoner who could be killed without penalty or released at some risk is instead deliberately transformed into a crazed killing machine and then released to see what will happen. That never goes wrong!) And when the story takes a new direction half-way through, it is way too coincidental that the characters who end up with Mary are, with one exception, the only ones she already cared about.
I read The Forest of Hands and Teeth thinking that it was better-suited to film. (I wasn’t the only one who thought so: a film adaptation will appear in 2011.) A good movie would make excellent use of the zombies and zombie action scenes, and could flesh out the skimpy characterization with vibrant performances. Though I wouldn’t re-read the book, I’d see the movie.
Still, the writing is accomplished and the ideas are ambitious enough that I'd definitely read Ryan's next book, even though I didn't think this one was completely successful.
View on Amazon: The Forest of Hands and Teeth
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 enormously misleading cover copy for this YA novel makes it sound like a certain stinker of an M. Night Shyamalan film, in which tons of portentous build-up lead to the totally unsurprising shock ending reveal that There Are No Monsters Outside The Village. Actually, there are monsters outside the village. Zombies! Tons of ‘em! They first appear on page two, so this is not a spoiler.
Mary lives in a post-apocalyptic fenced village surrounded by "the Unconsecrated." Unlike anyone else in her village, she longs for some other life, which to her is symbolized by the ocean she saw once in a faded photograph. A mysterious religious organization called the Sisterhood calls the shots in this otherwise sexist society. Needless to say, the Sisterhood is keeping (very predictable) secrets.
When Mary’s mother is bitten and becomes an Unconsecrated, her brother Jed blames Mary, and local boy Henry doesn’t propose, Mary is forced to become a Sister. She is soon entangled in a complicated love quadrangle between her best friend and the two brothers who both love Mary, and is too curious for her own good about the possibility of life outside.
The first chapter is gorgeously evocative, there’s a number of arresting images and set-piece scenes, and the whole book is a gripping read. Ryan pays a lot of attention to imagery patterns and thematic linkages, such as between real and symbolic zombies, and this is generally done well. Mary’s desperate desire for Henry’s brother Travis is vividly written even though Travis is a non-entity.
But except for Mary, the characterization is barely even two-dimensional. Several significant characters have about one recognizable trait each. This is a big flaw in a zombie story, as we ought to care when people are munched by zombies. It also made the central character relationships fall completely flat. The culture of the village is barely indicated, but what little we see of it seems to be small-town every-America that’s far more generic than any real town. I’m assuming the Sisters are Christian, but we never get any details about their religion. All this adds to an overall sense of blandness.
Additionally, several crucial explanations about what’s going on make no sense at all. (A prisoner who could be killed without penalty or released at some risk is instead deliberately transformed into a crazed killing machine and then released to see what will happen. That never goes wrong!) And when the story takes a new direction half-way through, it is way too coincidental that the characters who end up with Mary are, with one exception, the only ones she already cared about.
I read The Forest of Hands and Teeth thinking that it was better-suited to film. (I wasn’t the only one who thought so: a film adaptation will appear in 2011.) A good movie would make excellent use of the zombies and zombie action scenes, and could flesh out the skimpy characterization with vibrant performances. Though I wouldn’t re-read the book, I’d see the movie.
Still, the writing is accomplished and the ideas are ambitious enough that I'd definitely read Ryan's next book, even though I didn't think this one was completely successful.
View on Amazon: The Forest of Hands and Teeth
