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karrama's review against another edition
4.0
If you like zombie stories, I mean really like zombie stories, read Forest of Hands and teeth. The future is a grim one. Some virus was unleashed on the world that turned people's bodies into ravenous, carnivorous, cannibalistic biting machines and the only thing that seems to have protected us was setting up towns behind fences. At least this one town is the only one that generations of villagers has known, but one girl dreams of more.
There's a lot of carnage in this book. I would avoid it if it were a movie, but it's not so I didn't. Not every ending is happy, but the story is told from a girl's point of view as she comes of age and comes to terms in the world where the dead are out to get you.
There's a lot of carnage in this book. I would avoid it if it were a movie, but it's not so I didn't. Not every ending is happy, but the story is told from a girl's point of view as she comes of age and comes to terms in the world where the dead are out to get you.
narcissia's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the whole zombie plot thing. I found Mary to be a little more whiny and selfish than what I favor in a protag. She also had the whole 'I get dizzy and nearly faint sometimes when something happens that I don't like' thing going on, and I just kept picturing Jane Austen making fun of her. Perhaps Jane and I shouldn't judge though, because Mary's life is pretty sucky. And Mary did start to get better for me later into the story, as she began to take a little more initiative in situations which demand it of her.
It took me a little bit to get used to the style of the narration. I expect first person narratives to be very personal and emotional, especially when they're in the present tense. This one felt detached to me with its short sentences and matter-of-fact way of speaking. It annoyed me for a little while in the beginning, but as the book progressed I felt that it was right, because Mary seems to be a pretty detached person as a result of the world in which she lives. I think that if she were sitting here telling me her story, she would be doing it just like that - concise and matter-of-fact, doing her best to keep her emotions in check and to repress her grief the best that she could. Once that was established for me, it was also a little easier to deal with her selfish tendencies. And even though she was a bit detached, the writing still had me feeling the frustrations of Mary's situation, so that was a good thing.
The end result is that I liked it and found it to be an entertaining read. It definitely interested me enough to keep reading, and I hear the second book is better than the first, so I will be reading that one as well.
It took me a little bit to get used to the style of the narration. I expect first person narratives to be very personal and emotional, especially when they're in the present tense. This one felt detached to me with its short sentences and matter-of-fact way of speaking. It annoyed me for a little while in the beginning, but as the book progressed I felt that it was right, because Mary seems to be a pretty detached person as a result of the world in which she lives. I think that if she were sitting here telling me her story, she would be doing it just like that - concise and matter-of-fact, doing her best to keep her emotions in check and to repress her grief the best that she could. Once that was established for me, it was also a little easier to deal with her selfish tendencies. And even though she was a bit detached, the writing still had me feeling the frustrations of Mary's situation, so that was a good thing.
The end result is that I liked it and found it to be an entertaining read. It definitely interested me enough to keep reading, and I hear the second book is better than the first, so I will be reading that one as well.
cosymilko's review against another edition
4.0
Again this is a book that required a half star rating system. I would gladly give this book 4.5 stars because I loved it that much.
Mary's world is turned upside down after the Unconsecrated attack her mother. From there it is a series of roller coasters and intrigue as Mary tries to discover the secrets of the Sisterhood and sort out her love life.
I love the action and the pace. The Path is something that I'd never seen in a zombie book previously and it is done well.
My heart broke for Mary and several of the characters throughout this book. I can't wait to read the sequel. Maybe I'll understand the links between the roman numerals and the paths. And what happened to Argos.
Mary's world is turned upside down after the Unconsecrated attack her mother. From there it is a series of roller coasters and intrigue as Mary tries to discover the secrets of the Sisterhood and sort out her love life.
I love the action and the pace. The Path is something that I'd never seen in a zombie book previously and it is done well.
My heart broke for Mary and several of the characters throughout this book. I can't wait to read the sequel. Maybe I'll understand the links between the roman numerals and the paths. And what happened to Argos.
gatosenojados's review against another edition
2.0
I did not like this book. I don't really like zombie books or movies anyway so that's not really a reflection of the book. I thought the style of the writing was depressing.
mehsi's review
5.0
Since I am now merging all my stuff, yay re-reads are here. I am posting the updated review with the old text in bold, new in normal.
This is a re-read of this book. Not sure if I will also read the rest of the series, but I at least wanted to read this one.
Like with another Re-read I did 2 days ago I will copy my old review and give new comments. Bold = old. Normal = New.
Why did I suddenly decide to re-read this one? Well, I started with Bright Smoke, Cold Fire. It seemed a bit similar to this one. A city walled off against zombies. The walls need to be sustained, maintained. There are secrets everywhere. Death is everywhere.
Sadly, that book turned out to be a dud, so I had to find this one and read it. Luckily, I got the whole series, I just needed to find them on my shelves.
Imagine a village, in a forest. Sounds lovely no? Now add a fence surrounding it, also add some zombies. Now it doesn't sound so lovely.
Welcome in the world where Mary lives. A world where zombies took over and the living live in small communities surrounded by fences.
I am still amazed at how the author managed to think of this idea. It is so haunting. The fact that you are always surrounded, always praying, always surviving. There can be a breach any time. Any day your life can be over. Then there are secrets, regulations and much more. I am a bit sad that we never truly find out all of the secrets. How much did the Sisterhood know?
The book was great. I loved the settings, loved the secrets that slowly unfolded.
I didn't always like Mary, sometimes she was just a bit to egotistical. She is willing to sacrifice a whole lot just for a story she heard when she was little. A story about the ocean. And she won't stop until she gets there, no matter what it takes. I didn't like that she couldn't pick between the two brothers and how she just went from one to the other.
Yep, I am still totally agreeing with the me of 4 years ago. I did find Mary egotistical. It is nice to have hope, it is nice to have faith. But her dreams did cause several things, not all of them good. She could never settle down, she could never rest. She wanted that ocean and she would do whatever it took to get there. Even if it meant leaving people.
The whole Travis > Mary < Harry thing? Urgh. I was just a bit tired of it even 4 years after the first read. Mary loves Travis, Travis is loving her, but not being honest about it (though we do find out later why), Harry loves Mary. Oh, and did I mention that someone else also loves Harry. Yep. :\ Even when zombies are clawing in your life, you have time for a love drama like this.
I didn't particularly like Harry. Yes, later on, but at the beginning I found him bleh. How he could not see that Mary had no interest in him. That all she saw when she looked at him was a good friend, a best friend even, but nothing more.
I still hope that we will find out more about how the zombies came in existence in the next books, because not many questions were answered.
While by now I read the whole series, I can't really remember if we ever got an explanation, it has been too long ago for me to remember the right details. But yes, after reading this one, I know how the me of 4 years ago felt. There is just barely any information on what happened. We do get some snippets near the end when Mary finds a scrapbook. But it is so little it doesn't really show much.
As the spoiler says, yes, I still do wonder about that. Then again, I also wonder a lot about the Sisterhood and what they were doing, what their knowledge was.
The ending was too sudden. What happened to the other people? Where did she go? Was she just accepted like that? From what I can see the next book is about Mary's daughter. I just hope in the book they will let us know what happened and not just skip and let us in the dark.
Yep, the ending was quite sudden. I am also curious what happened to the other characters, will they be OK? Will they be safe? Will they live? Also where did Mary end up? I would have loved an epilogue about this new place, about how they accepted Mary.
I can't remember if the next book shows a peek at what happened to those left behind, but I do hope so, it would be terrible if this is how it ends for them.
Good book for everyone looking for mystery and zombies. :)
I enjoyed the re-read more than the first read, so I would correct this sentence with: Awesome book for everyone looking for creepiness, a haunting feeling, mystery, and of course zombies! Brains!
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com
This is a re-read of this book. Not sure if I will also read the rest of the series, but I at least wanted to read this one.
Like with another Re-read I did 2 days ago I will copy my old review and give new comments. Bold = old. Normal = New.
Why did I suddenly decide to re-read this one? Well, I started with Bright Smoke, Cold Fire. It seemed a bit similar to this one. A city walled off against zombies. The walls need to be sustained, maintained. There are secrets everywhere. Death is everywhere.
Sadly, that book turned out to be a dud, so I had to find this one and read it. Luckily, I got the whole series, I just needed to find them on my shelves.
Imagine a village, in a forest. Sounds lovely no? Now add a fence surrounding it, also add some zombies. Now it doesn't sound so lovely.
Welcome in the world where Mary lives. A world where zombies took over and the living live in small communities surrounded by fences.
I am still amazed at how the author managed to think of this idea. It is so haunting. The fact that you are always surrounded, always praying, always surviving. There can be a breach any time. Any day your life can be over. Then there are secrets, regulations and much more. I am a bit sad that we never truly find out all of the secrets. How much did the Sisterhood know?
The book was great. I loved the settings, loved the secrets that slowly unfolded.
I didn't always like Mary, sometimes she was just a bit to egotistical. She is willing to sacrifice a whole lot just for a story she heard when she was little. A story about the ocean. And she won't stop until she gets there, no matter what it takes. I didn't like that she couldn't pick between the two brothers and how she just went from one to the other.
Yep, I am still totally agreeing with the me of 4 years ago. I did find Mary egotistical. It is nice to have hope, it is nice to have faith. But her dreams did cause several things, not all of them good. She could never settle down, she could never rest. She wanted that ocean and she would do whatever it took to get there. Even if it meant leaving people.
The whole Travis > Mary < Harry thing? Urgh. I was just a bit tired of it even 4 years after the first read. Mary loves Travis, Travis is loving her, but not being honest about it (though we do find out later why), Harry loves Mary. Oh, and did I mention that someone else also loves Harry. Yep. :\ Even when zombies are clawing in your life, you have time for a love drama like this.
I didn't particularly like Harry. Yes, later on, but at the beginning I found him bleh. How he could not see that Mary had no interest in him. That all she saw when she looked at him was a good friend, a best friend even, but nothing more.
I still hope that we will find out more about how the zombies came in existence in the next books, because not many questions were answered.
Spoiler
I would also love to know why the sisters sent Gabrielle to the zombies. Was there a reason? Was she turning or did they just not want anyone to know about the other villages. (hide spoiler)While by now I read the whole series, I can't really remember if we ever got an explanation, it has been too long ago for me to remember the right details. But yes, after reading this one, I know how the me of 4 years ago felt. There is just barely any information on what happened. We do get some snippets near the end when Mary finds a scrapbook. But it is so little it doesn't really show much.
As the spoiler says, yes, I still do wonder about that. Then again, I also wonder a lot about the Sisterhood and what they were doing, what their knowledge was.
The ending was too sudden. What happened to the other people? Where did she go? Was she just accepted like that? From what I can see the next book is about Mary's daughter. I just hope in the book they will let us know what happened and not just skip and let us in the dark.
Yep, the ending was quite sudden. I am also curious what happened to the other characters, will they be OK? Will they be safe? Will they live? Also where did Mary end up? I would have loved an epilogue about this new place, about how they accepted Mary.
I can't remember if the next book shows a peek at what happened to those left behind, but I do hope so, it would be terrible if this is how it ends for them.
Good book for everyone looking for mystery and zombies. :)
I enjoyed the re-read more than the first read, so I would correct this sentence with: Awesome book for everyone looking for creepiness, a haunting feeling, mystery, and of course zombies! Brains!
Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com
tashaseegmiller's review against another edition
4.0
Great balance in the heart-racing pacing of trying to survive zombies and the mystery behind the society with a perfect integration of a romantic storyline. I had so much fun reading this book - more than I thought I would.
ghostrocknroll's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
sam_hartwig's review against another edition
4.0
Even though this was written 10 years ago, it doesn't seem to have aged in it's writing. You know how some books (especially YA dystopian books) can sound similar to other books you've read and the concept is old news, well I didn't feel like that while listening to this. A great advantage to reading books like this years after release is that I don't need to wait to read the rest of the series *YAY*
The writing and feel of the book felt almost beautiful, even though a lot of the content was horrifying. I loved how the book began as kind of a cult, then it turned into a horror/survival novel with some romance thrown in too.
I hate zombies, but I always seem to be drawn to them in books. I'm really intrigued to see where this series will end up, and grateful that my library has the other two books on audio.
Sort of Spoiler Alert!!!
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There was a scene with a baby that had me choking back tears. Since becoming a parent I can't handle anything with children or babies coming to harm.
The writing and feel of the book felt almost beautiful, even though a lot of the content was horrifying. I loved how the book began as kind of a cult, then it turned into a horror/survival novel with some romance thrown in too.
I hate zombies, but I always seem to be drawn to them in books. I'm really intrigued to see where this series will end up, and grateful that my library has the other two books on audio.
Sort of Spoiler Alert!!!
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-------
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There was a scene with a baby that had me choking back tears. Since becoming a parent I can't handle anything with children or babies coming to harm.
laurahappily's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this book, but I didn't love it. While it was creative and well-written enough to make up for most its shortcomings, I wasn't convinced enough to be interested in continuing the series. I didn't find the main character, Mary, nearly as likable as her apocalyptic counterpart Katniss from the Hunger Games. Her love triangle also fell flat and unbelievable. However, the book was incredibly creative, with an intricate backstory that was fascinating. It kept my interest, and it was fast-paced and exciting. It also wasn't afraid to be horrific, which made it realistic even in the fantastic settings.
Overall, it was a good book. I might just pick up the second one, but I'm not racing to do it.
Overall, it was a good book. I might just pick up the second one, but I'm not racing to do it.
sea_su's review
2.0
First thing I want to say is that I didn't really care for the main character. Second thing is what an unsatisfying ending. Worst ending possible like wtf. Where's her brother? Harry, Cass, Jacob?? Did they all die? I understand this is a "zombie" apocalypse and there usually aren't happy endings but still. I saw this was a series and each book has different characters, but I won't be continuing. I feel like this was a waste of my time.