Carrie Ryan

Blogging from A to Z Challenge: Day 26 - Letter Z

Today's the final day! We're down to the letter Z in our Blogging from A to Z Challenge - and my topic:

Zombies - My Favorites from Books to Movies

I'm not gonna lie, I absolutely love me some good zombies. I have no idea why I enjoy having the bejeezus scared out of me, particulary by those that were alive, then died, then came back to life again. Whatever it is, zombies are definitely a guilty pleasure for me - and here are a few of my favorites:

Favorite Book(s):

THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH by Carrie Ryan

Goodreads Summary:

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 fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth. But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future—between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

Just the idea of having to live life inside a fenced-in village, surrounded by the undead who are constantly trying to claw their way in, sends chills down my spine. Carrie Ryan's Unconsecrated are the epitomy of things that go bump in the night. For more details, my review of THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH can be found here.

THE DEAD-TOSSED WAVES by Carrie Ryan

Goodreads Summary:

Gabry lives a quiet life. As safe a life as is possible in a town trapped between a forest and the ocean, in a world teeming with the dead, who constantly hunger for those still living. She’s content on her side of the Barrier, happy to let her friends dream of the Dark City up the coast while she watches from the top of her lighthouse. But there are threats the Barrier cannot hold back. Threats like the secrets Gabry’s mother thought she left behind when she escaped from the Sisterhood and the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Like the cult of religious zealots who worship the dead. Like the stranger from the forest who seems to know Gabry. And suddenly, everything is changing. One reckless moment, and half of Gabry’s generation is dead, the other half imprisoned. Now Gabry only knows one thing: she must face the forest of her mother’s past in order to save herself and the one she loves. 

The second installment of TFOHAT trilogy picks right up where the first one left off. Equally entertaining and full of the undead that haunted me in the first book, this one takes a closer look at how things got to be the way they did.

THE DARK AND HOLLOW PLACES by Carrier Ryan

Goodreads Summary:

There are many things that Annah would like to forget: the look on her sister's face before Annah left her behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, her first glimpse of the Horde as they swarmed the Dark City, the sear of the barbed wire that would scar her for life. But most of all, Annah would like to forget the morning Elias left her for the Recruiters.  
Annah's world stopped that day, and she's been waiting for Elias to come home ever since. Somehow, without him, her life doesn't feel much different than the dead that roam the wasted city around her. Until she meets Catcher, and everything feels alive again. 
But Catcher has his own secrets. Dark, terrifying truths that link him to a past Annah has longed to forget, and to a future too deadly to consider. And now it's up to Annah: can she continue to live in a world covered in the blood of the living? Or is death the only escape from the Return's destruction?

I enjoyed all three of these books - but the third and final installment, is definitely my favorite. Not only are the characters faced with the Unconsecrated, but they also have what's left of a desperate human race to contend with as well...leaving you question, if the world actually were to come down to this, who would be worse?   My review can be found here.

Favorite TV Show:

THE WALKING DEAD

AMC Summary:

Based on one of the most successful and popular comic books of all time, written by Robert Kirkman, AMC’sThe Walking Dead captures the ongoing human drama following a zombie apocalypse. The series follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes, played by Andrew Lincoln (Love ActuallyTeachers,Strike Back), who are traveling in search of a safe and secure home. However, instead of the zombies, it is the living who remain that truly become the walking dead. 

This show is hands down, 100%, absolutely a-mazing - and one of my favorites on TV. Fabulous cast, entertaining, yet thrilling plot, and all with some of the most incredible make-up and visual effects I've seen on TV - trust me, you'll wanna leave the lights on when you watch this!

Favorite Movie:

ZOMBIELAND 

IMDB Summary:

A shy student trying to reach his family in Ohio, a gun-toting tough guy trying to find the Last Twinkie, and a pair of sisters trying to get to an amusement park, join forces to travel across a zombie-filled America.

Woody Harrelson is hilarious in this flick - on his quest to find the world's last Twinkie, help a kid reunite with his family, and all while battling the undead. Not so much scary, but definitely entertaining, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie!

Zombies - do you have a favorite book, TV show, or movie?

My Review: The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan

The Dark and Hollow Places (The Forest of Hands and Teeth, #3)The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Goodreads Summary:

There are many things that Annah would like to forget: the look on her sister's face before Annah left her behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, her first glimpse of the Horde as they swarmed the Dark City, the sear of the barbed wire that would scar her for life. But most of all, Annah would like to forget the morning Elias left her for the Recruiters.

Annah's world stopped that day, and she's been waiting for Elias to come home ever since. Somehow, without him, her life doesn't feel much different than the dead that roam the wasted city around her.

Until she meets Catcher, and everything feels alive again.

But Catcher has his own secrets. Dark, terrifying truths that link him to a past Annah has longed to forget, and to a future too deadly to consider. And now it's up to Annah: can she continue to live in a world covered in the blood of the living? Or is death the only escape from the Return's destruction?

My Review:

Out of the three titles in the Forrest of Hands and Teeth trilogy and of the three main heroines - The Dark and Hollow Places and Annah, were by far my absolute favorite. Don't get me wrong, I loved the first two books - but found Mary a little too reserved and Gabry a bit too reliant on those around her. Annah's character on the other hand, was everything a strong, female heroine should be, despite the scares her body carries - independent, courageous, brave, loyal - and overall, she was seriously, one pretty bad-ass chick!

My Review: THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH by Carrie Ryan

The Forest of Hands and Teeth (The Forest of Hands and Teeth, #1) THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, by Carrie Ryan


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I decided to buy THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, by Carrie Ryan, simply because of all the talk it was receiving on Twitter.  Everyone was tweeting that this was a "must read"...and this went on, for several days.  So I bought it, along with it's sequel, THE DEAD-TOSSED WAVES.  And I have to say, I'm so glad that I did.


THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, is a story about a teenage girl named Mary and the village she lives in, in what is now the post-apocalyptic United States.  The world as we know it, has been taken over by the Unconsecrated - the human-turned-zombie beings, that are hungry for the flesh of those that are uninfected.  And Mary's walled village is the only home the younger generations have ever known - and the walls keep them protected from the Unconsecrated that roam the forest around them.  The forest of hands and teeth.


They've never been outside the gates - never stood amongst the tall buildings of a city, or flown in an airplane, or been to the ocean.  They only know of the tales they've been told - stories passed down from generations before them - that describe what once was.  But to most of them now, these stories seem like make believe - the fictional ramblings of their elders...except to Mary.


Mary believes all the stories her Mother has shared with her - and she dreams of one day seeing the ocean.  She knows that there's something more outside the walls of her village.  But when Mary's own Mother contracts the deadly infection and is released outside the walls of her village, she then discovers the horrifying role played by the Sisterhood, a religious order of women in charge of protecting the people of her village.


Forced into a life she never wanted with the Sisterhood and betrothed to a man she isn't in love with, Mary's salvation comes, the day the barriers of her village are breached.  She narrowly escapes into the gated trails with Harry, the man she was to marry, his brother Travis...the man she truly is in love with - and her best friend, who was assigned to marry Travis.


Together they navigate the gated trails, searching for signs of other villages, other life...for anything other than the Unconsecrated that moan and thrash at the fences that surround them.  Her determination and strong beliefs of her Mother's stories, is what forces Mary to push them all forward...forward through the forest of hands and teeth, to what lies beyond.


Ryan does an amazing job telling a gripping story of survival, loyalty, and the overwhelming courage it takes to persevere.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, so much so, that I even have my husband - who 1.) isn't really a reader and 2.) usually only prefers Dean Koontz - reading this book...and he's enjoying it just as much as I did.


My review of THE DEAD-TOSSED WAVES, will follow shortly - and I can't wait for the third and final installment of the trilogy, THE DARK AND HOLLOW PLACES, to come out in early Spring of 2011.


Kudos to Carrie Ryan for her fantastic story-telling.  I can't wait to read what else she turns out.


If you'd like more information on Carrie Ryan, please see her web page:  http://www.carrieryan.com/


She can also be found on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/carrieryan


View all my reviews >>


Check out the YouTube book trailer of THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, by Carrie Ryan: