I bought this book for my 17 year old daughter for Christmas after hearing about it on the podcast. She really enjoyed World War Z, and she is a big science fiction fan. I am tempted to get it out of the gift closet and read it before I give it to her. I did read World War Z first, and I loved it although I wouldn't recommend it for younger adolescents because of the violence and the language.

Really, Hope? I think you are more of a sci-fi reader than I am. But I will take your advice. Someday. (see episode #53...)

Ann, you have to read World War Z. You know I hate everything, and I LOVED it.

You have a great job and I'm so thankful that you share it with the rest of us amateur bibliophiles.

Rita, I think we all have those preconceived ideas. One of the things I most enjoy about my job is that I am required to read books that are outside of my comfort zone. Since so much of our reading is done in manuscript form, I'm not influenced by the book's cover (there is none) or title (there is often none, or it is a working title that will change later), and I try not to read the editor's description before I start reading. So I often fall in love or like with a book that I wouldn't have read "in real life".

Ann, I have/had the same response to the Zombie genre that you spoke of on the podcast. However, hearing you describe this book makes me (once again) rethink that. This book sounds interesting and sounds as if something that would interest me.

As usually happens, I have this preconceived notion in my mind about what I like and don't like and then I hear you or Michael speak about something I think I don't like and your vivid and enthusiastic descriptions make me immediately want to go out and read whatever it is you are speaking about.

Carol, Thanks for starting the thread of The Forest of Hands and Teeth. I will be interested to read comments on the book. Initially I was eager to read this, because there were so many elements that would make for an great story, but there seems to be quite a mixture of reviews. Thanks for sharing yours!

And Thanks Ann for letting us know about a sequel! Always nice to know that you can continue enjoying a story!

After posting the above I noticed the description of the sequel (The Dead-Tossed Waves): Gabry (I am assuming is Mary's daughter) will have to face the forest again. I hope she revisits the Village and finds the Sisterhood's book, I plan to read the sequel to find some answers (and hopefully get some closure then).

It was an interesting read but I wanted to know so much more than was offered.

Carol, I feel your pain, but I really did like the book, and I liked the characters. I hope that all of the questions you asked (some of which never occurred to me) are answered in the sequel.

You will be interested to know that we talk about this book briefly in this week's podcast episode (#51. But yes, I am eager for the sequel.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth

I was not sure whether to post this thread under Book Specific Discussions or under the DistopYA Reading Challenge but figured it would fit on both.

First, I was very excited and engaged when I started reading this book, I thought it was interesting and fresh but that quickly turned into frustration when I was left with lots of unanswered questions. The characters themselves were not compelling enough and there were issues with the plot. The book and themes had so much potential but many things were left unexplored and - need I say again- unanswered.

For example, what kind of secrets was the Sisterhood hiding? What was Gabrielle's story? Why was Mary in love with Travis? What qualities did he have that Harry didn't? Why were two men in love with her? What made her special above other girls in the village? If Zombies ran out of energy or limbs in the course of their undead life, how come after 6-7 generations there were still so many of them still running around? If there were no communities outside the village according to the Sisterhood then where were the new zombies coming from? These were never explained.

I continued reading thinking that the book would come together at the end, well, it did not, Mary did get to see her precious ocean but she seemed very apathetic about the death of the people closed to her. I heard there is a sequel coming up on 2010, maybe some issues will be explained there but the author could still have answered all these questions and have readers interested in the upcoming books.