Tagged: carrie ryan
“The Infinity Ring: Divide and Conquer” by Carrie Ryan
Two weeks ago I posted a review on the first book in The Infinity Ring series and it just so happens that when that review was posted the second book, Divide and Conquer was mere days away from release. Of course that meant that I was going to grab it as soon as it was available and use it for my next review here on The Mad Reviewer.
I was excited to read this book because I am in love with the entire concept behind the series as it currently stands. However, I was a little concerned about how things would go switching to a new author for this installment. I really shouldn’t have worried though, Carrie Ryan takes the characters, personality traits, and little things that James Dashner put forth in the first book and carries them seamlessly into this one as well. As a matter of fact, it was so incredibly seamless that I don’t know if I would be able to pick out which book was written by which author if I was to do a blind test on them while reading. I think that bodes incredibly well for the series moving forward.
Dak and Sera fixed a break involving Christopher Columbus in the first book, and now they are tasked with fixing a break surrounding the viking invasion of Paris in the year 885. Talk about a different type of situation in all regards. For most of the book Dak is separated from Sera and Riq in some fashion because of his innate ability to not think before he does something. This flaw in Dak did wear my patience a little thin at times because it became predictable. They children would solve one problem, get things back on track with their plan, and then you knew a mile away that Dak was going to simply leave the group unannounced and mess everything up again. It must have happened at least half a dozen times in this book. If there is one thing I hope the next author improves upon with the series it is finding a new flaw for Dak because this one has been beat to death.
I was pleased overall with how the characters grew up just a little bit in this installment. They had to make some tougher decisions this time around in deciding how to go about fixing the break in time. They also had to deal with some unintended consequences as they jump from one time period to the next to re-fix a break they broke again on accident. Crazy, eh?
The next book in The Infinity Ring series will arrive this coming February and I must say, I’m rather excited for when it does. It appears as though after dealing with Christopher Columbus and Paris-invading vikings, Dak and Sera will be jumping into the fray with the Underground Railroad during the Civil War. That should be quite interesting.
Grade: B
Length: 192 pages
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
(Cover picture courtesy of Carrie Ryan’s website.)
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 that she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power. And, when the fence is breached and her world is thrown in to chaos, about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness.
Now 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 by so much death?
Zombies, romance and death…what more could you ask for in a post-apocalyptic book? As it turns out, a lot more than what The Forest of Hands and Teeth has to offer. In Carrie Ryan’s debut novel, Mary (the book’s main character) wants more than what life in her isolated village has to offer. But when her mother is bitten and her village is overrun by zombies (which are called the Unconsecrated to avoid the z word), her life is turned upside down and she must make a choice: to stay in her now zombie-infested village or go forward to an uncertain destination deep in the Forest.
I have not yet reviewed a book in which one line in it sums up the entire novel: “You’re selfish to want to sacrifice all of us for your own whims.” (Cass, page 144) If Mary is one thing, it is selfish. I have rarely read a novel in which I cannot identify with the protagonist, but The Forest of Hands and Teeth is an exception. Mary wants more in life, but she is willing to sacrifice people she loves to reach her dream of seeing the ocean. To me, that seems pretty selfish and it feels like she is always the exceptional character in the novel. She gets attacked by zombies without being bitten, runs through the Forest and scales down a sheer cliff without getting picked off by falling zombies and is the only one to know the truth about the Sisterhood and all its secrets.
Carrie Ryan’s world-building is also lacking. Mary’s village is completely closed off to Outsiders, yet there seem to be no unfortunate genetic implications, even after several generations. Also, the story of how the village came to be is a bit unbelievable to me because it was established during the apocalypse for future generations. If there was a zombie apocalypse, your first concern would likely be your own survival, not the establishment of a village filled with enough supplies to last for generations.
Despite the character and world-building faults, The Forest of Hands and Teeth is a fast-paced, page-turning novel with a few interesting insights into what could happen when a village is completely cut off from the rest of the world.
I give this book 2/5 stars.