Years have passed since Mary left the Forest of Hands and Teeth. She lives at the edge of the ocean, caring for the lighthouse and the beach. Her own daughter, Gabry, is not as daring and adventurous as Mary. Gabry wants nothing more than to be safe and stay in her small seaside town with her new love Catcher.
As many teens are prone to do, Gabry follows her friends outside of the barriers that keep the village safe from the Mudo. When a Breaker attacks the group of friends, turning many into the undead, Gabry flees to the safety inside of the barriers. Catcher is contaminated with a Mudo bite. The ones not 'turned' are captured by the Recruiters and locked up to await punishment for endangering the whole community.
Mary decides it is time to go back to the Forest and reclaim the past she left behind. Gabry, too afraid to follow her mother, stays behind. Gabry wonders why she can't be brave like her mother and adventerous like her friends. When she finds out Catcher is still alive and outside of the barriers, but contaminated with the virus that will turn him into an undead, Gabry tries to find the inner gumption to leave the community and brave the dangers outside of the barriers for the boy she always saw herself loving.
At the beginning of the book I felt a little like I wasn't reading a sequel. The unconsecrated are now called Mudo, meaning 'mute'. The fast Mudo are called Breakers. You turn Breaker if there are not enough Mudo around when you are infected. I didn't feel like these were covered very well. I felt like I walked into the middle of a conversation. Then the more I thought about it, I realized that this was many years after the first book and it took place in a society that knew more about the zombies.
I would have like to delve into the reason for the zombies and how the rest of the new civilization worked. I do however LOVE this author's writing style and the way she puts the words together. She uses very descriptive words in a way that I would not think to put them together, but then somehow you understand exactly what she was trying to evoke.
I am pretty sure that I marked a lot of quotes but now that I am looking at my markers I see that my kidlets have pulled most of them out:(
"His words cut into me, his desires and dreams mingling with my own, throwning at me everything I've lost. Everything that will never be mine."
Gabry's life strays completely from the narrow path she saw for herself in the future and she miraculously steps onto it with bravery that I don't know if I could muster.
Rating 4 Great, great writing style. I was still interested in the Mudo virus and the society that was built up after the Return, which I didn't get many answers to.
Rating PG No language or sexuality really. Just some sensual kissing and peril.
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