Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This book starts out interesting. The world of the book unfolds relatively quickly, pulling the reader along. Once I realized this would be a dystopian novel, I was excited; I love dystopias. About a third of the way into the book, it became clear that the protagonist's detached, flat tone was probably not a stylistic choice, but rather a lack of character development. The book is very plot/event driven, and doesn't have any real characters. I found it hard to believe that the protagonist had two men in love with her; she didn't seem real, or to have any particularly redeeming qualities. In fact, my biggest problem with the book was the protagonist's philosophies. She's determined to reach the ocean, even at the cost of her own life -- certainly at the cost of the lives of many of her loved ones. She continually ponders if she's "selfish," and other characters call her selfish as well. But she always decides that she can't give up her "dream." She's convinced there is other life beyond the zombie-infested forest, and she's determined to find it, even if it means sacrificing her family and other loved ones. This book tries hard to set up the classic dichotomy of choice vs. unquestioned belief, and fails. There is nothing profound about this book. The protagonist even waffles about the man she claims to be utterly in love with -- they go from the "honeymoon stage" to feeling trapped and bored in no time at all. The plot's also not the greatest either. How's this for a plot hole: The mysterious Sisterhood that controls the village insists that the village is the only one left in the entire world -- there is nobody living in or beyond the Forest except for the zombies. People in the village accept this, and to insist that there are other humans living elsewhere is considered utter nonsense. However! When the girl in the bright red vest arrives seemingly unscathed through the Forest, the Sisters keep her a secret from the villagers. They lock her away and only turn her loose when she becomes a zombie. She turns out to be a spectacular zombie, zipping around in the bright red vest with a speed and ferocity that the other zombies don't have. Nobody else has a bright red vest either. AND YET, once all the villagers see this new zombie, who wears clothing unlike any found in their village and who is CLEARLY not anybody they've ever seen in their village, they don't question the Sisterhood's party line of "we are the only ones left; there is nobody else." That doesn't make any sense! Also, the protagonist finds a book that says the Sisterhood _made_ the red vest girl zombie super-strong and super-ferocious by isolating her for a while. This is never explored. I wish it had been; it would have been a lot more interesting than listening to the harebrained protagonist go on about how she should have a choice in how to live her life. How much choice can there be when you're constantly on alert for zombie attacks? In fact, the protagonist is kind of a dope. An irredeemable dope. Most of the people in her village are just happy to live another day without being devoured by zombies, but this nitwit is so sure there's something more to life. She drags her friends and what's left of her family through the Forest, in search of a better life, and, because they're all dopes too, they risk their lives to follow her. She does attain her "dream" at the end, of seeing the ocean, but how valuable can that be? She's still stuck on a zombie-infested planet, except now she has a waterfront view. This book carries overtones of Richard Matheson's "I Am Legend," Lois Lowry's "The Giver," and even a tiny hint of Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale" -- all books that are infinitely better than this one. Read those and give this one a miss.