The Forest of Hands and Teeth (Chapters 9-12)

So Mary contemplates what to do with the news that the Sister are keeping stuff from them, and what to think about this Gabrielle girl. When she gets called down to see Sister Tabitha, she finds that Harry is there, And he has spoken for her which means they are going to be married. Mary is disappointed because she wants Travis but it is the only way out of the Sisterhood she reluctantly agrees. "His eyes become harder, deeper, and he shakes his head" (77) (CP). He knows that she does not love him. This whole situation is just sad, and right after that she finds Cass and he tells her that she fell in love with Harry! Mary wants to switch and "make it right" but Cass says no and that's the end of that. See, this whole thing is just sad. Later that same day she finds that Gabrielle has vanished.
The marriage ceremonies begin and Mary is not happy. She is marrying the person she doesn't love and has to watch her best friend marry him. It is a week long celebration with many parties and they are the "guest of honor." When she thinks all hope for Travis and her are lost she finds him in her favorite spot and she runs to him and he holds her. Giving her back those feeling and knowing he still loves her. He then proceeds to tell her that he too believes there is more then just there village and this forest and she starts to fall in love with him even more. They are more alike and I really hope they can somehow get married...
Then they see this Unconsecrated in a red vest and Mary knows it Gabrielle except shes not like the others. She can move really fast. Before she goes to tell the Guardians; Travis kisses her and then she asks " Will you come for me?" (94) (S). Now I already know he probably won't because he does not want to betray anybody, but I hope I'm wrong.
After telling the Guardians, the village people got worried but Sister Tabitha had reassuring words, but even then no one felt safe. Travis has still not come to Mary, and right before her true wedding day she goes to find answers. She goes down to the tunnels where Sister Tabitha first took her when she arrived at the church. She stumbles through and she gets through and door but she doubts whether she should go through or now. But she thinks about her life and how it did not turn out how it was supposed to be, she she steps forward into the tunnels.

When she enters the room, she finds a cot, a thick book that must be the scripture. It is just on ordinary room. She opens the scripture and sees tiny, cramped writing. She finds out about the fast one (Gabrielle). " As expected, extreme and complete isolation was the cause of her immense strength and speed. God help us all, we will send her to the Forest to see how long she lasts, to better understand. It is through her sacrifice that we grow stronger. It is through His glory that we survive" (109)(CPCX). She understands now that they are doing some sort of experiments, maybe just towards outsiders that come because they don't want the village to know that they can live somewhere. That's my prediction. Before the binding, Sister Tabitha comes and explains why they must do this. Then she tells Mary that her mother has lost children. I do not know why that is important but we shall soon find out.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth (Chapters 5-8)

Mary goes to tend to the patient and it turns out it is Travis, the boy she had a crush on for a long time. I predict that they are going to end up falling for each other even though he is already courted with Mary's best friend Cassidy. But Mary has a chance to tend to the one she loves so she is not going to stop and she will not give let him turn into an Unconsecrated. "I have seen such horror and such grotesqueness that it never occurred to me that I would feel light-headed and weak-kneed when I saw Travis's injury" (40).(S)  I think this shows that she really does love him because she did not even get "weak-kneed" when her mother was turning. Instead of prayer though she tells him stories of the ocean. The story her mother used to tell her. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean.
Finally, after a significant amount of time, Cass and Henry finally come to visit Travis. Now Mary gets upset because she realizes that none of it can be real because Travis is courted already to her best friend, so she is in a bad position and I actually feel really bad for her. Also, Mary still pretends she cannot talk even though she already finished her scripture reading, so when Henry tries to apologize it is to her about not courting her, it is her advantage that she cannot say anything.
She has now moved on to different studies and she cannot see Travis anymore. But at night, she sneaks over to his room to be with him. Until one night, when they finally have there first kiss, and they get interrupted, "Perhaps a shift in the drafts around the room, maybe my ears popping as a door somewhere is opened, but I pull back a bit and meet Travis's eyes" (55). (CPCX). They hear the people walk around and they lock Travis in is room. They wonder what it could be as Mary leaves, hoping to come back but not sure if she can. When she gets outside and see footprints on the path that no one can go on, leading right up to the fence and into the Church. Mary concludes that means someone from Outside has come, and now she can leave her village.
Mary once again gets in trouble with Sister Tabitha. I really do not like her. She is way to mean and bossy. She talks to her about the Return, and because they have survived this far is because it is God's will because they all follow him. And the Unconsecrated did not and that is why they turned. She also tells Mary she actually does not belong in the Sisterhood so she will never be trusted and never find her place. Now that really brings Mary down because she did not want to be here in the first place. The sisterhood is keeping so many secrets from the village and Mary wants to know why.
Later, she is in Travis's old room when someone named Gabrielle knocks on the wall. She is the one from the outside. She sees that she is wearing a red vest, which is maybe some kind of trade mark from her old village. Or maybe it keeps the Unconsecrated away. I don't know but I really want to find out.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth (chapters 1-4)

If you went to the Carrie Ryan talk then you already know that this book is about what happens after the zombie Apocalypse. I decided to read her book because I thought it sounded interesting and she made it sound like an exciting book to read. I never thought I was going to think zombies were interesting, but I decided to give it a try because she made them sound pretty cool.

In chapter one it starts off with a girl named Mary and how her mother used to talk about the ocean. That there was "nothing but water as far as you can see and that is was always moving, rushing toward you and then away (C)" (1). But she stopped believing in the ocean because how could there be such a thing if there were droughts? Mary has never seen the ocean because her whole town is fenced in for the Unconsecrated. They cannot get through fences so they are safe, until they break through. Her mom stands at the fence looking out, looking for her lost husband, believing that he is not one of them. At least she has something to believe in. No one in that town really believes anymore, they just go through the motions.

Mary is at the stream when a boy named Harold comes up and asks if she would go with him to the Harvest Celebration. The Harvest Celebration is for those who are old enough to get married, declare themselves to one another. Mary says,"Marriage in our village is not about love-it is about commitment (S)" (4). It reminds me of an arranged marriage. I would not like that. I would want to find love, not just someone who asked me for commitment and to keep the population up. That's when the sirens go off. That means they have to get to the towers and bring the ladders up so the Unconsecrated cannot get them. But it turns out that someone got bitten, unfortunately it was her mother.

Her mother saw her husband and was reaching out when she got bitten. Now she had a choice. Die now, or join them. She decided to join them to be with her husband. That is sad. I think I would want to die. Mary waits it out with her mother until she turns. When she does turn and is sent into the woods her brother Jed returns and yells at her for not killing her. Because not he has too. I feel bad for him. He has to kill both his parents now. Jed however shuns Mary and makes her join the Sisterhood where she will not get married and help those who are hurt and be one with God. It is not her first choice but she has no other choice. After she has read the scripture five times she can start to earn her privileges.

I feel bad for Mary. No one has accepted her and now she has to join the Sisterhood when she does not even want too. Her brother abandoned her and now she has to be reminded of her mother when someone new comes into the church to be helped. I feel this book is going to get very depressing and everyone is going to die. Let's hope I'm wrong.