A great addition to the Forest of Hands and Teeth world. If you want more tension filled stories give this a read. I promise they are as good as Carrie Ryan's trilogy!
We finally are able to see how bits of the world reacted to the Return. Each short story encounters a different era of the Return, and various characters living through it. How they encounter the undead for the first time, how they handle people they know turning into them, etc.
We are also able to catch a glimpse of how Sister Tabitha was as a young woman and the actions that befell her to create the stern lying woman we know her for from the trilogy.
I enjoyed the Easter Eggs at the back of the book and Ryan's story of how she became interested in zombies, as well as her origins for each short story. I wouldn't hesitate to read more of her work. ( )

I haven't read any of Carrie Ryan's Forest of Hands and Teeth books for a couple of years. They faded in my mind. I knew I enjoyed them, but I couldn't remember specifics. I was reminded with this wonderful compilation of stories from the same world. Carrie Ryan is an amazing writer that doesn't dumb down or censor her stories for her young adult audience. In a post-apocalyptic situation, teens have just as many hard decisions, traumatic experiences, and interactions with the undead as adults do. Since I have a lot to say about all the stories, I'm splitting them up into different posts so it isn't insanely long.

* Flotsam and Jetsam

This story examines what it's like to be trapped on a raft with someone you don't particularly like who has been bitten by a zombie. Jeremy pretends he hasn't been bitten and tries to act as normal as possible. Everyone knows, including our main character, that when someone is bitten they will turn and they will have to be killed. Both characters are in denial about the situation because it's will always be hard to kill someone even if they are a zombie that will eat your brains. I loved what happened in the end because it is so human yet unexpected. With shows like The Walking Dead, everyone in the zombie apocalypse is expected to kill their zombified loved ones or acquaintances with no emotional reaction.

The main character resents Jeremy because they were never friends and none of his actual friends made it out alive. He asks Jeremy uncomfortable questions and can be cruel. They find comfort in each other because they are all that remain of their lives. It's the same reason why they keep their raft close to the ship they left even though all that remains on it are the living dead; it's the only familiar thing on a vast ocean in a world that is unrecognizable.

* Scenic Route

Margie and Sally guard a cabin that they've made safe together and spend their days planning road trips to places they will never go using well worn guidebooks. Margie, as the older sister, is very protective of Sally and sometimes underestimates her ability to handle the reality of living in a post-apocalyptic situation. They love each other dearly and would do anything for each other. It's just the two of them against the whole world. This story examines humans as monsters instead of zombies. Bandits in the area take what they want including people, treating them as possessions. Then a young man named Calvin arrives and wins over their trust over some weeks. This story shows how people can be monstrous, but have different reasons, casting people in shades of grey rather than black and white. I loved the ending because hope and humanity are still alive. It's easy to lose humanity in a setting like this, fighting for your survival against inhuman and human monsters alike.

* Bougainvillea

Iza is incredibly privileged before and after the zombie apocalypse hits. Her father used to be normal dad with a normal job. When the zombie rose, he came to Curacao because it was a place of power as a port and dry dock. Iza received many gifts from people because they wanted to curry favor from her father. Insult to him or his daughter resulted in being banned from the island or death. The island is run in a rigid and cutthroat way, counter to the beautiful, lush island itself. The population of the island has to be regulated so they don't live outside their means. This means killing or turning away the desperate and the injured. Her father's militia, the homber mata, kills anyone who isn't supposed to be there and gets rid of any undead around.

Iza used to a fairly normal life, not wanting for food or supplies. She strives to be more like her ruthless father who never thanks anyone and expects respectful deference from everyone in his life. The only thing she doesn't get is companionship. Her father rarely spends time with her. Her guardian has been Beihito, a man who works for her father. Beihito protects her in every sense: from zombies, from unpleasant things, and would lay down his life for her. He is the most caring and benevolent person in her life, but she keeps her prickly, proud demeanor for her father. At this point, she's at a crossroads on the cusp of adulthood to continue as her father has with ruthlessness and pride or change to a more caring attitude like Beihito, who cares more for her than her actual father does.

Beihito calls the undead mudo, ones of have lost their voices and themselves with nothing to say. The fast zombies are called lihemorto. I had forgotten about these fast zombies. I never liked fast zombies because the muscle and bones and such would break down quite fast, leaving immobile zombies. These ones are purposefully short lived, but their speed helps them spread the disease to more people than a slow zombie could. I also like these new terms because they speak more to the metaphysical state of the undead rather than just the physical state.

Iza finds a boy on the shore and spares him. This is a bit similar to the previous story, but the resolution is completely different. I love that it's brutal and not at all like the last story. So much of the story has the juxtaposition of beauty and brutality, especially in the title. Iza compare bougainvillea petals to blood in water. Even Iza herself is a bit of both. All of these stories are excellent, but this one was the post memorable with the beautiful location, different structure, and a wholly different zombie apocalypse situation than I've ever read.

* A Game of Firsts

Brother and sister Danny and Julie joke on the way home from a night out that a stumbling, seemingly drunk man is a zombie. They turn out to be completely correct and stay holed up in their house, waiting for rescue or their parents. Their lives turn upside down as they are forced to stay in their garage, rationing food and charging their phone by car in case their parents call. They have to be more selfish because resources are scarce. Danny and Julie start confiding each other more and more over time. At first, it's things like first kisses, but the past doesn't really matter anymore. They tell each other their secrets and deepest insecurities. Barriers simply fall away because it's unlikely they will survive.

One scene I particularly liked was when Julie encounters a zombie in her house as she gathers supplies. She sees a female zombie with a bra from Victoria's Secret that she almost bought. It hits home how much her life has changed. One day, she's worried about the comfort of a new bra and the next, she's hiding in her garage and rationing food for survival. Life before seems so trivial in the face of their dwindling chance of survival. This story is more of a character study and slice of life story than a plot driven one. I like the ending because it's not really an ending. Their fate is uncertain and their lives continue after the story is over.

* Hare Moon

This is my second favorite story of this anthology. This story follows Sister Tabitha as a young woman much different than we saw her in The Forest of Hands and Teeth. She's a lot like Mary: headstrong and critical of authority. As she's getting older, she's seeing the flaws in her society. She wants to know why rules are the way they are. Eventually she discovers that much of what she's taught are flat out lies. She keeps paying lip service to her duties and her faith, but she's consumed with thoughts of the others outside and a particular boy she has met beyond the gates.

Although well meaning, her actions lead to a catastrophic event in her home that forever change her. Sister Tabitha now sees why things are the way they are, why people are lied to in order to keep them safe. As seen in later years, she will always prioritize her society's safety over anything else. I never thought we would get this view of Sister Tabitha, but her character makes much more sense. She has her own regrets and sins that have shaped her into the awful person she was in The Forest of Hands and Teeth. It was nice to see her vulnerable, hopeful side that wasn't afraid to push the rules and question authority. ( )