Review: If He Had Been With Me By Laura Nowlin

Title: If He Had Been With Me
Author: Laura Nowlin
Published: April 1, 2013
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Pages: 330
Source: Purchased
Rating: 1 star
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“I've loved him my whole life, and somewhere along the way, that love didn't change but grew. It grew to fill the parts of me that I did not have when I was a child. It grew with every new longing of my body and desire until there was not a piece of me that did not love him. And when I look at him, there is no other feeling in me.”
― Laura Nowlin, If He Had Been With Me

Synopsis
If he had been with me, he wouldn't have died.

Throughout their whole childhood, Finn and Autumn were inseparable—they finished each other's sentences, they knew just what to say when the other person was hurting. But one incident in middle school puts them in separate social worlds come high school, and Autumn has been happily dating James for the last 2 years. But she's always wondered what if...

The night she's about to get the answer is also one of terrible tragedy. (Goodreads)

My Thoughts
I must prepare you. This is going to be a really negative review. I had been looking forward to If He Had Been With Me because I was seeing positive reviews and I thought this premise had real potential. But this book was such a disappointment, and I really struggled to finish it despite its short length.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan Book Review

Title: The Forest of Hands and Teeth 
Author: Carrie Ryan
Published: March 10, 2009
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Series: The Forest of Hands and Teeth #1
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal, Dystopian
Pages: 308
Source: Library
Rating: 1 star
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“I want to sleep, I want dreams to pull me from this world and make me forget. To stop the memories from swirling around me. To put an end to this ache that consumes me.” 
― Carrie Ryan, The Forest of Hands and Teeth

Synopsis
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 she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. 

When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, 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 in so much death? (Goodreads)

My Thoughts 
I wasn't a big fan of The Forest of Hands and Teeth. I hate writing negative reviews, but I have to be honest. This book is what would happen if one girl decided she just had to go to the beach for vacation, despite the fact that zombies are everywhere and everyone might die. 

I couldn't stand Mary. She's the type of girl in scary movies that makes you want to yell at the screen he's right behind you because she's just so stupid. Instead of running for her life when zombies attack, she just stands there and takes the time to think about life. Or Travis. She thinks about Travis so much. You're not going to get with Travis if you're dead or a zombie, Mary. So move! Or she would reach out to the zombies like she wanted a handshake. I had no sympathy for her. She makes the stupidest decisions with the dumbest logic, and puts everybody at risk. Plus, nothing is ever good enough for her. She just has to get to the beach. They're safe, but she needs to see that flipping ocean! 

I also can't stand the whole she loves him but he loves her but she loves the other guy thing going on in The Forest of Hands and Teeth. It was too A Midsummer Night's Dream. I love A Midsummer Night's Dream, but that was a comedy. The romance in this book wasn't for comedic effect, and it just didn't work at all. It made absolutely no sense. There was no reason why Travis wasn't Mary's betrothed from the beginning, but everyone said it had to be that way. Mary had to be engaged to Harry from the start despite the fact that she loved Travis. Yet her best friend Cass, Travis's betrothed, doesn't even love Travis. She loves Harry! See! Isn't that confusing? There was really no explanation why everybody had to be heartbroken. The Sisterhood just wanted everyone to be miserable, apparently? 

I felt absolutely no connection to any of the characters in The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Some of them were just mean. Like Mary's brother, Jed, and I found it difficult to like him later on in the book. Travis kept saying Oh, Mary. Oh, Mary. Harry was oblivious, but he was adorable, and I don't know why Mary found him to be such a repulsive choice as husband. As stated before, Mary made stupid decisions and she still went after Travis despite his engagement to her best friend. Not cool! Cass never stopped whining or crying, making the whole situation worse. Plus, Cass was a horrible best friend. She was engaged to Travis, and I'm pretty sure she knew Mary loved him. Still, not an excuse for Mary to go after him. Here's the lesson learned from this: don't ever let a guy ruin your friendship! Not that they seemed to be that close after all. 

The Forest of Hands and Teeth was a little slow as well. I did like the name of the forest: The Forest of Hands and Teeth, obviously. Very creepy. And the premise had potential, but there were just so many questions left unanswered about their history, the Return, and the power of the Sisterhood and the Guardians. Plus, I wasn't satisfied with the ending at all.

I apologize for all the negativity, but The Forest of Hands and Teeth just wasn't my type of book at all. So, I won't be reading the next one. 

Happy reading,

Courtney