Two Short e Reads From Carrie Ryan

Forest of Hands and Teeth extras! Who doesn't love extras?! Carrie Ryan has two e shorts that tie into the Forest of Hands and Teeth world - both prequels to the series as a whole. "Hare Moon" was released in 2011 and "What Once We Feared" is brand spanking new as of May (though timeline wise it comes first).

In "What Once We Feared" a group of classmates finds themselves in the midst of a zombie attack while on a school field trip. The first resurrected have already popped up elsewhere but everyone has been told it's under control. When bodies start falling from the sky, it quickly becomes clear that control has flown out the window. Jonah and his friends quickly seek refuge in a nearby apartment building but soon learn that their escape isn't necessarily the salvation they'd thought it was. 

This is the first peek we've gotten of the outbreak itself!

In "Hare Moon" Tabitha has only ever known the village she lives in but longs for more. One day she sneaks outside the main fence to the path beyond. Gradually, as days pass, she makes her way further down the path until one day she meets a boy. She'd thought her village was the only one left. Now she knows different, but her adventures could place everything she loves at risk. In the end she'll have to decide what's more important. 

I feel like it's been so long since finishing the final installment in Ryan's series! I came across both of these stories when I heard about the release of "What Once We Feared" and fortunately actually have an e reader at this point (it wouldn't have mattered much if I'd come across "Hare Moon" in 2011 considering I didn't have the e reader then and likely wouldn't have bought it to read on my computer).

I am quite loving all these little e short extras these days. Granted I do hope that one day they'll be released in a physical collection (so I can keeps it FOREVER) but I heartily welcome the return to worlds like that of this series.

Both stories are the kind that sit with me long after finishing them. They're quite short at just under 30 pages each, but they're just as thought provoking as the actual series books themselves. In fact, depending on my mood they can both be viewed as either hopeful or bleak tales!

Rating on both: 5/5