I will read anything with a zombie on, in, or around it, and most of it is pretty bad. Forest of Hands and Teeth is not bad. It's pretty good, and that was a nice change. It's so easy to get lost in that I read it in a few hours without realizing it. The narrative is smooth and poetic, and the heroine, Mary, has more complexity and depth than I've usually found in the genre. There is more than enough zombie to make it at home in the genre, but the interesting stuff is Mary's relationship with religion, her mother's stories of a larger pre-zombie world, and two guys named Harry and Travis. In some parts, her emotions and reactions are described passionately while other parts seem curiously drab, which made me disengage for awhile. But for the most part, it's vivid, well-paced without bothering with too much description, and really not afraid to stomp on your heart. I'm looking forward to reading the other books because there is a lot left to learn about the world.
