About an hour ago, I finished reading The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. I will have more to say about this book in the near future, but for the moment here’s a quick teaser …
I dislike the narrator.
The protagonist, Mary, is also our narrator. And she’s an unredeemed narcissist. She doesn’t care a whit for anyone else at all, and even when she says such things as “I love you” in moments that are apparently supposed to be touching as people die for her, the rest of her thoughts are about how she’s suffering because of these sacrifices that people are making. Not a thought about how they might be suffering.
Her near-complete disinterest in the well-being of any other human being bothers me. Her contempt for humanity makes her little better than the zombies (called Unconsecrated) that plague the world.
There. End of rant. Review later.
Ken Reads 
Would you say that the author did this on purpose, deliberately creating a character that the reader would dislike, or is this an example of poor writhing skills?
Writhing skills?
Sorry, writing skills….
Yeah, I know.
I missed it the first time around, too. But when I noticed it, I just had to comment.
I’m obnoxious like that.
I think it’s a problem.
It feels like I’m supposed to be sympathetic to the character, but all I feel is that she’s a self-centered jerk.
As her entire village is being slaughtered, for example, she’s upset at watching her friend hold hands with the guy on whom she has a crush. Perspective?
If it’s supposed to be a plot point, we should see it evolve. We don’t. She acknowledges her failings, but never even considers changing.
There is that moment when she considers how much happier she’d be if she wasn’t so selfish, but … well, … it’s still all about her.
What do you have against the self-absorbed? Nobody else cares as much about them….
Ummmm … true, I guess.