The Forest of Hands & Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Title: The Forest of Hands and Teeth
Author: Carrie Ryan
Pages: 310
Genre: YA, Fiction, Zombies, Horror, Romance
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?
From the Hardcover edition.
From the Publisher (Delacorte)

When I sat to read this in my closet about a month ago I decided that I am a complete and utter wimp. My epiphany occurred when I was sure my closet was infested with zombies. Yes, zombies. I’m sure you are probably saying to yourself pfff. Jen, zombies aren’t real.

They may not exist here, but they most definitely existed in the book I happened to be reading, a YA novel called The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan (catchy title huh?). Well, the sunken faced, broken boned, moaning zombies made their way into my closet, jaws clacking and all (I have a very vivid imagination). I was so scared, that I had to stop reading and go to bed, cuddling up with Husband in an attempt to keep myself from turning back on the light.

I’m sure the book wasn’t really that scary, but for a wimp such as me, it was. Although, I am happy to say it hasn’t deterred me enough to not read the sequel. The main premise of the book is about a small village based in the confines of a fenced in area. All around the fenced in area is the Forest of Hands and Teeth, so named for the zombies that infect it, or as the people call them, the Unconsecrated. It’s a pretty spiritual society, apparently, ran by the Sisterhood (it’s nice it doesn’t always have to be a man :D).

Mary our main character lives within this little village and the people say that there are no other living people left. That the unconsecrated have taken them all, whether turning them into zombies or eating them…yummy! Of course, as we all know, this is never good enough for our main character. She must go traipsing along causing havoc for herself and other due to her curiosity. Would we expect anything else? No! *they chant*

Still… the book gave me what I wanted, somewhat anyway. There was conflict, love, girl fights, fires, love, dogs, oceanic talk, love (did I say love?).

The unique story line woven throughout of a suffering community and zombies hiding out piqued my interest and kept me reading. Due to my goal of avoiding all things horror, I never much venture into zombies and all things related. So in my world of paranormal, it was an excellent flip of scenery. I did love the characters of the book, but mostly the sub-characters. To me, Mary, was annoyingly selfish and whiny. I don't want to give away too much, but she had the most annoying obsession for a particular large mass of water. I couldn't quite figure it out. I wish Ryan would have delved into the underlying meaning of that fixation.

Overall though, it was a pretty good read and I plan on digging into the sequel The Dead Tossed Waves as soon as my copy is available at the library. I wonder what will be in store for the zombies/unconsecrated who terrorize the futuristic dystopian world.

3.5 out of 5 Kisses