The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

The Forest of Hands and Teeth

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?

At First Sight:
I have to be honest, I've seen this book around for so long but I was always reluctant to pick it up. Zombies, what? But then I thought, why not? Especially since it has a 'love story' or whatever it said in its blurb. The cover is amazing and the story seemed interesting enough.

My Thoughts:
I was caught right off guard. I hadn't expected such an impact from this book. In fact, it's so hard for me to describe how awesome it is that I'm dividing this post into a few subpoints:

A) Mary as a character and her voice- Mary at first doesn't seem like an impressive character but what really made me want to read more was, not only the premise, but the writing style and voice. It's told in present tense but it's such a hauntingly beautiful voice. I always love angsty/dark but beautiful type of writing and this was it.

B) The Concept: So at first I thought, "Hm...zombies..." but then as I continued reading I actually saw the plausability of it. An infection that spread out and it wiped the face of the eart. That's plausible enough, right? Right. So that's why I wasn't appalled (or at least turned off) by the fantastic-ish concept.

C) The Love Story- If you go into this book thinking that you'll be getting a wonderful love story...you're wrong. Sure, there is one but--and BE WARNED--it is so raw and emotional that it really leaves you thinking for days (at least).

D) The ending- I'm not going to go into detail but it was so surprising, realistic, and exactly the right kind of ending for this novel.

E) IT LEFT ME WANTING MORE.

F) Plus, I couldn't decide between the two boys (or three if you count Jed ;) )

Overall, this story was impressive and realistic. I mean, you can't expect a happy-go-lucky ending in a zombie apocalypse, right? There were a few questions left unanswered (more like a lot) and I hope they are touched upon in the next two books. Either way, I'm pretty satisified (whcih is an understatement).

Plot: 5
Writing: 5
Characters: 5
Cover: 5
Overall Feeling: 5
Average: 5