The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Pages: 308

Intended Audience: Teens

Genre: Dystopian / Science Fiction

Notes for Parents:  Contains scenes of violence and death

The Back Cover

In Mary’s world, there are simple truths.

The Sisterhood always knows best.

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, when the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness.

Now 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 life outside a world surrounded by so much death?

What the cover doesn’t tell you:

This is the first book in a trilogy.

What’s good?

This story is set in a post-apocalyptic society built around protecting its population against the Unconsecrated…aka zombies! While the premise is not unique, it feels fresh and inspired, and the writing is both visual and emotive.

Best Part: Great fight scenes!

What isn’t good?

The characters are weak, the love triangle is dull, and the use of first-person, present tense strangles the story. While the main thread of the plot was pretty consistent, many of the subplots were messy and some storylines even seemed to drop away, never to be heard from again.

Worst part: The mystery of the Roman numerals.

Recommendation þþooo

I love a good zombie story, but this didn’t do it for me. I loved the idea and the beginning was strong with good potential, but a lack of character development and sloppy subplots bogged down the story so much that I had no interest in reading the next book.

Ryan, Carrie. The Forest of Hands and Teeth. New York: Delcorte, 2009.