Book Review: The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Publisher:Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Publish Date: March 10, 2009

Hardcover, 308 pages

My Review:

I have been wanting to read this book since it came out and I finally gave away the copy I bought last year a few months ago, but luckily my library has this one.  So I checked it out and since I got it from the library, I actually made time to read it.

I'm glad I did read it, but honestly it took me a little while to get into the book - I just wasn't feeling it.  It may have been more me at the moment, but I could not get into the characters or what was going on.  I felt like I jumped in in the middle of the story (and as far as I know this is the first book in the series).  As I continued with the book, I started to understand more and started to enjoy the book more.

While I can't say I completely fell in love with any of the characters, I can say I did feel Mary's dilemma through the book.  I never quite felt she was as selfish as everyone made her out to be though - I really just saw her as a teenager trying to figure things out in a very difficult world.  I didn't like Katniss in The Hunger Games at first either, so don't let that turn you off - I eventually fell in love with Katniss.

Forest of Hands and Teeth is another one of the many post-apocalyptic young adult fiction books out now, but it offered a different take and it offered zombies.  I found the world fascinating and the fact that Mary has never seen the ocean and is unsure of it's existence fascinating.  I think Ms. Ryan did a wonderful job setting up the world in which Mary lives.  It's another compelling take on a niche of young adult fiction that fascinates the young and old alike at this time.

All-in-all, I truly enjoyed Forest of Hands and Teeth once I got into it.  So if you start it, make sure you give it about 100 pages before putting it down, because it will take off and then you will find it hard to put down.  Of course it may interest you from page one, as it is an engaging tale.  I look forward to reading The Dead-Tossed Waves, but alas my library doesn't have it and my book buying money is down to very little at this time.  I am going to my library to request it though.

So have you read this series - how did you feel?  Do you have a review, comment here and I'll link to it.  I love linking to other reviews so people can see how others feel as I am just one person and this review is solely my opinion.  Have you read The Dead-Tossed Waves - how did it compare with Forest of Hands and Teeth (no spoilers please)?

My Rating:  4.0/5.0

About the Book:
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?

About the Author:

Carrie Ryan was born and raised in Greenville, SC and is a graduate of Williams College and Duke University School of Law. A former litigator, she now pursues her true passion and writes full time. Although Ryan's 2009 novel, THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, is set in a world roamed by the living dead, before meeting her fiance JP she was actually a self-proclaimed "scaredy-cat" who avoided horror movies. JP was the one who convinced her to go to her first zombie movie and opened a whole new world up to her, which is why she dedicated her first book to him. Her second novel, THE DEAD-TOSSED WAVES, a companion to her first novel, will be out in March 2010. She lives in Charlotte, NC with two fat cats and one large puppy.

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FTC Information: I checked this book out from my library for my reading pleasure.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.