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

Mary lives in a village cut off from the rest of the world by a fence surrounded by the Unconsecrated filled forest. The sounds of their hands scraping and their teeth gnashing is so familiar, that although it serves as a constant reminder of their isolation and uncertain future, it fades into the background of the townspeople’s existence as they go about the business of simply surviving.

But Mary is not happy with the status quo. She’s heard her mother’s stories about the ocean, about a happy time before the zombie apocalypse. She yearns for that which is forbidden by the ruling Sisterhood – for knowledge, for true love, for freedom. But is she willing to risk everything for a chance at a different kind of life beyond the forest of hands and teeth?

This novel is bleak and oppressively claustrophobic, but if you can get past that, you are in for a heartbreakingly beautiful story about daring to dream no matter what. About following your heart. About making every moment count.

There is a lot I’d love to discuss in more detail, but I don’t want to spoil it. For those of you looking for scenes of bone crushing zombie action, you will definitely not be disappointed (although you will have to be patient for more than 100 pages). For those of you wary about reading a “zombie” book, don’t be scared. The narrative might not be sugarcoated, but it’s far from being “horror” in the scary movie sense.

Mary’s story will resonate with fans of impossible romances set against perilous backdrops (think The Hunger Games or even, as Jen Robinson suggests in her review, Twilight). This is one that will stay with me, and the big tease at the end has me chomping at the bit like a super zombie to read the follow-up.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth comes out tomorrow in hardcover, and I'm sure you are going to be seeing a ton of reviews of it in the coming days.