The Forest Of Hands And Teeth By Carrie Ryan

Series: The Forest Of Hands And Teeth #1
Genre: Young Adult, Dystopia, Horror, Post Apocalyptic 
Release Date: March 10th 2009
Source: Bought
Overall Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
Cover Rating: 2/5 Stars
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?

I had been avoiding this book for ages because I was told by various people that it was the most depressing book I'd ever read. I love sad books but the way they said it kept me away. Eventually I began craving a sad book so I got started with this one but I was very disappointed. Call me heartless but I really didn't find it all that sad. Sure loads of people died and became zombies. So what? My biggest problem was that the author didn't give me enough time to actually gel with the characters. Before you even began to like them they were killed off. The whole book centers around the Forest of Hands and Teeth, in which zombies (or the Unconsecrated) lurk. The fences keep them out but who in the right mind would actually think a fence would hold out Zombies permanently? Well they did apparently.

I didn't particularly like any of the characters in this book. Mary, the main heroine, was boring and very selfish. She was utterly obsessed with finding the ocean so she dragged everyone with her to find it. This didn't go well for most of them. It seems I wasn't the only one who hated Mary, the other characters didn't seem to either. The minor characters; Travis, Harry and Cass didn't really interest me either. They all seemed flat and lifeless. One character I liked slightly was Jed, Mary's brother. He actually seemed like he cared about people! Most of the rest were only looking out for themselves but he was better. By far the prize for the best character goes to Argos. Yes he's a dog but he has ten times more personality than the rest of them.

Time for some positives! Carrie Ryan's story building was detailed and completely unique. I liked the idea of the Sisterhood but we were given no where near enough information about them. We were told they had secrets but it was left at that. I want to know the secrets! The author left us to puzzle them out ourselves. Oops that went a bit negative, let me try another positive. I liked the idea of the Unconsecrated. They weren't the typical 'Braaains' kind of zombie. They appeared more interesting. We didn't find all that much out about them but I'm hoping we will in the next book. I would recommend this book to people who want a twist on the average zombie book. Beware apparently some people find it depressing, I may just be the minority who doesn't agree.

My Favorite Quote:
“You think you want love, Mary. You think it is this beautiful gift that does nothing but fill you and make you whole. But you are wrong. Love can be cruel and ugly. It can become dark and cause the deepest pain.”

Email me at: confessionsofabookaholic@LIVE.CO.UK