Author: Carrie Ryan
Publisher: Delacorte
Published: March 10, 2009
Genre: YA, Paranormal
Pages: 308
Source: Personal Copy
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?
Mary lives in a world that's sheltered and hidden, governed by the laws of the Sisterhood for her own protection. The Forest of Hands and Teeth lies beyond the walls of her village, and it's for her own safety that she lives in the world in which she lives. But when her Mother is lost to the Forest, Mary finds the desire to learn what is beyond the walls and in the depths of the Forest. Her life takes an unexpected turn, leading her to the ultimate decision of with whom she stands in the end.
I'm late to the party reading The Forest of Hands and Teeth, but I hate reading books when the hype is high and everyone seems to love them. I'm almost always disappointed. That said, I was sold on the fact that it's a zombie book, and I loved the fact that it stayed true to that. Rather than romanticizing the concept of zombies, author Carrie Ryan spun a haunting tale that drew from the sadistic nature of zombies and fueled the heartfelt tale of Mary's life. The prose was powerful and real, lending an element of truth to an otherwise paranormal tale.
The Forest of Hands and Teeth has this rich sort of darkness coursing through it, and the environment in which Mary lives is extremely tangible. I loved how deep and haunting the portrayal of the Unconsecrated was because it put me in Mary's shoes and let me feel the extent of her fear. All that aside though, I will say that (at times) Mary annoyed me. I felt that her voice was grating, and while I felt her story and shared in her pain, joy and turmoil, her emotions were almost too overdone for my taste at times. However, that one gripe was tempered by the overall power of The Forest of Hands and Teeth.
When all is said and done, I'm a big fan of The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Rich and powerful, creepy but exhilarating, it was a page-turner until the very end. I give it a strong 4 out of 5, and I'd recommend it to all fans of the YA genre, especially those who enjoy paranormal and fantasy tales, as well as those who enjoy zombies.
Wonderful review, Melissa! I loved this book. I never thought I would enjoy anything with zombies in it, so this book was a big surprise to me.
ReplyDeleteAWesome review, Melissa!! I haven't read this one yet, so i'm late to the party too!
ReplyDeleteI'm late to the party too, but I've been eyeing this series lately. I think it's the covers. They're just such a contradiction- beautiful girl and sharp pointed branches. Same for The Dead Tossed Waves.
ReplyDeleteI liked the review. Just makes me want to read it even more!
Heather
I'm also late to the party! Lol. I've had this one on my shelf for AGES, but I still haven't gotten around to it. Dark, haunting, and zombies, though? Sounds fabulous to me! I can't wait to read it! Glad you enjoyed it, Melissa!
ReplyDeleteI read this book fairly recently. So I came late to the party, too. I was blown away! Especially the ending. OMG! This book gave me the creeps. I actually felt like I was a zombie after reading it. I could not get it out of my head. I'm looking forward to the next two books. Carrie Ryan made a zombie believer out of me!
ReplyDeleteI still haven't read this either but I want too. After your great review I want to even more!
ReplyDeleteI hate zombies..still I read about them, and watch those movies, why? Lol, so yes I want to read this book
ReplyDeleteI really loved this book, it's one of my favorites. What I liked best was how real the danger was; it had me genuinely scared throughout the book, so much so that I haven't yet had the courage to read the next book. *big-chicken* The writing was amazing too. Nice review. :)
ReplyDeleteI haven't read this yet, Zombies just freak me out. But you drive a convincing review girl. I might have to put all anti zombie things aside and give it a go :D
ReplyDeletewhat a coincidence, the last two posts I've read on the hop have been about zombies!
ReplyDeleteThis must be a Sign *shivers and gets her Zombie-apocalypse bag*.
Haven't been here in a while, why not drop by and see what I've been upto recently?
-Dee, hopping from e-Volving Books
I bought this last year randomly when a Borders at a mall in the States that I go to was closing an I didn't know anything about it (especially that it was so popular at the time) and I read it and absolutely fell in love! It was nothing like I expected, I always like to refer to it as a cross between "I Am Legend" and "The Village". Great review Melissa! I cannot wait to see what you think of the sequels (I tried to read the second last week but I couldn't get into it... I think I have to reread this one before I start the others).
ReplyDeleteI have a review for this up on my blog today too! Yours is far better though! :p Great review!
ReplyDeleteI was also a bit leery about this one because of the hype, but I really ended up enjoying it. There's not a whole lot of zombie things that I don't like though :)
ReplyDeleteGreat review.
This sounds like an interesting book. I've heard mostly good things. I like that zombies aren't being romanticized here (altho since I love Twilight, I like my romanticized paranormal creatures too). It's nice to see how an author can take a paranormal creature seriously and still create a beautiful book. I like that it sounds dark and haunting, as you said.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you really liked this book. OMG, I loved it. It was so creepy!! I cannot wait to read the sequal. :)
ReplyDeleteI agree that Mary was a bit annoying, but the freakiness of the Unconsecrated totally made this book insta-love for me. Thanks for the review! :)
ReplyDeleteI'm adding this to my endless list of books I need to read! Stop giving such great reviews! ;)
ReplyDeleteNot a huge fan of zombie books but I might have to try this one out and see if it changes my mind. Thanks for the review Melissa!
ReplyDeleteNice review! I really liked this book, so I'm looking forward to the 3rd book, coming out this month. :)
ReplyDeleteI read this awhile back and I liked it. I just don't want to pick up the second book for some reason. This seems to happen to me a lot, lol. Usually it's always when I know book number two will have a different narrator.
ReplyDeleteMost everybody I know enjoyed this one, but I didn't like it at all! I did a mini review of it when I first started my blog. I found it very slow and repetitive - all that time walking through the forest! That said, I'm not dissing the book. Certain images have stayed with me, which means it was a memorable and powerful read, it just wasn't for me.
ReplyDeleteI just can't get into the zombie thing!!
I am so looking forward to reading book 3 of this series.
ReplyDeleteIt usually takes me a bit to get into hyped stories too, but I've been wanting to read these books for a bit now. So glad to hear that they are worth it. Thanks for the great review.
ReplyDeleteAwesome review. I like waiting until the hype dies down too!
ReplyDeleteI still haven't gotten around to reading any zombie books yet but then again I'm not really a fan of zombies. I'll have to give this one a try though since you rated it so highly.
ReplyDeleteI have this one but I haven't been too interested in grabbing this yet. I think I am waiting for the right time for this book.
ReplyDeleteMad Scientist
http://madsteampunkery.blogspot.com
Mary annoyed me some too, but nevertheless, I was intrigued and kept reading!
ReplyDeleteI think I liked the 2nd better.
Another great review, Melissa. I'm happy to see that you enjoyed this one, but I get where you're coming from with Mary's voice. Thinking back on it, I get where you're coming from. I think I read this in one sitting, so the voice worked fine for me and I agree about the darkness in the story. I probably would have hated it if it was some romanticized, zombies aren't that bad, kind of book.
ReplyDeleteI read this a long time ago...and I remember loving it... Mary really ticked me off when she and Travis wind up in that house and she IGNORES him the entire time after pining for him through the whole book. And the END...ohhhhh I was almost shedding a few tears...:( I didnt like the second as much, I thought the love story was annoying, I just wanted the zombies to eat them all by the end!!!
ReplyDeleteI love this book, too, though Mary's voice *does* kind of grate on you after a while. Gabby's voice in the sequel does the same thing. Glad you enjoyed it, and great review. :)
ReplyDeleteI've sort of stayed away from this one, mainly because I've heard over and over how annoying people found Mary. I have to admit I'm curious though, because so many people seem to really love it as well. I can honestly say I haven't read much of anything with zombies in it, but the The Village-like quality of this one has always intrigued me. I think I'm going to have to check it out eventually.
ReplyDeleteAh, Mary and her slightly annoying voice...but it is an interesting story :)
ReplyDeleteAwesome review!
I haven't read this one yet, but it sounds pretty good! I'm new to zombies and this sounds like a good one to start off with. Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteExcellent. Really looking forward to reading this one. I could use a good zombie read! I wonder how I will feel about Mary as a character; I guess I'll have to wait and see!
ReplyDeleteI was annoyed by Mary too! But the writing and world building are so excellent that it makes up for it. This is my only zombie read, and it was quite a Thriller har har.
ReplyDeleteI hesitated reading any book about zombies but am so glad I finally gave in to read this one. The zombies were definitely not romanticized and the author created such a terrifying world. Yay for us waiting until the hype passed :)
ReplyDeleteI so need to read this book. I'm not a big fan of zombie books but this one sounds less gross out gory than the ones I've seen before. I'm not sure whether I'll enjoy Mary being an unlikable heroine though because that usually makes a book difficult for me to read, but I'm definitely going to give this book a try! It sounds too good to miss. :D
ReplyDeleteI LOVE anything zombie. I have this book but I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. Glad to hear it lives up to the hype!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that you liked this. I love this series!!!! (as you probably know from all my gushing!)
ReplyDelete