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

THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH BY CARRIE RYAN

Reading Level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers; First Edition edition (March 10, 2009)
Language: English
Buy at Amazon, Borders, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Indiebound

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?

The Forest of Hands and Teeth is an extremely complex and well written novel that will haunt you long after you have finished it. It begins seven years after the Return- a plague resulting in the Unconsecrated (undead) who have ended civilization as we know it. Mary is a young girl living within the constraints of an archaic, close knit village community. The shambling, ravenous Unconsecrated are kept at bay outside her village by a chain link fence. Desperate to get in, the Unconsecrated incessantly wail and throw their bodies at it, making the threat of death a constant, oppressive reminder for the people of the village.

Carrie Ryan has beautifully woven issues of love, sacrifice, faith and survival into her narrative, creating a book that is both heartbreaking yet painfully beautiful. One thing that resonated with me in particular were the choices (or lack thereof) for women within the village. Mary’s village is enforced by the laws of The Sisterhood, a mysterious religious order. As a young woman, you have two options when you come of age. Either you are spoken for a by a man, whom you will marry and bear his children or you are resigned to the stark existence within the confines of the Sisterhood. Unlike most of the people within the village, Mary dreams of what lies beyond the Forest of The Hands and Teeth. Fueled by stories of vast oceans and tall skyscrapers that have been passed down in her family for generations, her insatiable curiosity propels her to long for more than she can attain in the closely controlled existence of the village. The fences may protect her, but her spirit and thirst for knowledge is painfully constricted within them. How would you feel if you lived in a world such as this, where your own hopes and dreams did not matter?

The Forest of Hands and Teeth, is a dark and utterly captivating novel. I wanted to slow down and savor each moment of this book, but I found that impossible to do. I ended up racing on in an adrenaline rush, determined to find out what was going to happen to Mary, the brave determined heroine with big dreams and conflicting loyalties. I am anxiously awaiting The Dead Tossed Waves and can't wait to immerse myself back into the world Carrie Ryan has created.
Check out these new covers for The Forest of Hands and Teeth and Dead Tossed Waves-aren't they beautiful?

Born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina, Carrie Ryan is a graduate of Williams College and Duke University School of Law. A former litigator, she now writes full time. She lives with her writer/lawyer fiancé, two fat cats and one large puppy in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are not at all prepared for the zombie apocalypse.