(The Forest of Hands and Teeth, #1)
Carrie Ryan
Released March 10th, 2009
by Delacorte Books for Young Readers
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?
This was a really exciting read. The plot was not what I expected from the little I knew of the synopsis - it was even better! The Forest of Hands and Teeth takes us years after a virus turned everyone into zombies, except for a certain few who have escaped and built a village surrounded by fences. We follow this girl, Mary, who lives in this village and she wonders if it's true that there is nothing and no one beyond the fences, but zombies (or Unconsecrated as they call it). Then one day, the fences are breached and Mary has run off to the forest trying to find any signs of life, all the while trying not to get bitten. This is a true, creepy, exciting zombie novel!
For the first part, the book was pretty slow moving and a tad boring. Mary just kept whining about how her life sucked. But after the fence is breached the story gets very engrossing, fast paced, and keeps your heart racing until the very last page. It would have gotten 5 espressos if not for the slow beginning.
The author is obviously very talented. The writing is great. She did a very good job at making their world very eerie and nostalgic. The characters are well-rendered. You really feel for them - their loneliness, fears, and will to live. It was great to have a female main character who was strong and didn't need a boy to hold her hand and lead. She also grew to be optimistic which was a relief. I do wish we would have gotten more explanation about what happened before that lead them to this life; how the virus started and such. Maybe in the next books!? We'll see.
I recommend this to anyone who likes heart pounding excitement and isn't afraid of a little zombiesauce.
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| 4 Hot Espressos |
