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Title: The Forest of Hands and Teeth Author: Carrie Ryan Publisher: Delacort Press ISBN: 9780385736817 |
May Contain Spoilers
From Amazon:
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?
Ouch! There are times that this book is painful to read. The entire run of the final fifty pages was utter agony. Things have totally fallen apart for Mary and her intrepid band of weary survivors of a violent zombie attack that sets them on a bone-tiring race to keep ahead of the hordes of Unconsecrated that lumber relentlessly behind them. There are heart-stopping encounters with the creepy undead, and Mary dreams of surviving long enough to discover whether her mother’s tall tales of an endless ocean are true, or just the wild imaginings of a woman pushed to the brink by the stress of eking out living while surrounded by the constant, overwhelming threat of death. Death lurks beyond the fence that separates their small village from the terrifying forest, and the fear of a breach haunts everyone.
I love the world building in The Forest of Hands and Teeth. What a scary place! A virus has swept the land, turning the infected into mindless, shambling monsters that hunger endlessly for the taste of flesh and blood. Gah! I would have gone nuts from the pressure of it all. I practically did while reading this unique, romantic yarn. There aren’t many books that manage to weave together a sensuous forbidden love with the quick action and pulse-pounding fear of zombie attacks. I mean, seriously, who could think of falling in love under the threat of getting eaten?
Mary is one tough cookie, and after her mother dies, she’s abandoned by her brother. He blames her for their mother’s Return, and he takes it out on her by giving her over to the Sisterhood, a bunch of religious zealots who rule with an iron fist over the village. Mary doesn’t fit in, because she constantly questions everything. What was it like before the Return? Is theirs really the only village left in the whole, entire world? What caused the Return? And most pressing for her, is there really an ocean? How could there be something so vast and free, beyond the horrifying confines of the Forest?
It is Mary’s quest to discover the truth that keeps propelling her forward after the fences are breached and her village is overrun by the Unconsecrated. It is the only thing that gives her hope amid the death and destruction surrounding her. Not even the promise of love can slake her thirst for the truth. She will sacrifice everything she loves to unravel the secrets surrounding the forbidden path and the mysterious letters that mark them.
This book caught me in a grip of suspense, and I couldn’t put it down. I dreamed about zombies, which was rather unpleasant. I raced along with Mary, my heart pounding with fear. I am a wimp and this book scared the crap out of me. I was disappointed that many of my questions about the Return were left unanswered, so what do you think I did? I finished this, and immediately pre-ordered The Dead-Tossed Waves from Amazon. I don’t think my nerves will survive another visit to Mary’s world, but gosh darn it, I need to find out how the virus was unleashed on world.
Grade: B+
This book was rented from my local library. Support our libraries!
