Postcard For Reader

The Forest Of Hands And Teeth

The Forest Of Hands And Teeth
Author: Carrie Ryan
Series: The Forest Of Hands And Teeth (#1)
Publisher: Random House
How Received: school library

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?
Buy | Borrow | Brush Off
The only reason I read this book in the first place was because I had ten seconds in between classes to decide what book I wanted to check out of the school library, and this was sitting right there, and it had gotten such great reviews...

And it had gotten such great reviews...

And I don't know why...

I'll be the first to admit it: Zombie books aren't my favorite. I love dystopias, and I love the idea of zombies, but reading about them just never really interested me. But this one had gotten fantastic review, so I decided to pick it up.

I'll admit it - Carrie Ryan does a great job at creating a world I'm genuinely interested in. I want to know why this village is in the middle of the forest, how the Unconsecrated became what they were... but the rest of the story didn't interest me.

I couldn't connect to the characters. The closest I got was understanding Mary's need to have her questions answered, but I didn't connect to her in any other way. And the love plot line? "Oh, look, I'm in love with Travis but we have only a little back story and he's kind of irrelevant to my plot line but I'm going to keep mentioning how much I love him despite the fact that I'm not sure if it's real love oh and by the way I love him."

Or maybe the fact that Travis is my brother's name made it awkward. I'll never know.

Also: If Mary had a dog, why were /no/ other animals mentioned throughout the rest of the book? And why were the dogs only mentioned once when she received it? Just wondering.

Overall Rating & Final Thoughts: 6/10. I do want to read the next one - I like the world Ryan has created - but it's nothing special.

Happy reading!

~ Nicole