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

Disha Mayıs 21, 2022

My first zombie book, The Forest of Hands and Teeth, was everything I wanted in a zombie book. I could not put this down after page one. The world-building that Ryan did was vivid, mesmerizing, depressing, riveting, and dangerous!

The village is surrounded by a fence, because the forest around them is infested with the Unconsecrated (i.e. zombies.) These are your classic zombies that crave human flesh, and are pretty much indestructible unless you behead them. The community is governed by the Sisterhood, basically a convent of nuns that guard secrets about the outside world and the history of how society ended up this way. They have convinced everyone that this village is the last of human civilization, and rule with much fear and distrust.

But our main character, Mary, cannot believe this. She longs to see the ocean, which her mother has told her stories of many times. Things don't go well for Mary in many ways. She loses her mother and father, is disowned by her brother, and she has no one to marry. So she ends up in the Sisterhood, a place that she does not want to be. After much misery, Harry asks her to marry him, so she can finally leave the Sisterhood. But… Mary is in love with his brother, Travis.

Never fear, though, things are going to get a lot worse. The fence gets breached, and Mary and her friends, including Harry, Travis, and her brother, are on the run from the Unconsecrated. This story just doesn’t stop. Every time you think “OK, now this is good, they are going to be safe,” something horrible happens to change everything. It’s hard to catch your breath.

I really liked all the characters. Ryan makes you care about all of them, even with their faults. Their reactions to disaster are believable from people who are under this much pressure constantly. The end brings some sadness, some safety, and still a lot of questions to be answered. I’m going to have to grab The Dead-Tossed Waves soon.

I can't believe I waited so long to read this one! I would recommend this to anyone who likes an adventure featuring paranormal creatures, in particular zombies. You won’t be disappointed.

Please give me some recommendations of other zombie books I might like. I think I need more!

Published by Delacorte, 2009
Copy obtained from the library
308 pages

Rating:5/5