Review: 'Forest of Hands and Teeth' by Carrie Ryan

After the Return the Unconsecrated roam the world looking for live people to feed on and infect. Mary’s people live in a village surrounded by the ‘Forest of Hands and Teeth’ protected by the fences and the Sisterhood, a quasi-religious organization dedicated to the preservation of human kind. But Mary dreams of more; stories have been passed through her family of a time before the Return; of an endless body of water called the ocean and of cities where man’s buildings once brushed the sky. However, in a strict world controlled by commitment to the common good, survival, and the Sisterhood, individual dreams are not encouraged and can bring punishment on the one foolish enough to imagine. When the village’s defenses are breached, Mary and a small group of fugitives manage to escape only to end up unprotected and in the Forest. Mary must find strength she did not know she possessed to survive and escape the Forest because it is not just herself she is trying to save but the very future of humanity.

Mary is somewhat naive in the beginning of the novel, but is a likable character and her development over the course of the novel is believable and well-crafted.  Wonderfully written and vividly descriptive, this novel has the reader breathing faster and tensing muscles for every mad dash to through zombie-infested woods. Ryan has given a great deal of thought to the realities of a zombie apocalypse and uses a great deal of detail to make her world believable and realistic.  Readers experience first hand the claustrophobia and terror of running down a tunnel with only a chain link fence standing between you and the undead.  Expect several very tense moments while reading Forest of Hands and Teeth.  This novel will have the reader thinking about the importance of dreams, the realities of mortality and the possibility of life after a zombie apocalypse long after the last page.

Library Source: Local Library
Reviewer: Rebecca

Recommended Ages: 14+ zombie violence

Recommended for Readers of:

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake	Undead by Kirsty McKay	Dearly, Departed by Lia Habel	Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride