The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Summary:

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, when the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness.

Now 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 by so much death? (from Author's website)

Review:

It's been a couple of hours since I finished reading this and I still can't believe how truly remarkable The Forest Of Hands And Teeth was. In my view, this defiantly has the potential to be one of the best debuts of 2009, if not the best.

The writing, the world, the characters were all so interesting and haunting, which made you become totally involved in the story from the beginning.

The characters in The Forest Of Hands and Teeth were extremely three dimensional to the point were you felt that they jumped off the page. Since, you could feel their fears, their fight for happiness, and their battle to be strong in a world were all you want to do is cower in a corner. Carrie even crafted the unconsecrated in a way that you began to feel sorry for what they had became even though you wanted to hate them for what they had done to the world. Mary was probably my favorite character overall because her strength just amazed me. I loved how no matter what happened to her she never gave up and always found the bright side of things. Also, I liked the romance between Travis and Mary. It was a cute and great add to the story.

Also, I became completely enthralled in the world Carrie Ryan had created. Since, I always find it interesting to read about what an author thinks may happen in the future. Plus, the world felt real to me. Though, I had a couple of problems with it. Such as, Carrie never really said what had lead to the unconsecrated. Also, she never really came out in said what the unconsecrated were, leaving me to infer that they were zombies.

The writing was up to par, too. Carrie Ryan shows in this that she has big talent, which makes me extremely excited to read more by her.

Overall, there is not enough adjectives to describe how incredible The Forest of Hands and Teeth was. As said above, I'm really looking forward to reading more by Carrie. Also, I truly hope she wrights a sequel to this telling of what happens to Mary. Since, the ending was kind of a cliff hanger.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth will appeal to fans of The Hunger Games or to people looking for a great book that contains romance, fantasy, and horror.

Grade: A+

The Forest of Hands and Teeth is out now. You can find out more about it here. Also, be sure to check out Carrie's website and blog.