The Forest of Hands and Teeth

by Carrie Ryan

I’m pressed for time with getting ready to go up to New Jersey this weekend, but I wanted to post this review, so I’m going to do something I never do except for Waiting on Wednesdays, and that is use the official summary instead of writing my own. (I’m also using the UK cover because it's so much more intriguing and awesome.) So here it is with my review below:

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?

The Forest of Hands and Teeth drew me in right from the start with its immediate jump into Mary’s life—and also possibly in part because it began with a desire to see the ocean (always a good thing). The characters were introduced quickly but not so fast that they were hard to tell apart, and Mary’s emotions were easy to identify with. The plot moved right along; in a couple parts my palms were sweating and I could hardly read fast enough to see what came next.
But towards the end it fell apart for me—maybe because I read so fast I couldn’t process the story, I don’t know. It seemed to me that there were a lot of plot threads introduced that weren’t taken anywhere, and questions that I wanted answers to but never got. Perhaps the sequel, The Dead-Tossed Waves, will offer explanations.
Aside from that, it was a *very* good debut novel; I think Carrie Ryan has a lot of promise and I will definitely want to read anything she publishes in the future!