The Forest of Hands and Teeth

Sorry US, I much prefer the UK cover.

Back cover: 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?

"My mother used to tell me about the ocean."

Because I'm a smart-alec I have to point out there are some normal well-adjusted American teens who haven't seen the ocean- they may not have travelled outside their landlocked state or they may have travelled widely but neglected to do the beach holiday. But I get what this first sentence is aiming for, the complete mystery of the ocean hinting that this is not your average teen, this is someone who has been totally sheltered. We want to know just how far this sheltered lifestyle extends. What else doesn't she know about, and more importantly, why?

I initially had some trouble articulating my thoughts. When I finished reading I actually said aloud to no-one in particular "I don't know how I feel about this book." I think I'll like it more as I get more space from it to appreciate the story for what it is rather than how it failed to live up to my expectations. To qualify, from the back cover I expected 'The Village' with zombies with emphasis on the role of the Sisterhood and the Guardians, but it was more of a tale of survival on a personal and cultural level as one of the blurbs (which I don't usually read) said. In that respect, it was very successful, but because I was expecting something different there was an element of disconnect for me. I was expecting it to take place largely in the village with a more in-depth look at the community/individual, rebel/revolutionary angle but it wasn't about that. It was about what it means to survive, the sacrifices we make as individuals in a community and as a community in a post-apocalyptic world. About having to choose between opposing desires. About choice, generally. And it was so refreshing to read about a 'selfish' female instead of another selfless woman (looking at you, Disney movies and fairytales). The Female Main Character (FMC), Mary, wanted things. Even when they were ridiculous, or wrong, or dangerous, she had desires and 9 times out of 10 the courage to follow through. It was pretty awesome, even if I disagreed with her at times I could admire her moxy. So actually, this book was pretty great. It manages to contain some big themes and it has a page-turning level of action and seductively short chapters (just one more!). My one qualm-

For me, the romance was a bit hasty. Before we meet, or learn much about, the love interest, Mary tells us she's in love with him. Then when we do meet him the love (and do I mean love and not lust) goes from nought to seventy in under ten seconds. I/the character was under the impression the love interest didn't really see her that way and then suddenly the love is just there, mutual. It felt a little rushed. I started cheering for another male character to win her over after a certain point, which I'm not sure Ryan was aiming for. To be fair, I already knew I like my love to be a long time coming so the necessary speed of the escalation of their love was always going to be a hard sell and then there are other complicating factors. The speed of the return of affections does get explained but at the time it pulled me out of the story. (And really the romance in itself isn't the point, it's what the romance represents so I can't get too upset. To go into this more would really stray into spoiler territory so read the book then read Carrie Ryan's post about the love angle.)

Oh wait, second qualm. There were a lot of questions left open-ended. This is the first in a trilogy, though the sequels are set later and have different main characters, so those questions may yet be answered but with so many questions unanswered and the ending coming a bit suddenly, there was a kind of bumpy landing for me. Like, oh, the book's over?

Other than that, this is a page-turner with hooky (not necessarily full-fledged cliff-hanger) chapter endings, a lot of high emotions, even higher stakes - it's not just life or death, it's the life or death of loved ones, the survival of a species, the survival of history(!) - and zombies. What else do you need, really?

For more info/reviews check this book out on Amazon UK/US.