The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

The unconsecrated are never alone. You are…

"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..." - From Goodreads

It’s been a while since I read this book. I think originally I quite liked it but since then and thinking about it I have changed my opinion a little. It’s a good book. It’s quite unusual in the sense that it has taken the idea of ‘The Village’ (the film) and placed it in a zombie novel.

It was quite well written, from what I remember, and it’s got a very interesting storyline with a GREAT twist at the end, even though I was kind of expecting it in the first half of the book the second half made me change my mind so completely that by the time it came I didn’t believe it would come at all.

My only problem with the book was the characters.

Mary: For a girl raised in a village where the women are in charge Mary, and let’s face it most of the few female characters in this book, was really kind of pathetic. There were a few instances where she took control, but most of the time she sat around and waited for the men to do something manly that would control the direction of her life. She never really made many choices for herself, or the ones she did were always kind of shit. And what’s with her whole desperation to see the sea? It was the one thing in her life she wouldn’t give up on or let guys dictate and it was kind of a stupid thing to be obsessed about in my opinion, and don’t get me wrong I love the see but it’s not worth everything they put themselves through.

Harry: He felt like a really 2D character. Yes, he loved Mary, but aside from being slightly cruel and doing anything he can to get her there really was nothing else to his personality.

Travis: Travis was also a really flat love interest. He kept deciding he didn’t want Mary only to turn round and go after her anyway. If he had just been true to himself to begin with then Mary, Travis, Harry and Cass may have had chances to be happy before the ‘BIG EVENT’ that ruins the equilibrium in the village. I also didn’t feel that there was much connection between him and Mary. Yes she thinks she loves him, but she would sacrifice him for the sea and he only loves her because she loves the sea. Ok…

The rest of the other characters annoyed me too for the most part, or once I started to like them they died.

So all in all I liked this book but the characters just fell flat for me, which is a shame because I really wanted to love it. I think I will read the next book though. I already feel like I like those characters from the short extract I’ve read.