The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan Release Date: March 10, 2009
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Age Group: Young Adult, ages 14 and up
Pages: 320
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?
I’ve been trying to write my reviews soon after I read a novel why the emotion of the story is still fresh within me, but with The Forest of Hands and Teeth, I needed a few days to digest.
I particularly enjoyed this novel. The writing was beautiful, it was one of the best written novels I’ve read in a while. The plot itself, while it did remind me of a mix of the movies The Village and I Am Legend, I still found it to be original in context. It was captivating and suspenseful, I had a very hard time putting this novel down. Carrie Ryan has crafted an outstanding debut novel.
The depth of Mary’s character was also uniquely portrayed. You almost feel the anguish and entrapment as much as she does, although at times I felt she was very selfish character.
There were so many questions that were left unanswered, some that were touched upon, but not fully divulged. Although the theme of hope was mentioned several instances in the novel, I found the emotion lacking. If anything I thought the novel was depressing. Impressive, but depressing. I mean it is a zombie apocalypse! You can’t really be too happy about that. I also wasn't too happy about the ending, I think that is probably my biggest compalint.
Overall The Forest of Hands and Teeth is a notable debut novel. I will absolutely be tuning into the future works of Carrie Ryan.
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19 comments:
www.myfavoriteauthor.blogspot.com
Great review, though! I'm just getting more and more intrigued...
Cheryl
Just a side comment/question: I follow you, so on my blogger dashboard, where it shows new posts from the people I follow, a post from you showed up yesterday, 'Where do you get all those books, part 2' but when I click on it, it says it doesn't exist and there is no such post here on your blog. Just wondering, do you still plan on posting it?
And for the post "Where do you get all those books, part 2," I thought it was very useful. Just saying.
By the by, I nominated you for an award over at my blog, because you are so awesome. Thanks
http://carriesyabookshelf.blogspot.com/2009/03/awesome-award-dig-that-alliteration.html
And another nomination for you, Kristi! - http://cityofbooks.blogspot.com/2009/03/i-love-your-blog-award.html
I want to commend you on your reviewing style. It's so very sleek and professional, giving the info and then tempering it with your personal voice in the review - how long have you been writing reviews? And how long has it taken you to develop your style?
The reason I ask is because I'm one the very cusp of getting started with my own book review blog and I'm researching the styles used. I won't ape your style m'dear, or not overmuch, but it really is one of the best ones I've seen. Very well done!
Rohane
(http://rohanesreads.blogspot.com/)
I agree with what you said about.. well.. everything. Mary is a selfish character, though you can feel her pain at being trapped inside a world where no one else seems to understand her dreams and longings. Also the ending left me feeling empty. It's like when they play a movie on TV and there is that last commercial break before the final couple minutes of the film where everything gets resolved. What happens next! I would really love to see a sequel to this book in the near future. There is so much to go into!
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