The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Amazon.com:

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?

So I had heard this book was a bit scary and the blurb made me think instantly of the movie, The Village. I was beyond excited to read it and try something a little bit different for me. It started out great, I loved the writing and the simpleness of the town, a town that was full of secrets I couldn't wait to learn. I loved the hushed whispering of the Sisters and the romantic encounters between two of the characters and the path... the path that's off limits. I had to know where it was all going.

And then there was a lot of waiting and sitting around and I started to get kind of bored. I don't know if I was desensitized because of the connection I made to the Village and having seeing a funny zombie movie, Shaun of the Dead. But it just wasn't really to scary to me, slightly creepy I guess but that faded quickly. I did like the idea that this village is surrounded my Unconsecrated (zombies) at all times, they are just kind of there. But it just wasn't happening for me.

Originally I liked how simple the story was and the characters were, it was about their survival and love for each other and then after Mary talked about the ocean for the 100th time I realized that was all she was going to talk about, that and her love for Travis.

I think this book just might not have been for me. I did hear there were more books to come though and I do look forward to them, I think the next book might be of more interest to me. All in all, for me, a great beginning that kind of dropped off from there. Maybe this will be your cup of tea, it just wasn't mine.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth was released on March 10th.

2.5/5 Stars
Review copy received from publisher

Check out the trailer, it's really well done!