The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Hey everybody! Cassia here! Recently, I was introduced to the music of Les Miserables. I automatically loved it. Not only are the songs great, but they are extremely catchy. I was trying to sleep one night, and all I heard was "Look down, look down..." I love the songs, so I didn't really care. :) This led to me watching the movie. Now, as you know, I don't cry for movies and books. For this movie, though, I had tears in my eyes (aka VERY close to crying). Finally, this led to me buying the book on Amazon. It's 1400 pages. I'm about 500 pages in, and it's very good so far, and a review will come! Here's a review of The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan:

The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Mary’s life has always been sheltered from the Unconsecrated. The only thing separating the living from the Unconsecrated is the fence. However, if one strays too close, they can be bitten, becoming Infected, destined to either die before it kills them, or die from it and Return as Unconsecrated. The Sisterhood says that the people in Mary’s village are the only humans left in the world. To keep the population up, marriage is about breeding; not love. Only few have ever found love in marriage, and Mary is determined to be one of them. But can she break a man’s heart to marry his brother?

Note: I apologize in advance for my ranting. It is my opinion, and if yours is different, I respect that, so please respect mine. I'm sorry if it sounds mean, but I am being honest, and you won't hear a whole lot of meanness from me. Thank you!

Okay, so I picked up this book not really knowing that it was about zombies. I didn’t mind it, and I think I’ll read the next book, but I don’t know if I would choose to read about zombies again.

This book is written in first person present tense. For example, first person past tense would be: I was walking along the beach. To write it in first person present tense, it would be: I am walking along the beach. I find it hard to write like that, and since I’m so used to reading past tense, it’s a little weird to read. I didn’t really like the way she did it, either (but that might just be because it's weird for me to read). As for writing style, I don’t like Ryan’s. Sorry, I just don’t.

By now, you probably know that the protagonists I come across are likable, if a bit stupid, or I love them. I absolutely hate Mary. She’s just so selfish. I know, everyone can be selfish, but not really caring about what your best friend wants to get your way? Really? That crosses the line for me. There’s more, but for spoiler reasons, I won’t share them. Then you have Harry, who Mary is supposed to marry but doesn’t really want to. I like him, although I don’t understand what he likes about Mary. I’m sorry, because I hated the protagonist, it just kind of ruined the whole book for me. I like Travis too, and he’s Harry’s brother. As for which one I like better, I like them both the same. There weren’t really any characters here that stood out for me.

Ryan creates a post-zombie-apocalypse world that is sheltered and wants to break through, and the plot twists and turns. I liked the plot, so that’s why I’m giving it...

Two stars!

Goodbye for now,

Cassia