Book Review: Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan- *** 3 stars
Title: Forest of Hands and Teeth
Author: Carrie Ryan
Published: July 2009
Blurb: 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?
This week I sat down with my husband to record some audio comments about this book.
Holy cow, your pictures are creepy – I mean that in a good way because the book seems creepy. I haven’t read this one, and it isn’t really at the top of my list. Especially if there isn’t a lot of character development.
Yeah I think it might be pass for you..if you aren’t especially a fan of Zombie stories or love triangles!
Very true review! Love the comic strip
Thank you
Thanks for dropping by!
Great honest review.
I’m thinking I will try this one soon so I appreciate your honest take.
I would love to hear your thoughts!
I love the dark feeling of this one. It’s great. I love the red eyes and I think you capture the darkness of the novel.
I have to agree with you about not being able to connect with the MC as it just gets thrown into things. However, I hope that the second book will be better. Do you intend to continue with the series?
Fabulous review!
I am thinking once I finish with my to read list I might take a look at the sequel! It did have some intriguing elements that I would like to learn more about!
I agree with your assessment. There are better creepy books out there–I think it was trying to be Hunger Games/Pretties/Matched kind of book. But with a little more character development it would have been much better. (Although it did have nice echoes of Haddix’s books
Glad to see I am not the only one..I think character development is really important to me as a reader..I need to connect with the characters in order to care about their journey!
I love your drawings in this one, the red eyes are very spooky in a good way! I’ve been struggling with recent books having a lot of fun “doings” and not a lot of character development. It makes it hard to connect with the main characters and I find myself not invested in the outcome at all.
Thank you! Same here..and honestly Jami I am getting sick of love triangles in YA..some of them are well done but come on there has to be another way to add romantic tension!
Oh I completely agree. I think more YA books need to focus on dealing with relationship problems and not just the start of relationships. I think that is one reason I really liked Daughter of Smoke and Bone. The relationship tension was completely NOT because of a third love interest.
Ah, I heard this one was pretty good, sorry to see it didn’t live up to expectations! At least it gives me more time to try something else.
Love the creepy vibe of the picture review!
A lot of people loved this one but it wasn’t my cup of tea alas! Thank..I liked drawing the Zombie panels!
Love the graphics! I think it is so hard to get into a book if you don’t get attached to the characters. I would probably feel similar to you while reading this one. Jaclyn @ JC’s Book Haven
Thank you! Same here and I think we have similar ideas about what works in books!
I understand what you mean when you say you couldn’t connect to the characters. I liked this book, thought it was pretty scary and I was affected by half of the characters outcomes. The other half I didn’t really care about because you’re right, it was hard to connect to them.
I too was annoyed it focused more on the romance! And even then the romance felt like a lost cause. Do you think you will read the next books in the series? I decided not too as this one scared me too much (haha), and I lost interest at the end…
I have to say I love your drawings for this one! It definitely showcases how creepy this book was.
I don’t know! I am torn on that..Aidan says the next book has a new set of characters..but I am not sure if her writing style is for me!
Yeah, at first I was annoyed to see all the books are different characters because I wanted to see what happened to Mary but then I realised it made sense. The world of The Forest of Hands and Teeth is just too scary and dark for me!
I wasn’t too excited about this book, either. It was interesting enough for me to continue with the rest of the series. And I found the characters in the second and third books to be a little more likable than the character in this book. I found Mary to be rather selfish and irritating, personally. The love triangle was a bit much, and love triangles seem to be the theme of the series (well, that, and zombies).
I will have to give them a try then, maybe latter once I have read some books on my TBR list!
Wonderful review! I have this one but haven’t picked it up yet. I hate it when I can’t connect with a character it makes the rest of the book fall flat for me. Looks like this will stay on the shelf for a little longer. Your art in this review was amazing by the way:)
Thank you! I don’t think it’s merit-less, just not for me!