The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

The Forest of Hands and Teeth (Forest of Hands and Teeth, #1)

by Carrie Ryan

Enter the world of The Forest of Hands and Teeth, where you can trust no one and never be sure what's lurking in the trees. A masterpiece of suspense fiction that will have you reading through your fingers

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?

Readers love The Forest of Hands and Teeth:

'I can't give it less than five stars because I spent most of this book gripping the bed covers in suspense. The characters were all great, realistic and interesting' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

'I found Ryan's writing beautifully and painfully evocative . . . I like a book that makes you wonder and makes you think, and even that makes you uncomfortable' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

'This is a zombie novel, yes, but it's an oddly haunting and lyrical one . . . It's an excellent story overall and well worth checking out for YA and adult readers alike. Five stars' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

'The characters in The Forest Of Hands and Teeth were extremely three dimensional to the point were you felt that they jumped off the page . . . will appeal to fans of The Hunger Games or to people looking for a great book that contains romance, fantasy, and horror' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

'An enthralling post-apocalyptic masterpiece . . . At times, the suspense will cause you to put the book down for fear of what you might read next only to pick it up again because you can't wait to find out' Goodreads reviewer, ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Reviewed by Jordon on

4 of 5 stars

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Originally posted at Miss Book Reviews

The Forest of Hands and Teeth was one scary story. Seriously, do not read this at night! I freaked myself out after I finished it and tried to go to sleep. Every little noise I heard I imagined that it was something terrifying so least to say that I also had scary dreams!

At first I found this book very hard to get into because of the writing style. I felt like I couldn’t get pulled in, this was probably also because I felt like the beginning was a slow start. Although I say that now but when I think back I realise that the beginning wasn’t a slow start at all. It was just the beginning of the story and I didn’t understand that when I was reading it because I hadn’t realised that that was the story. I was waiting for something more. It turns out that this was not a bad thing.

I liked this book, it was terrifying and I wanted to know how the story panned out. But this book also broke my heart. It is a very sad book and I hadn’t been expecting that. When I read the summary of this book I wasn’t completely sure what it was about so I didn’t expect to find that this book was the way it was.

When this book ended I felt like I had been wretched out of one good story but I also felt incredibly sad and I was left with the feeling of something missing. I felt lost. Empty. This book affected me. The ending does not tie up loose ends, it simply just ends. You leave with the knowledge of what has happened from the beginning of the story till the end, but no knowledge of how things came to be or what is going to happen after the words have stopped.

So I have a tonne of questions that I want to know the answers to but there are no answers. Not many questions were answered at all. Simply because even the characters had no answers for the questions that we undoubtedly are made to ask, so how could they give us the answers?

The Forest of Hands and Teeth is a book that leaves a lasting impression. It’s everything that it is and that seems to be enough. It’s terrifying, moving, heart-breaking, lovely and saddening all at the same time.

Overall, I really liked this story. I’ve been thinking about it well after I’ve finished it and that is usually a very good thing.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 29 October, 2012: Finished reading
  • 28 December, 2012: Reviewed