Review of The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Title: The Forest of Hands and Teeth
Author: Carrie Ryan
Published by: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Pages: 308
Source: Traded with The Book Cellar
Format: Paperback
Rating: ★★

Summary from Goodreads:  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?

At first I was a little apprehensive about reading this novel, because I'm just not a Zombie-type person.  I thought there was going to be some human-Zombie love so that is what originally deterred me from reading The Forest of Hands and Teeth.  I just cannot picture Zombies as sexy so hence my neglect of this novel.  I think I cursed myself with my fear of disliking this book, because I didn't actually enjoy it that much.  It wasn't a bad book by any means, and I really think this was a case of me more than anything.

When I originally started reading this book I thought of M. Night Shyamalan's movie "The Village."  There are great similarities between that movie and this book.  They both lived in these small communities with no knowledge of an outside world and a fear of the surrounding woods that were crawling with creatures.  This concept in itself is a great one and I really enjoyed the setting of the book and the plot.  Carrie Ryan did an amazing job at giving us a picture of a secluded lifestyle and the hope that there is more out there than monsters. 

The major issue I had with the novel was the main character Mary.  I couldn't stand her.  I thought she was self-centered, selfish, whiny, rude and just a not nice person.  I feel like she wouldn't listen to what anyone else had to say, instead she just believed she was right and everything she did therefore was the right thing to do.  She didn't have any respect for others and that was portrayed many times through her actions, especially with her friends.  I understand that she lives in a completely different situation than I do and her actions were probably normal for the setting of the book and how the main character should act, I just wasn't fond of her. *see more evidence it was me and not the book*

I think if the main character was different I would have loved this novel.  It has all the elements to be a great novel and I've read some spectacular reviews for it, so again it points to it being more of a me issue than a bad book issue.  If you've read this novel let me know what you thought of Mary?