The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

I had a great week at softball camp in the Okanagan, if you play – then I highly recommend it! I must have lost at least ten pounds, and I’m all warmed up for fall ball and tryouts in September. But of course, lots of softball means way less reading. So for this week I only got one book finished for you guys. I’m way behind on everything – as usual.

The constant moans and scratching of the Unconsecrated at the fence have been a part of Mary’s village life as long as she can remember. With the Guardians to protect, and the Sisters to keep peace – every body was happy with what they had, except for Mary. Growing up with stories of a different world, without the infected… of a place with ceaseless water. Mary has always been trapped – because of the rules; because of the fence; because of the endless Forest of Hands and Teeth. But when she escapes, she slowly loses hope… how can there be anywhere else that isn’t surrounded by so much death?

I’ll tell you the first thing that pissed me off about this story. About halfway through the story, Mary gets a pet dog. And this dog is with her for about one night and then the next morning when they’re in trouble this dog is protecting her and coming to her lovingly and staying by her side etc. It takes way longer than that to get a dog to know you, and to protect you and for them to get used to their new owner and surroundings! It kind of made me angry when I read that it was already so attached to her when all she did the first night she got it was sleep.

If your the type of person that likes it when characters are well rounded, and they all have really defining personalities – THEN DO NOT READ THIS BOOK. The only to virtues I could find in the characters were that Mary was ambitious/curious and Cass was weak/whiney. Other than that – all of them could have been the same person. They way they all talked, and the way that they acted were all the same. Kind of a put down for me, and probably you.

Those are the only two big things though. I didn’t really like the way it was written, and it seemed like even though you jumped right into a main event right when you started the book, it was still slow! The main events were just too far spaced away at the beginning so you were stuck thinking that the book was iffy and kind of weird. It does get better though, and the idea is brilliant. I loved the way that things were revealed, and the ending was good. Mary was sort of selfish but she finally reached her goal, and the next book doesn’t look bad! I give this one a 2.5 Check out the series on this site, http://www.carrieryan.com/

Later Cheese Graters,

MRR