The Forest of Hands and Teeth (The Forest of Hands and Teeth, #1) in Pick-a-Shelf

Feb 20, 2011 Rachael Sherwood rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011

I feel bad giving this book such a low rating because I did so enjoy parts of it. There were some great ideas and scenes in The Forest of Hands and Teeth, but overall it was disappointing. It almost feels like a first draft or a first book. I may buy Carrie Ryan's next series to see how she's improved, but I don't think I'll be continuing on.

Part of the reason I disliked it is that the characters were so darn flat. The narrator Mary spends most of the first half of the book as one third of the I feel bad giving this book such a low rating because I did so enjoy parts of it. There were some great ideas and scenes in The Forest of Hands and Teeth, but overall it was disappointing. It almost feels like a first draft or a first book. I may buy Carrie Ryan's next series to see how she's improved, but I don't think I'll be continuing on.

Part of the reason I disliked it is that the characters were so darn flat. The narrator Mary spends most of the first half of the book as one third of the most boring love triangle ever. The two boys--Travis and Harry--are almost interchangeable and have little to no character development. We're given no background on why this love triangle (square, actually, her best friend is also involved) happens, just that they've all been friends forever and really love each other. Definitely a case where she needed more showing, less telling.

Mary herself is interesting. I get the impression from many reviewers here that they don't like her because she's selfish. I actually found it annoying how focused she was on other people in the first half of the book and was relieved when she finally started making decisions for herself. Maybe the pendulum swung too far the other way, but that's inevitable when your novels's main themes are of commitment & sacrifice. I felt like Ryan had some interesting things to say about those things, but it got all muddled up in all the different kinds of stories she was trying to tell. (Grr, genre hybridity! It produces such wonderful results sometimes, but often ruins what would have been a good story)

I don't care for zombies, they always bore me and did here, no surprise. The world was interesting, but I felt like we only got fleeting glimpses. The first half of the book, those glimpses were intriguing...the second half, frustrating.

That said, there was something about this book that kept me reading. Mary's narrative (first person present) was not always the best at exploring the world or other characters, but it DID have a emotional depth to it that surprised me. The book had a much darker, hopeless tone than I was expecting and sometimes it is nice to wade through some melancholy.
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Feb 23, 2010 Katey rated it it was ok · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Aug 19, 2010 Jennifer rated it really liked it

great story, interesting situation, interesting characters. The story reminds me of the movies "the Village" mixed with "28 days later." Fresh new look at ZOMBIES!

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Jan 20, 2010 Rebekah rated it it was ok

Shelves: young-adult, 2011

I guess I'm not a zombie person.

After reading this book I understand why it's so popular. But I never got into it. Mary really annoyed me and neither of her love interests seemed like a complete character. Gabrielle was the most interesting thing that happened in this book but there just wasn't enough of her.

I might continue with the rest of the series but mostlikely I'll leave it. ...more

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Jul 18, 2016 Heather Adkins rated it it was amazing

This elegantly written dystopian offers the reader a safe haven and then rips it away. Carrie Ryan doesn’t hold back on the horrors of zombies in this one!

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