A Book Review
Mary lives in a place simply known as the village. It is surrounded by protective fences which must constantly be patrolled and repaired to keep the village safe from the forest beyond and its threat of the Unconsecrated – shuffling, moaning, infected undead that, for all the villagers know, may have overrun the entire earth, save this last sanctuary of normal human life. All her life Mary has heard the folklore passed down through her family telling of the ocean and a world that existed beyond the village and the forest. As much as the fences keep death out, Mary begins to feel that they are keeping her in as well. Her childhood friendships have matured into a troublesome love triangle which puts her at odds with the will of the Sisterhood who control the village, and breaches soon break out everywhere, not only in the fences, but in her family life, friendships,and what she thought she knew of her village and the world outside.
To a certain extent, Carrie Ryan has done with a post-zombie apocalypse world what Stephenie Meyer did with vampirelore, eschewing some of the horror elements in favor of romance and soap-opera-style melodrama. As a main character, Mary causes quite a bit of consternation. She is often selfish, lustful, whiny, fickle, rash, and illogical. On numerous occasions throughout the book I found myself arguing with her or telling her to shut up. It is not entirely clear whether it was the intention of the author to paint Mary in such a disagreeable, morally ambiguous light, or if it is partly due to a lack of details and characterization. For example, what Mary speaks of incessantly as her “love” for Travis we interpret mostly as lust, simply because for much of the book we are given few details about him beyond his good looks and her physical desire for him. My irritation with Mary is actually what kept me going on this book, as I was hoping to finish it just so I could give it a terrible review. However, she did grow on me as the book progressed. She eventually does come to question some of her own actions, asking herself the same questions the reader has wanted to ask her throughout the first part of the book. At one point even she becomes cognizant of the fact that, much like the Unconsecrated that surround her, she is on an inexorable path, ever hungry but never filled. Her selfish flaws and inconsistencies make her a frustrating, but nonetheless real and complex character.
Key questions never answered, too much “telling” of melodramatic feelings and thoughts, and a lazy lack of details keep this from being the book it could have been, but the events are so compelling and Mary’s erratic, destructive behaviors become so fun to follow that it is still an entertaining read. And of course a sequel, The Dead-Tossed Waves, is coming out next year. For the quality of the book itself I would generously give three stars, but for a teen audience four stars because it is a high interest read that may pull in reluctant readers. Thus, 3.5 stars all around.
The Forest of Hands and Teeth
Written by Carrie Ryan
Delacorte / Random House
310 pages
ISBN: 978-0-385-90631-9
Release Date: March 2009
carrieryan.com