Book Review: The Forest of Hands and Teeth

The Forest of Hands and Teeth is written by Carrie Ryan.

The Summary:
Mary lives in a village totally secluded from the Forest. The fences cannot always protect them from the Unconsecrated, however. When Mary's mom is bitten and turned over to the Unconsecrated, Mary is left to ponder what her life is to be. Her mother has told her stories of the ocean and what used to be, and Mary longs for something other than the village and the Forest. When the Unconsecrated burst through the gate, Mary has a decision to make. To stay behind and help the villagers, or follow the path into the Forest, risking everything, to see the ocean.


Profanity:
None.


Romance:
Kissing. Mary and the guy she loves have to live in a house together for awhile.


Violence:
Bloody gory deaths... they're zombies for heaven's sake. You're gonna get some blood. 


Age Suggestion:
13+


My Opinion:
This book was lumped into the "If you loved THG" category, and I had heard amazing things from it, so I thought "This'll be great!"
Sigh.
It was bad.
I'm not a big zombie/vampire/werewolf girl. I'm just not. Not because it's gory and disgusting (at least zombies are), but because I truly believe this quote by Michael Grant, "The scariest apocalypse is the one that could really happen."
This, my friends, is the absolute opposite of what could happen.
But, I managed to put aside my whole, "Really... zombies?" prejudice and read the book.
Let me just tell you, the only reason I finished the book is to write this review.
I find fault with the way it's written. It's just so... old.
Which is weird, because it's a futuristic book. I don't know, something about the way it's written and the world she lives in (villages, nuns, arranged marriages) does not scream FUTURE!!!
Also, I don't think there should be nuns and zombies in the same book, but that's just my opinion.
I also had some serious issues relating to Mary. Maybe it was her really complicated love life, or the way her brain never seemed to work the way mine would have ("FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, GIVE UP THE OCEAN FOR THE HOT GUY, MARY!!" was my main thought through the book).
I just didn't feel it. I also didn't like the way it ended.
Basically, this was a no-go for me. But hey, maybe it's for you!