The Forest of Hands and Teeth – Carrie Ryan
Hachette Gollancz, 2009
308 pages
RRP: AU$29.95
ISBN: 978-0-575-09085-9

Reviewed by Sarah Parker

The Forest of Hands and Teeth is a YA novel by Carrie Ryan detailing the events around a girl who dreams of what might exist beyond the forest of zombies. Known for not ever using the Z word, this novel is a fantastic telling of a solid, strong, zombie story. This is a stand alone book, and is gripping and satisfying. The pace is fast, easy reading, and I found myself completely absorbed in the world.

Mary is a normal girl in a village completely surrounded by zombies. She expects to grow up, get married, have children, and that her life will go exactly as planned. After the loss of her parents and her brother’s dismissal of her, she finds herself starting to question the forces which create their lives. Everything she learns indicates secrets piled on secrets, and she grows determined to find out more.

She is in love with her betrothed’s brother, and he is in love with her despite societal demands that commitment is more important than love. When the inevitable apocalypse occurs, she and a small band of survivors race along a fenced off path deeper into the forest, hoping for salvation.

I really enjoyed this book. After reading so many short stories that were technically fine, it is such a joy to find a book which races me along, dragging me into the story and keeping me bound until the last page. I thought that there could have been more exploration of the romance entanglements, but this would have changed the novel from YA to adult, and I think it works really well using the romance as spice to the horror rather than as a balance. I did however feel that the heroine could have had more agency in her own story. A lot of the plot development comes from external sources, whereas I think Mary was inquisitive enough and strong enough to have done a lot more on her own. I thought Mary’s characterisation was fine, though did wish the others had a tad more depth sometimes. I didn’t find the zombies themselves scary, but they were a well-used foil for the enclosed, claustrophobic society in which our heroine struggled.