The Forest of Hands and Teeth



In Mary’s world there are simple truths. The Sisterhood always knows best. The Guardians will protect and serve. The Unconsecrated will never relent. And you must always mind the fence that surrounds the village; the fence that protects the village from the Forest of Hands and Teeth.

But, slowly, Mary’s truths are failing her. She’s learning things she never wanted to know about the Sisterhood and its secrets, and the Guardians and their power, and about the Unconsecrated and their relentlessness. When the fence is breached and her world is thrown into chaos, she must choose between her village and her future—between the one she loves and the one who loves her. And she must face the truth about the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Could there be life outside a world surrounded in so much death?

The Forest of Hands and Teeth is a Young Adult post-apocalyptic zombie novel written by Carrie Ryan which was published by Random House in March 2009. It's the first book in a Trilogy.


 * After the End: Set generations after a Zombie Apocalypse.
 * And Man Grew Proud
 * Arc Words: Mary's mother's story about the ocean.
 * Betty and Veronica: The one Mary is betrothed to and his brother.
 * Capital Letters Are Magic: Well, not magic, but people are Infected by the Unconsecrated and the Guardians protect them.
 * City in a Bottle / The Wall Around the World: The fence protects them from the Unconsecrated.
 * Corrupt Church: The Sisterhood.
 * Days of Future Past: Sort of, the society is more like that of medieval Europe.
 * Future Imperfect: Mary finds a book of Shakespeare's sonnets and have no idea what they are, and sees Roman numerals on the path and can't understand them.
 * Locked Away in a Monastery: Mary is sent to live with the Sisterhood after her mother is Infected.
 * Not Using the Z Word: The zombies are called Unconsecrated.
 * Our Zombies Are Different: They are basically the classic B-Movie zombies, only they spread via virus.
 * X Meets Y: Dawn of the Dead meets Dystopia.
 * Zombie Apocalypse: It is referred to as "the Return" In-Universe.
 * Zombie Gait: A major plot point is that the Sisterhood created an Unconsecrated that didn't walk slowly.