No. of pages: 308
Rating: 10/10
Series: The Forest (Book 1)
Synopsis: 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?
Review: Mary lives in a fenced in village in the middle of a forest, completely surrounded by the Unconsecrated (aka zombies), which force them to live in fear. But Mary cannot forget the stories of the ocean that her mother used to tell her when she was a little girl. So she becomes determined to find some answers, and as a result, sets a devestating sequence of events in motion...
I absolutely loved this book, I couldn't put it down until I had finished it because it was so good. I found it fast paced and gripping, and thought it had a great storyline. The writing itself was beautifully lyrical, almost haunting in some scenes. Mary and Travis were my favourite characters, although I truly feel that all of them were amazingly written. You really felt like you knew them and what made them tick as people. I loved the zombie aspect too, and that was primarily why I picked up the book, but it was so much more than I expected. Sure there are zombies, so it's tense and scary at times, but there's also the undercurrent of love and hope throughout. Such a fantastic book, I will recommend it high and low, especially to those who love a supernatural type book, but I think this is a book everyone could enjoy (unless you hate zombies, in which case you won't).
