The Holy Terror

The Forest of Hands and Teeth instantly reminded me of the movie The Village and it also made me think of the movie Dawn of the Dead as well. But even if you didn't like those movies or never saw them, don't let it detract from wanting to check out this book.Mary, the main character, lives in a village some time in the not-so-distant future where civilization has been set back by hundreds of years, because of something called "The Return." The village is surrounded by a fence which holds back the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Within the forest are Unconsecrated, or really, zombies. The inhabitants of the village live their lives while the Unconsecrated moan, push their fingers through and shake the fence. But Mary has dreams of the ocean. She remembers a photograph that her mother showed her of her great-great-great grandmother standing in the ocean. She can't shake the image and she longs to see it for herself. But leaving the village means death or becoming another of the unconsecrated so Mary has to be content with dreaming.Until the fence is breached and she's forced to leave the village and survive.This novel was at times frustrating, heartbreaking, and horrifying, but it's one of those books that you just have to read that next chapter to find out what happens. That part that was frustrating for me was the first part of the book when Mary is still in the village. Women have two choices; either be spoken for by a man or join the Sisterhood. If a man doesn't speak for you, you default to the Sisterhood. The Sisters and the Guardians are a bunch of Puritanical crazies, but I can see how they'd want to create order in a small village that could be the last of humanity.There's a heartbreaking love story told throughout this book as well. I can't really say anything without giving something away, but this aspect of the novel really adds something to the story and it makes you care that much more for the characters.There's a lot of gruesome parts to this book and if you're squeamish about decapitation and things of the sort, you might want to look for another book. It's not too graphic, but there are some disturbing scenes.At the end, there's still a lot of unanswered questions. This chapter of Mary's life has ended, but her story is not over. Now I can't wait for The Dead-Tossed Waves. I read the description, don't read it unless you don't mind spoiling yourself, and it sounds just as good as The Forest of Hands and Teeth. There aren't that many zombie books around, but this is definitely one of the best.