The Forest of Hands and Teeth

I have read much criticism of Carrie Ryan's Debut novel, The Forest of Hands and Teeth. These tend to center around the narcissism of the protagonist, Mary. I feel this is in general a false premise, as to me it is one of the most accurate descriptions of a teenager I have read in a long time.

The novel is about Mary, a young woman living in what she has been told from birth, is the last bastion of humanity in a world of zombies, or as they are called "the Unconsecrated". It has been an untold number of years since "the Return", but Mary said growing up, her Mom had a picture of a Great-Great-Great (well you get the picture) Grandmother at the beach. Mary has grown up on stories handed down in her family about before the return; about the beach and buildings so tall they touch the sky. To all Mary's friends these stories are myths and legends, but to Mary, they represent a world outside of the walled (Well it's easier to say than Chain-linked fenced) world she has always known. Their life revolves around marrying and reproducing for the good of the community and following the religious teachings of "The Sisterhood", which according to legend, with the help of their military arm "The Guardians" have protected this community from the unrelenting zombie horde. Society has devolved into a more medieval structure of old. As in any good Zombie book, there is a breach in the fences and everything Mary has been taught comes into question.

This novel was well written and fast paced; the book does not get bogged down in heavy descriptions, but allows the reader to see the world from the eyes of one young girl growing up in society. What many critics have called their major criticism of the book, the shallow self-centeredness of Mary, is in my opinion one of the authors shinning achievements. Readers seem to forget that Mary, and her friends are TEENAGERS! She cannot be more than 16-17 years old. Have you ever spent any time with a teenager? They are self-centered, shallow, narcissistic, twats; who have trouble focusing on anything outside their own sphere of awareness. Now I say this with love, but with knowledge, as I have two teenagers in my house at this moment, and every day it is one crisis or another. I mean come on people, even in the post zombie apocalypse, teens are teens! What do you expect, the novel starts with Mary worried about who is going to ask her to the up-coming dance, albeit, whoever asks her will also be asking her to marry them, but she is concerned no one will ask her. Acceptance of one's peers is a desire of all teenagers, and for me this set the tone of how the novel would go.

Mary grew up her entire life on stories of the past, and one of the most important memories for her is that picture of the ocean she saw in childhood. Imagine if you had only seen one photo in your entire life, a life spent in a sheltered, structured society, where love is less important than security, how much would that picture mean to you? It did not have to be of the ocean, it could have been of anything, because to Mary it represents the outside, something greater than the small community she grew up in. So of course when things go bad, and they do go bad in a most horrific way, that picture of the ocean becomes a focus for all her hopes. And, because she is a teenager, she fails to comprehend the pain her obsession is causing those around her; and she does cause them pain. In her all-consuming desire to experience more in her life she leaves those she loves behind, both alive and undead. Does that make her a sympathetic character, no not really. Does it make her an excellent representation of your typical teen, why yes it does!

Be warned, if you are looking for a heroic teen saving society in the face of overwhelming danger, than Carrie Ryan's The Forest of Hands and Teeth is not for you, but if you are interested in how that precocious teen across from you at the dinner table (you know the one, crying in their mashed potatoes because they just got a text saying that Tina said, that Tiffany said, that she heard Bobbie say that he thought Lisa was prettier than her) would handle a post zombie outbreak world, look no further.