The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan 

Summary:

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?

(summary from book cover)

 
My Review: 5 stars
Yes I just gave 5 stars to a book about zombies of all things! I must say though that this book really is about so much more than just the walking dead.
Mary has never known anything other than living in a small village enclosed by fences to keep out the unconsecrated that live in the Forest of Hands and Teeth. She has been raised to believe that there is nothing more....that there is no life beyond the fences.
The Forrest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan is an engaging, dark, scary, elegantly written novel. It is not just the story of the moaning, shuffling, walking dead it is a story of hopes and dreams and thinking outside of the box (literally). This is a story about finding your own truths not just accepting the way things have always been.
I am eagerly awaiting the follow-up novel The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan!