The Forest of Hands and Teeth has a few things going for it: a fantastic title, a fascinating world and technically strong writing. However, some glaring weaknesses make it tough to give this book more than two stars. 
 First, the positive. The world that The Forest of Hands and Teeth takes place in is captivating, which is why I kept reading even when I wasn't enjoying the story. This is basically a zombie story (zombies are The Unconsecrated in this this book) and the terrifying world outside the fences seems very real. There is a lot of mystery and vagueness about how the world got to this point, but it makes sense in the context of the story--the mystery is part of how the Sisterhood retains such control over the village. Carrie Ryan's writing is strong, and the characters' experiences with the zombies is vividly described--I could see clearly what the forest looked and felt like. 
 However, despite those strengths, I didn't enjoy this book simply because I didn't care about any of the characters. The main character, Mary, is self-absorbed and exhibits little compassion or authentic caring for the people in her life (except her mother, who is only in the first chapter of the book). Travis is supposedly the love of her life, but it's a selfish kind of love, and at one point, I found myself wondering if she wanted but him because she didn't want anyone else to have him. The romance between the two is wholly unbelievable, there's no tension, no explanation for why they're so taken with each other, it's just flat. Harry, Cass and Jed all have the potential to be interesting characters, given each of their unique relationships with the narrator, Mary, but there is little development of their personalities and stories, so they're flat and I felt very ambivalent about their fates. I think this best explains my disappointment with The Forest of Hands and Teeth: When I was at 96% completed on my Kindle, I actually forgot that I hadn't finished the book, that there hadn't been any resolution yet, and actually started a new book before remembering a I had a bit left to read--that's how disinterested I was in these characters. That's a bad sign. 
 However, I wouldn't rate this as a don't read--the world was interesting enough to keep me reading, and even pique my curiosity about maybe reading the second one that takes place in this same world (I understand the characters, thank goodness, are new.)