The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Mary lives in a secluded village in the Forest of Hands and Teeth. It’s a suffocating existence because she’s always dreamed of leaving, walking past the fence that encloses it, and finding the ocean her mother always told her about. But to leave the village means entering the forest, which is filled with the Unconsecrated — the dead who’ve returned and hunger for human flesh. Mary knows this better than anyone. Not too long ago, her father walked into the forest, never to return and her mother’s pined for him ever since.
Because of their isolation and the fact that they may be the last survivors of humanity, the village has a ritualized system of ensuring that the next generation will continue. It’s a world where commitment and duty are emphasized over love and freedom. Mary also knows this best of all because while she is in love with Travis, it’s Travis’s brother Harry who wants to marry her.
That all changes when her mother strays too close to the fence and gets bitten by a zombie. Through a series of misfortunes, Mary finds herself no longer spoken for and turned over into the care of the Sisterhood, a group of women who rule over the village. What Mary learns and discovers there drives her to make the choice she’s been considering for nearly her entire life: should she stay or should she go?
I thought the worldbuilding had major inconsistencies.
I do think this is an original contribution to the young adult genre. It’s a more literary take on zombies, which will appeal to readers who shy away from gory zombie movies. On the other hand, I think the book lacked the focus it needed to emphasize its themes of how fear and self-imposed isolation can cripple your freedom.

Excerpts from this review taken from http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2009/03/16/review-the-forest-of-hands-and-teeth-by-carrie-ryan/