Genre: Young Adult (Dystopian/Post Apocalyptic)
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
The Blurb:
Gabry lives a quiet life. As safe a life as is possible in a town trapped between a forest and the ocean, in a world teeming with the dead, who constantly hunger for those still living. She’s content on her side of the Barrier, happy to let her friends dream of the Dark City up the coast while she watches from the top of her lighthouse. But there are threats the Barrier cannot hold back. Threats like the secrets Gabry’s mother thought she left behind when she escaped from the Sisterhood and the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Like the cult of religious zealots who worship the dead. Like the stranger from the forest who seems to know Gabry. And suddenly, everything is changing. One reckless moment, and half of Gabry’s generation is dead, the other half imprisoned. Now Gabry only knows one thing: she must face the forest of her mother’s past in order to save herself and the one she loves.
My Review:
The Dead-Tossed Waves is the second book in The Forest of Hands and Teeth series by Carrie Ryan. I liked this book so much better than the first one. This series is building on itself in a completely new way. Instead of just picking up where book one left off, you don't find out all the details of Mary's story right away. You are taken a several years down the road. At first I was worried, because I wanted to know what happened to Mary and her friends, and this book skips to Gabry, but through the story you find out what happened or didn't happen. You have some of the same characters as the first book only now they are older, plus you have the new generation. I absolutely love Carrie Ryan's writing style in both of these books. She paints this world with her words flawlessly. I can really feel what's going on while I read. Gabry is flawed which makes her realistic. She doesn't know what she wants, she's afraid, and she admits to it all. I loved watching her character grow through this book. Throw is Catcher and Elias, and it would be hard for any girl to know what she wants. But this isn't a total romance kind of book. If you read The Forest of Hands and Teeth already than you know exactly what I mean. Love isn't easy for these characters, and the newer generation is no exception. I really want to know what happens next, and I saw that the next book is from the perspective of a character we don't really know yet, so I have a feeling I won't find out right away what happens. This is really an ingenious way of telling a story. Carrie Ryan knows how to keep her audience wanting more and more.The Excerpt:
The Book Trailer:The story goes that even after the Return they tried to keep the roller coasters going. They said it reminded them of the before time. When they didn't have to worry about people rising from the dead, when they didn't have to build fences and walls and barriers to protect themselves from the masses of Mudo constantly seeking human flesh. When the living weren't forever hunted.
They said it made them feel normal.
And so even while the Mudo—neighbors and friends who'd been infected, died and Returned—pulled at the fences surrounding the amusement park, they kept the rides moving.
Even after the Forest was shut off, one last gasp at sequestering the infection and containing the Mudo, the carousel kept turning, the coasters kept rumbling, the teacups kept spinning. Though my town of Vista was far away from the core of the Protectorate, they hoped people would come fly along the coasters. Would still want to forget.
But then travel became too difficult. People were concerned with trying to survive and little could make them forget the reality of the world they lived in. The coasters slowly crumbled outside the old city perched at the tip of a long treacherous road along the coast. Everyone simply forgot about them, one other aspect of pre-Return life that gradually dimmed in the memories and stories passed down from year to year.
I never really thought about them until tonight—when my best friend's older brother invites us to sneak past the Barriers and into the ruins of the amusement park with him and his friends.
"Come on, Gabry," Cira whines, dancing around me. I can almost feel the energy and excitement buzzing off her skin. We stand next to the Barrier that separates Vista from the ruins of the old city, the thick wooden wall keeping the dangers of the world out and us safely in. Already a few of the older kids have skimmed over the top, their feet a flash against the night sky. I rub my palms against my legs, my heart a thrum in my chest.
There are a thousand reasons why I don't want to go with them into the ruins, not the least of which is that it's forbidden. But there's one reason I do want to take the risk. I glance past Cira to her brother and his eyes catch mine. I can't stop the seep of heat crawling up my neck as I dart my gaze away, hoping he didn't notice me looking and at the same time desperately wishing he did.
"Gabry?" he asks, his head tilted to the side. From his lips my name curls around my ears. An invitation.
Afraid of the tangle of words twisting around my own tongue, I swallow and place my hand against the thick wood of the Barrier. I've never been past it before. It's against the rules to leave the town without permission and it's also risky. While mostof the ruins are bordered by old fences from after the Return, Mudo can still get through them. They can still attack us.
"We shouldn't," I say, more to myself than to Cira or Catcher. Cira just rolls her eyes; she's already jumping with desire to join the others. She grabs my arm with a barely repressed squeal.
"This is our chance," she whispers to me. I don't tell her what I've been thinking—that it's our chance to get in trouble at best and I don't want to think about what could happen at worst.
But she knows me well enough to read my thoughts. "No one's been infected in years," she says, trying to convince me. "Catcher and them go out there all the time. It's totally safe."
Safe—a relative term. A word my mother always uses with a hard edge to her voice.
Carrie Ryan is the New York Times bestselling author of The Forest of Hands and Teeth, The Dead-Tossed Waves, The Dark and Hollow Places, and the original ebook Hare Moon. She is also the editor of Foretold: 14 Tales of Prophecy and Prediction and the author of Divide and Conquer, the second book in Scholastic's multi-author/multi-platform Infinity Ring series.
She has contributed to multiple story collectons, including, most recently, Zombies vs. Unicorns, Kiss Me Deadly, and Enthralled. Her work has been translated into over eighteen languages and her first novel is in production as a major motion picture. Born and raised in Greenville, South Carolina, Carrie is a graduate of Williams College and Duke University School of Law. A former litigator, she now writes full time and lives in Charlotte, NC.
I've definitely enjoyed this series, even if it scares the snot out of me from time to time! :)
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