Book Review: The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan

Title: The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
Series: The Forest of Hands and Teeth #2
Finished on: November 16, 2012
Released: March 9, 2010 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Source: Library e-book


Summary from Goodreads:

Gabry lives a quiet life, secure in her town next to the sea and behind the Barrier. She's content to let her friends dream of the Dark City up the coast--home is all she's ever known and all she needs for happiness.
But life after the Return is never safe.
Gabry's mother thought she left her secrets behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, but like the dead in their world, secrets don't stay buried. And now, Gabry's world is crumbling.
In one reckless moment, half of Gabry's generation is dead, the other half imprisoned.
Now Gabry knows only one thing: if she has any hope of a future, she must face the forest of her mother's past.

Another beautifully written story by Carrie Ryan. I swear, in my opinion, she is a master of plot twists, but in the most excellent way. Throughout this book we see a major theme of "what-if's". "What if I did this" or "What if I didn't do that" or "What if I didn't go there", etc. We see the full impact that one very small decision or moment can have on entire lives. We get an extremely thought-provoking story. Ryan does such a wonderful job crafting the most powerful scenes. And there are plenty of those in The Dead-Tossed Waves.

I actually didn't read the summary before starting this book so I didn't know it was going to be in a different POV from the first book until I began. While I didn't have as deep a connection with this set of characters as I did with the first book's, everyone was still very likable. (Except for Gabry's best friend, Cira, I found her bordering on annoying.) I had a hard time warming up to the relationship between Elias and Gabry only because I thought a certain something was going to be revealed, but later found out I was guessing wrong. I know that's vague, but I'm trying to keep away from spoilers! Gabry goes through such a journey from start to finish and really grows, deepens, and becomes enlightened in the best ways.

If you like books that are full of everyone having secrets and the consequences when they are finally revealed then this is for you! Like I said, plot twists and "Uhm, what!?"'s galore here. This story can also get on the depressing side at times. These characters all start to wonder what the point of anything is. They'll never overcome these Mudo. I can't blame them, though. After all, this is some extremely dark subject matter. Yet, though it all, there's always at least some small message of hope. Gabry finally comes to realize that the fences should only be for keeping the Mudo out, not for keeping people in. There really are a few different messages for any reader to gain from this story.

Honestly, I never saw anything that happened coming. I absolutely adore that in my books! Oh, and so many questions get answered about how and why these villages came to be which was awesome! I'm going to take a break and read a few different books before coming back to the third installment in this series but I'm greatly looking forward to it. And here's to hoping for many more YA novels by Carrie Ryan in the future!

4/5 

(Liked VERY much, but not enough to spend time re-reading)

Book Review: The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Title: The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
Series: The Forest of Hands and Teeth #1
Finished on: November 8, 2012
Released: March 10, 2009 by Gollancz
Source: Library e-book

Summary from Amazon:

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?

Carrie Ryan has a very, very nice writing style. The writing is clear, intelligent, and smooth. She did an amazing job with the world building (though I admit that I pictured the Unconsecrated to look exactly like the Walkers in Walking Dead). The is an extremely intense book from start to finish but Ryan handled the characters and all their situations nicely. Just from the writing style alone, I'll never hesitate to pick up another book written by her.

To begin with, this is a very heavy book from the first page to the last and will not leave you with a cheery, warm feeling. It will, however, leave you feeling like you just read a great story. Everything about this world that Ryan has created is so intriguing and I wanted to know absolutely everything about and all of it's history. Some of that gets answered here but not all of it, which is why I'm greatly looking forward to the next two installments.

I really liked the main character, Mary, a lot and it's always very important to me to have a connection with the main character. I also loved Travis and Harry both but I leaned towards Travis. The scenes with Mary and Travis together were all perfection. I really grew connected to all the characters and their individual stories in a way that I don't with too many books; just the really special ones.

This story went in so many directions that I wasn't expecting at all. Sometimes there were great twists and sometimes not so great. Because of that I'm finding this a little hard to review because I don't want to give any potential  surprises away; but there are quite a few very awesome scenes that I adored (especially involving Travis/Mary!).

I finished this in one day because I just couldn't put it down, only stopping to excitedly tell my boyfriend (who is a big Walking Dead fan) everything that was going on. It sparked many great zombie discussions. This is such a compelling story and I originally gave it a 4 [I give 4's to great books I probably won't re-read and 5's to great books I probably will] but the more I think about it the more this one probably deserves a 5. So let's just go with a 4.5 for now. The Forest of Hands and Teeth is definitely one that will stick with me for awhile.

“Who are we if not the stories we pass down? What happens when there's no one left to tell those stories? To hear them? Who will ever know that I existed? What if we are the only ones left -- who will know our stories then? Who will remember those?”

“That's just the way life is. Some days you wake up and the beach is clear and you forget about everything that surrounds us. And some days you wake up and it looks like this. That's the nature of the tides."

 “He places his hands over mine, the feeling so warm and familiar. 'Those days back there, in the house. That is my world. That is my truth,' he says. 'That is my ocean.”