Book Review: The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan

Title: The Dead-Tossed Waves
Author: Carrie Ryan
Date of Publication: March 9th 2010
Pages: 407
Source: Bought (Kindle Edition)
Series: The Forest of Hands and Teeth #2
Synopsis from Goodreads.com: 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 Thoughts:
When I got The Forest of Hands and Teeth back in July and read it, I absolutely loved it. It was so good, yet I didn't go out and buy The Dead-Tossed Waves immediately, like I normally would have. Not really sure why, but I didn't. So, Christmas came and I still hadn't read it. I put in on my Christmas List, and on Christmas morning, there it was on my Kindle. I was excited, but still I was reluctant to read it. I have no idea why, I just didn't want to read it.

But now I have, I cannot believe I was once reluctant to read it. It. Was. Awesome.

I have no complaints about The Dead-Tossed Waves. I can't think of anything wrong with it. The plot was exciting and complex but not confusing, the characters were easy to connect with, and were believable. I felt their pain, their happiness, their worry, and every other emotion that they felt.

Gabry was the narrator of the story, and she's the daughter of Mary, who narrated The Forest of Hands and Teeth. At the beginning of the book, she's quite shy, very hesitant, and not very adventurous. But after the awful night in the ruins of the amusement park, she changes. She becomes determined, strong and independent. She's determined to find Catcher and help him, and nothing will stop her.

The two love interests in the book were Catcher and Elias. I found myself loving both of them, and unusually for me, I couldn't decide which one I would prefer Gabry to end up with. I changed my mind throughout the whole book, along with Gabry, and even after finishing and finding out who she chose, I still cannot decide whether I'm happy with her decision or not.

The events that take place in the book are very surprising. As you probably know by now if you read my reviews, I'm not very good at guessing what is going to happen, but usually I have some kind of idea which path the story is going to take. In The Dead-Tossed Waves however, I have absolutely no idea what on earth was going to happen. In tricky situations, I'd be worried as to how the characters would get out of it, and until I read it, I didn't see how they were going to survive. It really kept on the edge of my seat, and I couldn't stop turning those pages.

Carrie Ryan is not afraid of writing bad things. Not badly, but bad happenings. So, throughout the book Gabry faces some awful things, things that I know I could never ever face as well or as bravely as she did. I really admire Ryan's writing, as it was easy to read and engaging, and it was just awesome.

Overall, The Dead-Tossed Waves is an awesome book. In fact, the whole series is awesome, and I really recommend that if you haven't read The Forest of Hands and Teeth series, you really must go out and buy yourself a copy. It's awesome, and it really makes you think. It's one of those books that stays with you for a long time after you read the last page, and those books are awesome. Read it!

My Rating

I give it 5 Feet!

Challenges:

2011 e-Book Challenge #2

2011 Paranormal YA Reading Challenge #3

2011 100+ Reading Challenge #3