Saturday, November 05, 2011

Review: The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan

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The Dead-Tossed Waves
(The Forest of Hands and Teeth, #2)
Carrie Ryan
Released March 9th, 2009
by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Goodreads / Purchase

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.

I was expecting a sequel but The Dead -Tossed Waves is more like a companion with new characters. We now have the daughter of the protagonist from The Forest of Hands and Teeth as the main character, which makes it an original and intriguing sequel. We still have glimpses of the past and Mary’s life, though, so it blends well into this second novel.

Even though it ended up being a very captivating page turner, I found the first half of the book slow and somewhat irritating. First, Gabry – the protagonist – is incredibly whiny. And secondly, I found there was a lot of back and forth, consequently making the plot feel sluggish. Imagine teasing a dog with a piece of meat, to just yank it back at the last minute. About 3 times I thought, ok now the real action is starting, she’s escaping, but nope it was back to square one again. Finally though, about halfway through we got there, and then it was a real rush with lots of excitement. So in the end, the second half makes up for it.

I really enjoyed learning more about the past, how the fenced villages came about and Gabry’s family. I thought I had a lot of it figured out and was rolling my eyes at the predictability, but I had guessed all wrong. It has a lot of unexpected twists. It’s also unnerving to get more into the real world they live in. With all these weird viruses emerging lately it’s not that big a stretch to imagine an epidemic like this happening.

All in all, this is another great series in the dystopian genre that I highly recommend. 

4 Hot Espressos

Previously reviewed in the series:

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Giselle

Canadian blogger, wife, mother, coffee lover, and sarcastic at heart! She has had a love for all things bookish since before Amazon and eReaders existed *le gasp*. You can also find her organizing tours and other fun things at Xpresso Book Tours.

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20 Responses to “Review: The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan”

  1. Mateja

    I haven’t read Forest of Hands and Teeth yet, but I’ve heard so many good things about this series. Will have to pick the books up soon. Great review!

  2. Cristina

    I LOVED the Forest of Hands and teeth, and when I went to read the second book, I had a hard time getting into it.. like you said, it was slow moving, it just didn’t grab me, so I didn’t finish reading it 🙁

  4. Giselle

    Mateja: Thanks! I notice it’s a very love or hate series, I hope you’re in the love side 🙂

    Cristina: This one isin’t the best in the series, no. If ever you feel like it I still suggest you finish it and read book 3 – that one is crazy fun!

    Jaskirat: Sequels are often a let-down. In this series though, the third and last book was my favorite 🙂 I suggest you read book 1 and you’ll see if it’s your taste.

  6. Mel

    I need to get my hands on this book. I really enjoyed the Forest of Hands and Teeth. I really like that this sequel is based on the daughter…makes it more original rather than keeping to punish the same antongists! 🙂

  8. Anna

    Sooooo… I absolutely HATED The Forest of Hands and Teeth, but I have this one and I’ve heard it’s better, because Mary isn’t in it. And I HATED Mary… -_- But I’m glad you liked it, haha awesome review, it has me a little more optimistic about reading this one.

    Anna @ Literary Exploration

  9. Sarah

    Oh, great review!
    I read Forest Of Hands and teeth last yeara, and I really appreciated it, but I’m not sure I enjoyed it, if you know what I mean? Emotionally, it was really hard to read.

    The sequel sounds interesting, and I’m so curious, but I’m not sure I want to go through that again!

    The problems you had with Gabry remind mena bit of Mary… I didn’t think she was very likable :/

  10. Giselle

    Thanks ladies!

    And Anna & Sarah: Gabry is not much better than Mary, really. But the 3rd book in the series has yet another protagonist and She is great. The 3rd book was my fav.

  11. Kelly

    Great review! The Dead-Tossed Waves is actually my favorite book in the trilogy. Gabry was definitely annoying at times, though. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

  14. Jamie Kline (Bookerella)

    I haven’t read The Forest of Hands and Teeth yet, but I really want to and this book sounds great as well (despite the main character being a bit whiny!). Definitely going to have to check them out soon. Oh yeah, and thanks for stopping by my blog; love your blog, it’s awesome! Following you now!

  16. Shellie

    OoOo I’ve seen the Forest of Hands and Teeth & it looked very interesting maybe I’ll have to pick it up, thanks for the review! Glad that you liked my review of A Beautiful Dark, I really enjoyed that book I think you’d like it.

  17. Nina

    I absolutely hated Forest of Hands and Teeth. It was probably my least favorite book that I have forced myself to finish ever, so I doubt that I’m going to read this one. Glad to see someone else liked it though!:)

  18. Jennifer | Book Den

    There is such a mix of reactions to this series in the comments! I plan to give this series a try. Is the 3rd one a true sequel then? I get confused by the whole “companion” thing. 🙂

  19. Giselle

    Jennifer | Book Den: The first one was Mary – the main character – this one (book2) is her daughter as the main character. So it’s like 15-20 years later. The 3rd one is another main character but it’s only a couple of years later. I really liked how that worked when I read it you should give them a try!

    Nina: It seems to be a really love or hate series. A few of my friends have also hated it. Other have loved it 🙂

    Thanks for all your lovely comments and compliments! *hug*

  20. Jennifer | Book Den

    Oh, OK. Thanks! That’s really interesting actually. I’m not a fan of the usual cliffhanger/series ending. These sound like they must be pretty complete stories if the sequels are different characters and the timeframes are so different.