The Dead-Tossed Waves

The Dead-Tossed Waves
by Carrie Ryan
2010
416 Pages

Summary: Garby lives a quiet life in the lighthouse with her mother on the outskirts of the forest. While she is completely content with the borders that surround her life, her friends yearn for something more. However, when they all slip behind the boundary wall for a little fun, everything changes, and too much is lost. In order to protect those she loves, Garby must face her fears and enter the forest of her mother’s past, the forest of Hands and Teeth. A story of adventure, loss, strength, family and love. Oh and zombies.
Review: The Dead-Tossed Waves is a brilliant sequel to the dystopian novel The Forest of Hands and Teeth. While I did thoroughly enjoy Forest, I felt that Dead Tossed Waves was even better, it showed Ryan’s growth in writing and I thought it was wonderful. Once again this is a fast paced suspense novel, with a lot more action and developing plot than the first book. I thought Ryan did a much better job of maintaining pacing and keeping the reader engaged. I really liked that the story moved forward a generation, making the books so much more about the world Ryan created than just the characters. Ryan does a great job at mixing new elements with storylines from the past and readers will no doubt be captivated by the love triangle. Without giving anything away, I really liked the direction of this novel, especially the opportunities set by the ending and I can’t wait for the third book. I definitely recommend this book to those who like an exciting read.

You might enjoy The Dead-Tossed Waves if you like books with: suspense, fast paced plots, romantic triangles, a lot of action, strong female main characters, post apocalyptic storylines.

Also by Carrie Ryan: The Forest of Hands and Teeth

If you liked The Dead-Tossed Waves you might also enjoy: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Darkest Powers Series by Kelley Armstrong, Girl in the Arena by Lise Haines, The Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Additional Info: The third book The Dark and Hollow Places is set to be released in Spring 2011.
http://carrie-me.blogspot.com/2010/04/yes-theres-third-book-in-series-plus.html

Author website: http://www.carrieryan.com/

Rating: W4/4 C3.5/4 P4/4 O4/4 PP3.5/4 CR3/4 (It’s a unique cover, but I don’t LOVE it.)
Grade Level: JS