The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan

The Dead-Tossed Waves
by Carrie Ryan

Release Date: March 9, 2010
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Age Group: Young Adult
Pages: 416

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.

This is the companion novel to Carrie’s debut novel, The Forest of Hands and Teeth, and it blew me away just like the first one did. I love Ryan’s depth with the writing of her characters and plot. I was so drawn in with the first book that I had to read this the day it came out (read the post on the adventure to get it here). Her characters are real and jump off the page into your mind because of the characterization Ryan uses. So often we get lost in the plot and the characters almost become secondary to the story, as strange as that sounds. That is definitely not the case with The Dead-Tossed Waves.

Gabry is a character that is completely relatable to many because she has the normal struggles of a teenager, just on a much bigger playing field. She is trying to figure out who she is, where she belongs, and what she is supposed to do in life. She struggles to figure all of this out and has many obstacles in her way, but she comes out on the other side and we know that things are getting brighter for her.

I love that this is a companion novel and not a sequel. Honestly, I didn’t understand the difference at first, but now it is clear. We come back in contact with some of our original characters but we see a new story, new life, and new adventure in this novel. Ryan has done an amazing job expanding the novel and shining light into a whole new area of this story. I would love to get into her head and see where she goes to get all of these intricate details and ideas. She continues to blow me away.

The ending leaves me drooling for more and I can’t wait to see where Ryan takes us next. She makes the Upstate of SC PROUD!!!

Visit Carrie here for more goodies about her books and upcoming appearances.

Check out my review of The Forest of Hands and Teeth here.

And just for fun, here is the trailer for The Dead-Tossed Waves. I saw this in the movie theater when I went to see Remember Me and about fell out of my seat! I had never seen a book trailer in the theater and everyone in there started buzzing about it! Made me proud!