The Dead-Tossed Waves
Carrie Ryan
404 pages (Hardcover)
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 while she watches from the top of her lighthouse. Home is all she's ever known, and all she needs for happiness.
But life after the Return is never safe, and there are threats even the Barrier can't hold back.
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.
One night beyond the Barrier...
One boy Gabry's known forever and one veiled in mystery...
One reckless moment, and half of Gabry's generation is dead, the other half imprisoned.
Gabry knows only one thing: if she is to have any hope of a future, she must face the forest of her mother's past. (synopsis from Carrie Ryan's site)
This isn't your typical paranormal YA romance. You know: a somewhat shy girl meets a mysterious (and incredibly handsome) guy at school and falls for him, but he has a dark secret and, besides, what about that nice normal guy she liked before? It's a bit more 'shy girl really likes her best friend's brother, but is a bit more concerned about the flesh-eating zombies that are constantly trying to break into their village and kill everyone.' In other words, there's romance but there's also a world full of zombies and teenagers being recruited into zombie-fighting armies and cults that worship those zombies. The romance is beautiful, that perfect combination of aching suspense and sweetness, nothing dirty or overly sexual. The plot started a bit slow and then was nice and fast. The author didn't coddle the reader by having the characters manage to slide through everything without being harmed. Elias and his backstory added a lot to the overall story of the novel. His revelation towards the end was amazing and unexpected, tying TDTW to The Forest of Hands and Teeth and tying up some loose ends in the first novel. The ending set it up for at least one more book, which could go in a number of different directions. The Dark and Hollow Places has been announced, a companion novel to TDTW. It's not clear yet whether it will continue Gabry's story or be more of a parallel story that ties in at the end. Either way, I can't wait to read it. There's no cover yet, but I imagine it will be as beautiful as the first two were.
Loved: The characters, especially Catcher and Elias. The development of the relationships between the main characters. The world in which her novels take place. I would love to see one set in one of the cities.
Hated: The cliffhanger ending (but in a good way.) I can't wait to see what happens to the characters now that they've been split up and are still being hunted.
Rating: 5/5
Five campers out of five saved, a wonderful book.
