The Dead Tossed Waves

Title: The Dead Tossed Waves
Author: Carrie Ryan
Genre: YA Fantasy
Page Count: 404
Why I read it: 2nd in a series
Grade: A

Synopsis:
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 review:
When I found out The Dead Tossed Waves wasn't a direct sequel to The Forest of Hands and Teeth, I was disappointed.  I felt that the ending of the first book was a bit abrupt, and thought that a sequel should continue from there.  Even as I started reading The Dead Tossed Waves, I wasn't feeling it.  It seemed slow, and I had a hard time getting into it.

I would honestly say it took me about halfway through to start getting excited about it.  That's when the story really took off, and oh boy, it got intense!  And what I really ended up loving about this one was the heart, and how there was still so much love and hope in the midst of probably the most depressing world ever imagined.  Take this example from the book:

My mother places her palm flat against mine.  "It's never been a perfect world.  It's never going to be.  It's going to be hard and scary and, if you're lucky, wonderful and awe-inspiring.  But you have to push through the bad parts to get to the good."

"What if there aren't good parts?"  I ask her, the tears creeping back up my throat.  "What if I've already lived the good parts and there's nothing left?"

She laughs, throaty and deep.  "Trust me when I tell you that there is plenty left," she says.  "You just have to take the risk sometimes in order to find them.  Step outside what's comfortable and safe."

This was just one of many parts that I absolutely loved.  I really cared about these characters, and was incredibly emotionally invested.  I cannot wait for the next book to come out.  I would highly recommend this book, and The Forest of Hands and Teeth.  You don't need to have read the first book to read this one--you won't be lost, but they're both such good books that I wouldn't skip either one.