Review: The Dead-Tossed Waves

The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan (website)
Genre: Young adult, post apocalyptic, horror
Publisher: Delacorte, March 2010
407 pages

From Goodreads:

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, 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.

Now Gabry knows only one thing: if she has any hope of a future, she must face the forest of her mother's past.

After reading Carrie Ryan's The Forest of Hands and Teeth I became hooked on zombie literature. I already loved to read post apocalyptic novels...my favorites being The Stand by Stephen King and Swan Song by Robert McCammon. I couldn't wait to get my hands on the second book by Carrie and I didn't have to wait too long. I won a contest at Karin's Book Nook and received the ARC. This book didn't disappoint! I had so many questions from the first book which were answered in this one (namely why the heck was Gabrielle so darn fast). Still...some questions were left unanswered and that is why I am eagerly anticipating her third book. As I recommended this book to a friend I felt it my duty to explain that this book had, what I thought, was a very disturbing scene... the Soulers. For those of you who read it, you know what I mean. I still get the shivers when I think about it. This is what set this book apart from other zombie novels I've read, it makes you think and it isn't the usual fare for a zombie apocalypse. My only complaint would be that Gabry seemed to be a little whiny. I just wanted to tell her to make her mind up already. I guess a person is entitled to be a little whiny though when your world is surrounded by zombies and you have two intriguing young men to choose from. The third book, The Dark and Hollow Places is due out in the spring of 2011. In the meantime, be on the lookout for the anthology Kiss Me Deadly: 13 Tales of Paranormal Love which is due out July 27th, 2010. Carrie Ryan is contributing a story that focuses on teenage Sister Tabitha!