Book Review: The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan

The Dead-Tossed Waves
by Carrie Ryan
Sequel to The Forest of Hands and Teeth

Delacorte Press Books for Young Readers
ISBN-10: 0-385-73684-3
ISBN-13: 978-0-385-73684-8
Publication Date: March, 2010
List Price: $17.99

Review: Tragedy, romance, and a great plotline. Do you love all these great characteristics in a book? Of course! Then you should read The Dead-Tossed Waves, a sequel to The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. It’s a great book about friendship, and the importance of never abandoning friends- even in hard times.

The book starts off with a girl named Gabry, whose best friends Cira and Catcher want her to come with them out past the Barrier that separates the town of Vista (where they live) and the forest. Gabry knows this is dangerous, because Mudo (zombie-like creatures) wander the forest to look for humans to bite, and therefore Infect. When someone is bitten by a Mudo, they become Mudo. Gabry is anxious, but instead crosses the Barrier with her friends and others to an old amusement park. They turn around, and see a Mudo-like Breaker stagger into the clearing. Catcher tells Gabry to run, but she sees an Infected lurching over to her. Catcher saves her, but is bitten. He forces her to go back home before she's hurt. The next day Gabry tries to find Catcher; she travels past the Barrier on the beach and meets Elias, a boy who she later finds out is in a mysterious cult that worships Mudo, and when she finally finds Catcher, he tells her he is immune to Mudo. A few days later, Gabry must enlist the help of Catcher and Elias to find her mom who has disappeared. Gabry, Catcher and Elias traverse to find her, and when they finally do, her mother tells a tale of Gabry's mysterious young years. Trying to experience more than the world they already know, they come across Mudo, foreign strangers, and a heartbreaking love triangle that revolves around them.

The Dead-Tossed Waves is a great book filled with apprehension and pauses in the storyline. I personally thought it was an amazing page-turner suspense thriller that I couldn't put down until you read through it all (which is what I did in one night!). I liked that some parts left the reader hanging, like the time in between when she was at home and visiting Catcher. The author also threw in a lot of twists, like Gabry meeting Elias, Catcher's immunity, and other things. It was also really helpful that the author explained the Mudo, Infected , and Breakers, because I didn't read the first book, The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Otherwise, I wouldn't have understood the concepts very well. Also, I liked how she made Catcher be immune to Mudo bites, because I liked his character. In the beginning, I thought Catcher was really brave and it hadn't changed by the end of the story. In addition, I LOVED Gabry's 'hush-hush' past, because it totally changed the story and made it infinitely more interesting because Elias is wrapped up in it all. One last thing I liked was that Gabry was daring, brave, and willing to break the rules for her best friend Cira when Gabry looks for Catcher in the old run-down town. Some things I found unnecessary were all the blood, and violence at some points. I also disliked how the author made Gabry's mom seem so irresponsible, the way she just left Gabry all alone to take care of herself and the lighthouse. Nonetheless, all in all, The Dead-Tossed Waves is an amazing book. I can't tell you any more, but if you like how it sounds, read it! I can guarantee that you will love it.

Review written by Emily (6th grade student).

We would like to thank Random House for providing a copy of The Dead-Tossed Waves for this review.

Have you read The Dead-Tossed Waves? How would you rate it?