The Dead Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
Nov. 3rd, 2011 11:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
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 coat 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.
Now Gabry knows only one thing: if she has any hope of a future, she must face the forest of her mother’s past.
Gabry lives with her mother, Mary, in a lighthouse in the town of Vista. Together they watch for the Mudo who wash up on the beach, killing them before they can attack the townsfolk. Gabry seems content with life, but the truth is that she’s terrified of the world outside Vista, terrified of the Mudo, and terrified of taking risks.
Gabry’s best friend Cira invites her to join a group of teenagers in jumping over the fence around Vista and visit an abandoned funfair. Climbing the fence is punishable by banishment, but Gabry agrees because Cira’s brother Catcher is going. The evening’s initially perfect as Catcher admits that he loves her. Then the Mudo attack. Within minutes most of Gabry’s friends, including Catcher, are dead or infected. Apart from Gabry all those who escape are caught by the Milita.
Terrified that the Militia will find out she was there, she learns that the infected Catcher has not yet turned into Mudo and resolves to find him. Her search brings her into contact with Elias, a boy with secrets of his own. Catcher, Elias, Gabry and Cira must flee into the Forest of Hands and Teeth, where they learn about Mary’s past, which will affect Gabry’s future …
Carrie Ryan’s sequel to THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH is essentially a companion novel. Although Mary appears in this book, it’s very much Gabry’s story and the details you get on Mary’s life are cursory.
I enjoyed the expanded world building, particularly the references to the Dark City, which requires villages to send it people to be trained as Recruiters. There are also some stunning set pieces – particularly towards the end where there’s a nail-biting escape involving a ravine filled with Mudo.
The big problem though is that it all felt like too much of a rehash of THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH. Again, there’s a central love triangle with Gabry waffling in her feelings between Elias and Catcher in a way that never really convinced. Even the journey through the Forest is a replay of Mary’s earlier adventure, including a visit to places from the earlier book. Ultimately though, Gabry’s fears and indecision mean that she reacts to situations rather than controlling them, which makes her dull.
The book ends with a set up for a sequel, which I’ll read in the hope of learning more about the Dark City.
The Verdict:
More of a companion novel to THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH than a sequel, I liked the way in which Ryan expands on her zombie infested post-apocalyptic world in this book and there are some excellent set-piece action scenes that are nail-bitingly good. The problem though is that Gabry is essentially a passive character, driven by her fears so that she’s reactive more than she is proactive. I also found the love triangle to be too much of a rehash from that in THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, as is the escape through the Forest. The set-up for a third novel is intriguing enough to make me read on given that it promises to reveal more about the Dark City.
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 coat 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.
Now Gabry knows only one thing: if she has any hope of a future, she must face the forest of her mother’s past.
Gabry lives with her mother, Mary, in a lighthouse in the town of Vista. Together they watch for the Mudo who wash up on the beach, killing them before they can attack the townsfolk. Gabry seems content with life, but the truth is that she’s terrified of the world outside Vista, terrified of the Mudo, and terrified of taking risks.
Gabry’s best friend Cira invites her to join a group of teenagers in jumping over the fence around Vista and visit an abandoned funfair. Climbing the fence is punishable by banishment, but Gabry agrees because Cira’s brother Catcher is going. The evening’s initially perfect as Catcher admits that he loves her. Then the Mudo attack. Within minutes most of Gabry’s friends, including Catcher, are dead or infected. Apart from Gabry all those who escape are caught by the Milita.
Terrified that the Militia will find out she was there, she learns that the infected Catcher has not yet turned into Mudo and resolves to find him. Her search brings her into contact with Elias, a boy with secrets of his own. Catcher, Elias, Gabry and Cira must flee into the Forest of Hands and Teeth, where they learn about Mary’s past, which will affect Gabry’s future …
Carrie Ryan’s sequel to THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH is essentially a companion novel. Although Mary appears in this book, it’s very much Gabry’s story and the details you get on Mary’s life are cursory.
I enjoyed the expanded world building, particularly the references to the Dark City, which requires villages to send it people to be trained as Recruiters. There are also some stunning set pieces – particularly towards the end where there’s a nail-biting escape involving a ravine filled with Mudo.
The big problem though is that it all felt like too much of a rehash of THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH. Again, there’s a central love triangle with Gabry waffling in her feelings between Elias and Catcher in a way that never really convinced. Even the journey through the Forest is a replay of Mary’s earlier adventure, including a visit to places from the earlier book. Ultimately though, Gabry’s fears and indecision mean that she reacts to situations rather than controlling them, which makes her dull.
The book ends with a set up for a sequel, which I’ll read in the hope of learning more about the Dark City.
The Verdict:
More of a companion novel to THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH than a sequel, I liked the way in which Ryan expands on her zombie infested post-apocalyptic world in this book and there are some excellent set-piece action scenes that are nail-bitingly good. The problem though is that Gabry is essentially a passive character, driven by her fears so that she’s reactive more than she is proactive. I also found the love triangle to be too much of a rehash from that in THE FOREST OF HANDS AND TEETH, as is the escape through the Forest. The set-up for a third novel is intriguing enough to make me read on given that it promises to reveal more about the Dark City.
