The Dead-Tossed Waves | by: Carrie Ryan

Carrie Ryan had proven herself to be an amazing author with her first novel, The Forest of Hands and Teeth. With a novel like that, I was sure that The Dead-Tossed Waves would attain a certain level of greatness, but I wasn't sure if it would be quite as amazing as her first book. I knew that it wasn't going to be about Mary (the protagonist of The Forest of Hands and Teeth) and thought that the new setting probably wouldn't be as creepy.

But, The Dead-Tossed Waves certainly filled with awe-shocking moments that left me gulping down this novel all at once. I'm not sure if one is better than the other.

Gabry lives in Vista, though her mother is from the Forest. For her entire life, she's known nothing but to stay within the Barrier, for death awaits anyone who goes past it. The Mudo are out there, just waiting in their hunger, in their desire to infect.

After a night of hellish terror, Gabry finds herself in a compromising new life. A new life that has not only affected herself, but her friends and mother. One where she is forced to leave Vista and enter the outside world, where the Mudo are a threat beyond the Barrier. While she is in flight from Vista, she yearns to go back in time and fix her mistakes in order to reclaim her old life. In her struggle to survive, will her fear and sorrow swallow her up? Or is she more like her mother, as she had always hoped?

It's been too long since I've read a book so good. Where should I start?

Well, first of all, Gabry is a very different character than Mary of The Forest of Hands and Teeth. She's much more fearful and less adventurous. While Mary had always valued exploration and escape from her village, Gabry has no desire to leave Vista. She often wants to go back and change things, and reality leaves her broken. The pain cuts especially deep since before she had to leave, before her world was shattered by a terrible encounter with the Mudo, her life had just seemed to be coming together. Things were going right with the boy she's grown up with, Catcher.

That being said, while she and the small company of friends that go with her fight to stay alive and try to outrun both the Mudo and the government's Recruiters, Gabry has a couple of love interests. But, I stress that this isn't a gushy paranormal romance ordeal, this is an eerie dystopian novel. Seriously, it takes her until the last fifty pages to make a decision between Catcher, who's from her village and has known her forever, or Elias, the guy she meets in the ruins of a village just outside of Vista. (Don't worry, I won't tell you who it is.) Though I have always preferred Elias, I knew that the outcome could very well go either way. This scared me, and Gabry taking her dear sweet time to figure it out drove me crazy.

But that's one of the important elements of Gabry's character. She grows so much from the beginning! I loved seeing her transformation from a scared girl who doesn't know what she wants to a strong, experienced, and determined character.

And let's face it, she goes through a lot throughout the pages of this book. Trying to figure out who she was led to many twists that I didn't expect, and really, this whole book had twists I didn't expect. There were a few times where my jaw dropped in surprise, if that says anything about the intensity of this novel.

Fans of Mary from the previous book in this series should be excited to see her appearance in the novel. Although this book may not be about her, she's definitely important within the plot. It's so interesting to see where she ended up and how she's doing. In some way, I guess it sort of is an indirect continuation of her story as well, though one doesn't need to read The Forest of Hands and Teeth before The Dead-Tossed Waves. However, I certainly reccommend it; both are outstanding despite their distinguishing differences.

One thing I loved about Carrie Ryan's first book was her wonderful writing. This is still evident in this novel, making this already fantastic plot even better. As long as she continues to write like this, I will read her books forever.

Another element from The Forest of Hands and Teeth that remained for this novel? Both are so, so bleak. However, I wouldn't say that this is a bad thing; it just makes the ending all the more hopeful. And believe me, the ray of hope is worth it all.

I can't even begin to say how excited I am to read the next book in this gripping series, The Dark and Hollow Places. Again, we get to read about a new (though mentioned) character's struggles - and I do love that. But, I can't help but hope to hear more about Gabry, if her story intwines with this character's story, especially since it's clear that Gabry still has a journey ahead of her at the end of this book.

With that, The Dead-Tossed Waves was an adventurous and dark read, and you don't even have to like zombies to enjoy it. It's one of those things that are just too good not to read. I loved it.

5/5 Stars


Ryan, Carrie. The Dead-Tossed Waves
New York: Delacorte Press
2010

The Forest of Hands and Teeth | by: Carrie Ryan

When I first saw this book the title immediately intrigued me. Later on, I heard that The Forest of Hands and Teeth is about zombies. This turned me away since I've never cared much for the idea of zombies. If this fact also makes you want to stray from reading this, do not let it. The Forest of Hands and Teeth is scary and sophisticated.

In The Forest of Hands and Teeth, the world has turned horrifying. A small fenced-in village lies in the midst of the Forest and it is dominated by the ideals of the Sisterhood. Mary can only dream of life outside the Forest, for she has been told that they are the last of humankind, that only the Unconsecrated lurk in the Forest outside of the fences, trying to get in and kill off the rest of them. Still, Mary questions the Sisterhood as she makes a few discoveries about them and the outside world, which she refuses to believe is nonexistent.

Mary is quite unhappy with this confusion as well as the confusion of having two men in love with her. But when the Unconsecrated manage to slip through the fences, pandemonium spreads, and everything Mary believes is tested as she strives to survive.

Wow. That word pretty much sums up this reading experience. This is a gripping page turner that is both suspenseful and sad. It's kind of a combination of The Village and Clive Barker's The Plague, only done much better and will appeal to much more people.

From the very first page I knew that this novel is darkly and wonderfully well-written. It was so epicly beautiful and really fit the storyline and situations throughout the entire book. I can't stress the practically perfect writing enough! Carrie Ryan is an artist with words! It's part of the reason why I love this book so much!

The Forest of Hands and Teeth had an effect that I don't recall ever experiencing while reading... I actually got scared. And I don't scare easily. But the Unconsecreated never rest, and I kept jumping at noises I heard while reading and had eerie dreams if I read too late into the night. The general setting kind of creeped me out even though I loved it (I'm a fan of forests), and it's all because of the Unconsecrated.

Everything in this book is so different than others I've read. Although it's dystopian, it feels more like you're going backwards in time by the way the community functions under the Sisterhood. (Might I add, the Sisterhood also scared me!) Even the love theme was atypical. It isn't a typical love triangle, it's more of a love square, but it's not always the most evident thing in the storyline. It seems that Mary knew who she wanted, but the question of what was more important hung with her: Fulfiling her childhood dreams and her curiosity, or love? I've never read about this sort of thing before since in most books nowadays love isn't questioned unless there's more than one man involved. I'm happy for this refreshing change of feel, and it fits Mary's character and showed that she really valued exploration. She's is a curious wanderer surrounded by tragedy, and I felt for her.

The ending was satisfying, but I'm still anxious for more! I recommend this frightening apocalyptic tale to just about anyone... Go buy it and read it NOW!

5/5 Stars


Ryan, Carrie. The Forest of Hands and Teeth
London: Gollancz (imprint of Orion Publishing Group)
2009

Mockingjay | by: Suzanne Collins

This review, despite the hype behind the book, contains no spoilers, but perhaps a few slight ones from the previous books of the trilogy (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire) will. (This is so difficult to write about without spoiling, and I don't like the way it sounds, so anyone who didn't want spoilers better be happy even though it's written in an odd way!)

Sparks have turned into flames. Katniss Everdeen and her fellow tribute, Peeta, have been the face of a rebellion against the Capitol. Now, the rebels are gaining power, and Katniss is beginning to accept her role. Emotions tear at her constantly with this new turn in events, despite her strength, because she's human. But she is also the Mockingjay, the face of hope in the revolution.

Thank you so much for this spectacular reading experience, Suzanne Collins.

Suzanne Collins has created a masterpiece, yet again. But I must say, that sometimes I am angry with her. The revolution was not peaceful because it's a revolution. Tragic things happen because that's the way life is. So why am I angry? Because I cared way too much, and it's all Suzanne's fault, with her beautiful writing and fearlessness in creating the plot, and those characters! Katniss, Finnick, Peeta, Gale, Prim, Haymitch. How was I supposed to not love them?

Of course, her writing is immaculate all through Mockingjay, and the plot remained just as action packed as the other two novels. But Katniss has so many emotions in this one, and all were displayed clearly. I felt everything she did. Fear, sorrow, worry, love. Reading this book almost hurt, because I hurt when Katniss hurt. She is a strong heroine and always will be, and I don't believe that she broke in this novel, as other reviews I read mentioned.

One character that was introduced in Catching Fire I never liked until reading Mockingjay: Finnick. Behind what you originally see in him lies so much that it broke my heart. I loved him, and I loved seeing his relationship with Annie. That's all I'm going to say about him, but the bottom line is that he's so... great. And everything that Peeta had to go through made me feel horrible, as it did Katniss.

I'm happy with the ending. I just wish that it wasn't so shadowed by everything that happened in the past, all of the depressing moods and thoughts from two pages before the epilogue were still piercing my heart. (Why did so many have to die?) I didn't want this long-awaited happy ending spoiled by the horrific events that took place. However, I am overjoyed that she and *I'm not going to spoil it* end up having a beautiful life together. I always suspected that in the end, she would be with him, but I also loved the other character that she could've loved. Well, until he made me very angry at the end. Well, she picked my favorite, so I'm ecstatic. Obviously, Katniss' love interests are not the main focus of the novel, but I have to admit that I've been itching to see how this ends. Want to know exactly why I'm happy with this character? Read the novel. You will not regret it.

The last few pages of the novel, I bawled. Many tissues were needed. It ended up being so happy and sad all at the same time, and I couldn't take it. It was too much for my emotional equilibrium to stay stable. Never have I cried so much over a book, with the only exception of Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech. That book and Mockingjay made me a completely insane, crying mess. But I guess Mockingjay had the strongest effect, since I cried even though my dad was in the room (thinking that his daughter has lost it), and I basically cried myself to sleep. Had nightmares about only the sad parts, only that the book was just ended with those, no happiness. I'm even losing control of my tears as I write this.

Although I already thought about this in the past, Mockingjay helped me decide that I can't see the film adaptations of this trilogy. It means too much to me. Even if one thing isn't the way I imagined it, it could be ruined. This is the first time I read a book without wanting to see the movie. I need my personal vision of it, and nothing else.

I will give Mockingjay the same rating that I've given all of The Hunger Games books, despite that each individual book is so important to me, made me realize so much, and feel so much raw emotion. All are worthy of infinate stars.

5/5 Stars


Collins, Suzanne. Mockingjay
New York: Scholastic Press
2010

Catching Fire | by: Suzanne Collins

I fell into a deep infatuation with Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games at the end of last summer, and have been craving Catching Fire ever since!

Katniss has survived the Hunger Games along with Peeta, so anyone would assume that the nightmare of her life is over. But just as she begins the required tour to all of the districts in honor of winning the Games, she discovers that since both she and Peeta survived the Hunger Games, the Capitol is angry. For they have started a rebellion against it, without even realizing it. And the only way to prove their innocence in sparking it is to deny the rightness in what could finally overthrow the dictatorship of the Capitol.

Suzanne Collins really knows how to write a sequal. Wow.

If you're going to sit on the couch for hours reading Catching Fire, don't worry about leading a sedentary lifestyle, because this book will give you a cardiovascular workout. I had to stop reading for a couple of minutes, because I thought my heart was going to beat itself out of my chest. I'm not so sure if this is because of the twists and turns embedded througout the plot, or the consistent high-level action. Either way, I was totally blown away.

Catching Fire has the same great qualities as the first of the tirology, The Hunger Games. The writing is still superior and urgent, though maybe the sentences were too choppy for my comfort at times (probably to stress such urgency, so I'm greatful that this has a purpose), and Katniss is still a marvelous character. She's so strong and selfless that she puts today's typical sense of humanity to shame. And then there's Peeta... oh, the ever-loving and caring Peeta...

Speaking of which, despite the centeral focus of this novel is the action and revolution, we still have hints of a love triangle between Katniss, Gale, and Peeta. Just hints. It's not like a Edward-Bella-Jacob type of thing. Part of Katniss' problem is that she loves them both to death, but not in a particularly romantic way. If anything, it's the way we as humans should all love each other. Honestly, I love both Gale and Peeta. A lot of times I favor Peeta, but whenever I read about Gale, I understand why Katniss will never stop caring about him. Then again, I find it hard to believe Katniss will ever stop caring about anybody: Her mother, Prim, Gale, Peeta, Haymitch, District 12. Despite she is protective and a strong hunter, Katniss, the greatest heroine I've ever read about, loves with all of her being.

Still, the Capitol, that wretched disgrace of a government, stunned me the most. What they do is unbelievable. Punishments are torturous, food is scarce, and the president is the core of it all. He, okay the whole government, is cruel in every extent. Do any of them care? No. I was in awe the entire time. I was teary-eyed because of this, and I am now giving endless thanks that my country isn't run like this. That my government isn't so brutal.

Throughout this compelling read, I was a complete mess because I didn't want to leave this book alone for a minute. This trilogy is an addiction like no other, heed the warning. I can never stop thinking about it! Catching Fire is the perfect sequal to The Hunger Games, and I can't wait to see what happens next in Mockingjay!

5/5 Stars


Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire
New York: Scholastic Press
2009

The Hunger Games | by: Suzanne Collins

In The Hunger Games, North America is much different than we know it today. It has become a country built on dictatorship. Each year, two chosen citizens from each of its twelve districts between the ages of twelve to eighteen must participate in the Hunger Games, where all tributes must destroy another until the last one is standing; the lucky winner that survives. For as long as it takes, the tributes kill each other, by law, where the entire country can see: Live television.

Anyone can guess from the start that the Hunger Games itself is sort of disturbing and morbid. That's plain and clear. But this year in the Games, a beautiful story unfolds...

Katniss was not chosen to take part in the Games, she volunteered, so her young sister wouldn't have to. Although many in the Capitol find the Games to be entertaining, Katniss sees how trecherous it really is. Of course, she aims to survive. How could she go down without trying? Putting up a fight? But survival means she'll have to kill humans, and what will that make of her?

The Hunger Games stands out in every way. There were parts where my heart was pounding, and even my eyes were tearing up. Never have I read about a country where acts of innocence were considered rebellious and acts of love could be against the law. Nothing is better than a book completely unique AND moving. Also, the writing in The Hunger Games is impressive and descriptive. I found myself enjoying every word in this amazing novel Suzanne Collins created.

Although this strange country helps to make the enviornment of this book even more interesting, the bulk of this book mainly revolved around Katniss's survival and her relationship with the tribute boy from her district, Peeta. This alone made this book suspensful, yet filled of emotion. Still, it was more than that. It was their thoughts on the Capitol that captivated me, as well.

Katniss, the main character, is the greatest and strongest heroine I've ever heard of. She is always the provider, the hunter, for those she cares about and for herself. Constantly, she thinks of her family, and fears dying not for her sake, but for theirs. What would happen to them if she died? Her way of thinking was fresh, yet I could relate. I admire her.

I was always intrigued by she and Peeta's relationship, because it's so hard to describe. I knew that anything Peeta said or did could only be for the cameras, and hoped that it wasn't, but I was never sure of Katniss. So often she was so concentrated on survival that I couldn't tell if she could identify her own feelings for him, so how was I to identify them? Though I sometimes disagreed with her, I had utmost respect for her.

The Hunger Games was a magnificent story. One that many will enjoy, whether you want suspense, meaning, or romance. One that you'll never forget; one that I absolutely love. I was left fascinated.

5/5 stars