Book Review: The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan

Who would you be if you were one of the few human survivors of the zombie apocalypse?

The night that Gabry sneaks beyond the Barrior to the abandoned amusement park is the first and only time she's been brave enough to break the rules. Gabry doesn't consider herself brave, or daring - she just wants to stay safe behind the wooden Barrior that keep the Mudo (zombies!) out. But when her best friend Cira's beautiful brother, Catcher, smiles at her and asks her to come with them, she gathers up all her courage and follows her friends.

Catcher and Cira assure Gabry that it's safe - they've gone over the Barrior loads of times, and never seen any Mudo. But tonight is different.

Tonight, Catcher kisses her for the first time, and Gabry can see her whole future before her, beautiful and bright. Until a Mudo girl appears out of nowhere, and Gabry fails to kill her before she can bite Catcher. It's not a serious bite, but it doesn't matter - the infection is already burning through Catcher, and there's no stopping it. Just like that, he has no future. So when he begs Gabry to run, she eventually gives in and flees, leaving Catcher and Cira behind.

Consumed with guilt and tormented by the idea of never seeing Catcher again, Gabry forces herself to cross the Barrier again the next night to find the boy she loves. But when she finds another boy, a boy who shouldn't be alive outside the Barrier, a boy who seems to know her, Gabry's world tilts even further on its axis. Who is she really? And can a girl who's only ever wanted to stay at home, safe, be brave enough to break free of the only world she's ever known?

The Dead-Tossed Waves dives deep into the post-apocalyptic world Carrie Ryan first introduced us to in The Forest of Hands and Teeth. For those of you frustrated by the mountains of loose ends left at the end of Hands and Teeth, don't worry - Ryan gives us tons of gory details on life after the zombie apocalypse. With creeptacular zombie action (especially because the zombies are never actually called zombies), mystery, romance, adventure, and hold-your-breath, heart-pounding suspense, this one's for fans of horror movies, The Hunger Games, Susan Beth Pfeffer and Scott Westerfeld.

Megan
(Who just finished The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson - wow, wow, wow, AMAZING.)

P.S. Check out the book trailer for The Dead-Tossed Waves! Creeptastic.

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