Ryan, Carrie: The Dead-Tossed Waves

[calico_reaction]

The Dead-Tossed Waves (2010)
Written by: Carrie Ryan
Genre: YA/Horror
Pages: 407 (Hardcover)

The Forest of Hands and Teeth almost made the Keeper Shelf last year, and that's pretty high praise. I loved the atmosphere and the elegant prose, and so much of the world-building even though questions weren't always answered. There was no doubt I'd pick up this second title, labeled a "companion" novel instead of a sequel (we'll talk about that in a minute), and while I was bitterly disappointed in the art direction change of the cover, I couldn't wait to read this.

The premise: ganked from BN.com: Gabry lives a quiet life. As safe a life as is possible in a town trapped between a forest and the ocean, in a world teeming with the dead, who constantly hunger for those still living. She's content on her side of the Barrier, happy to let her friends dream of the Dark City up the coast while she watches from the top of her lighthouse. But there are threats the Barrier cannot hold back. Threats like the secrets Gabry's mother thought she left behind when she escaped from the Sisterhood and the Forest of Hands and Teeth. Like the cult of religious zealots who worship the dead. Like the stranger from the forest who seems to know Gabry. And suddenly, everything is changing. One reckless moment, and half of Gabry's generation is dead, the other half imprisoned. Now Gabry only knows one thing: she must face the forest of her mother's past in order to save herself and the one she loves.

Review style: You're getting the good, the bad, and the ugly of this book. Yes, there are spoilers, so if you don't want to be spoiled, just skip ahead to the "My Rating" section of the review. :)




For the sake of this review, when I refer to the narrator, I'll use Gabry, and when I refer to the girl turned super-zombie in The Forest of Hands and Teeth, I'll use Gabrielle. Clear as mud? :) Or should I say Mudo? :)

Mudo = Unconsecrated = Zombies. :)

The Good

We really do learn more about this world. We get more insight to the Sisterhood and why the villages were created (though perhaps we got that info in the first book and I'd forgotten), and we learned why Gabrielle turned into a crazy, psycho-zombie when everyone was slow and dumb. That's a nice bit of world-building: if someone turns and there's not enough Mudo surrounding them, they go Breaker, which better enables them to infect more people. I like the logic: Breakers can't happen if they're surrounded by Mudo, but it's not necessary because there's so many that an uninfected person doesn't stand a chance. :)

I also liked learning more about the world that exists outside of the Forest, though I'll be honest in that 1) the Dark City made me think of the movie immediately, and I haven't even seen that sucker and 2) the amusement park opening had me immediately thinking of Zombieland, which I have seen, and while I know the author probably had those sections written before the movie came out, I still had those associations, and 3) I'm not entirely convinced of how the world works outside of the Forest. I don't feel we got enough of the norm, and what we did get between the Recruiters and the Militia had me suspect, but then again, this is through Gabry's POV, and her POV is quite limited too.

It's a fast read, which isn't surprising. The prose in and of itself is still elegant, and the chapters are structured to leave you wanting more, which is particularly effective if you haven't yet read The Forest of Hands and Teeth. I liked seeing Mary all grown up and dealing with the consequences of her actions. She's still selfish, but she can still look back and put things in perspective, and it's nice to see her older and wiser. I also liked Elias quite a lot. He's odd, but he was a character that fascinated me, and that's more than I can say for the rest of the cast.

As far as the love triangle goes, this one was more compelling than the one found in The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Here, Gabry's drawn to a boy she's always known and loved, and if things hadn't changed, they probably would've started a family together; but when he turns and becomes Immune, it's obvious why he has to push her away. Sure, he's not infected, but he carries the infection, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if he were to bite someone, he might be able to infect others. That he pushes Gabry away romantically? Makes total sense, and it allows her to make the safer choice in Elias, who I think I preferred overall. People have complained that Gabry's choice makes no sense and/or comes out of left field, but let's face it: Catcher pretty forcibly told her no. Just because he still wants her doesn't mean a relationship is possible: he's right to fear infection. So it leaves Gabry available to consider her feelings for Elias and act on them, and once Catcher is definitely out of the picture, why shouldn't she choose Elias?

What worries me about this love story is where the book leaves off and where it's going. Elias injured, Gabry traveling with Catcher. Who the hell knows how the author is going to resolve this? I hope to hell Gabry doesn't change her mind just because she and Catcher are traveling alone together. :-/

I love, love, love the title. And what it actually relates to, the image of the horde at the end? Freaking AWESOME. That was a fantastic and chilling image, something I haven't seen before, and it, combined with the title, is a grand slam.

The Bad

The plot is essentially a repeat of The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Sure, we have a different heroine, one who doesn't WANT to leave the safety she's grown up with, but in the end, we spend a lot of time in the Forest running away. There's a love triangle, as in The Forest of Hands and Teeth, and there's also a group of people traveling together that gets picked off one by one. If a reader hasn't read The Forest of Hands and Teeth, that's great: this story might be really compelling. But if you have, like me, you'll find yourself bored. You've been there, done that, and seen it done better, because before, you didn't know what was on the other side of the Forest, and now, you're backtracking back to the Village, so there's no real surprises, just moments of, "Oh, I remember that scene from the last book!"

Which leads into the fact that this is a companion novel and not a sequel. Okay, so I get why they're not marketing it as a sequel: they want readers to feel safe picking this up, and "companion" indicates that you don't need to read the previously published book in order to enjoy this one. Fair enough. Ryan provides the reader with everything that's necessary for this story, so all you're really missing are the layers of characterization and world-building that were already established in The Forest of Hands and Teeth, layers that add depth to this book. But it's not a shallow book without it. You're just as severely limited in your reading as Gabry is to her life, that's all.

On the other hand, what a crock. This is a SEQUEL. Sure, it takes place a solid generation after The Forest of Hands and Teeth, but it's still a SEQUEL. It's a story that comes after and features characters from the previous book, and in some ways, resolves said characters' stories. More to the point, given the way this book ends, it's obvious there's going to be a more direct sequel later down the road, so if this is a companion instead of a sequel, I guess the three books won't be called a trilogy? Who knows, but I think the terminology is a bit of B.S.

This book is to The Forest of Hands and Teeth as Steven R. Boyett's Elegy Beach is to Ariel.

Focusing more on the plot, I have a lot of trouble with the fact that Catcher never turned himself into the Recruiters. Sure, Elias has been with the Recruiters and knows for a fact how they'll handle the situation, but there comes a point when people are sick but running and completely exhausted: is the running worth it? I kept wondering if the Recruiters were really that bad, and if Catcher couldn't perhaps control them as they might control him. Sure, they might hold the people he cares about hostage, but my guess is that as long as he does his assignments (and why wouldn't he? What else does he have to live for?), Gabry and Elias and everyone else involved would likely live in comfort in a protected city. Well, Gabry is running because she killed a man, but I suspect the Recruiters wouldn't care about that. At any rate, the main plot point, which is to protect Catcher from the Recruiters (and likely is what will drive the third book's plot as well), is a little thin, because I've not been convinced the Recruiters are really so bad. It's all hearsay, and it would've been a stronger case if the Recruiters HAD caught Catcher and had started treating him horribly. I'm not saying Elias isn't reliable: he did serve with the Recruiters, but Catcher is the first Immune he's met, you know? All he'd heard was rumors, and we all know how reliable those are.

I smell a weak plot coming. I won't be surprised if Catcher and Gabry get caught and we learn the Recruiters aren't such bad guys after all.

The Ugly

Oh, Gabry, Gabry, Gabry.

Yes, Mary was a selfish character, but she was also motivated and determined and that made it worth following her POV. Gabry is weak. She's a cryer and she doesn't want to do anything unless forcibly motivated. Sure, she ends up making solid, strong decisions by the end, but it took quite a long time for her to become a character I wanted to root for. Her journey is all about learning what she really wants and who she really is, but all in all, it just wasn't that interesting. Yes, her history is a nice twist, but that doesn't make up for the sheer amount of weakness we've seen prior to the revelation. The storyline with Daniel was completely unnecessary. We didn't need that to motivate her because it never served as a motivation, other than to get her running, which I bet she would've done anyway once it was made clear that the Recruiters would stop at nothing to get their hands on Catcher.

And her narration just isn't as compelling. Part of the problem is we've seen this story before in The Forest of Hands and Teeth, but Gabry's always wishing for things rather than taking action, and maybe Mary was this way too, but at least with Mary, I didn't already have another book under my belt. I do with Gabry, and that doesn't help her case. I hope that in the next book, she grows as a character and becomes someone stronger (determined to get Elias back and to find her sister), rather than falling back to her old weak ways and pining for Catcher. Because I'm still willing to read the next book, but if the things I mentioned happen? I might throw the thing. :-/

Also? COVER ART DIRECTION CHANGE! Oh, that pissed me off to no end! But I shall rant about that in the cover commentary. :)

Nitpick

-- On page 43, we learn that three of the kids were infected, but they hadn't yet turned. Mellie turned SUPER FAST, she went Breaker, and Catcher ended up being immune, which is really rare. Is Ryan trying to suggest that immunity isn't as rare as they thought, and these kids would've never turned so it's tragic they were killed? Or did the infection just move through them slower, which doesn't make sense when you consider HOW FAST Mellie turned. I sniff some continuity problems. :-/

My Rating

Buy the Paperback: if you've read The Forest of Hands and Teeth, know that, in a nutshell, this is essentially the same story, only kind of backwards (from the ocean to the forest); Gabry's a very weak character who lacks the selfish drive that Mary had, and while that made Mary a bit infuriating, at least we never lacked for forward motion. Not so with Gabry. She's a reactor, someone who'd rather hide and cry than actually take action, and it makes it exceptionally difficult to root for her. If you didn't like The Forest of Hands and Teeth, don't bother with this, because it's a weaker book anyway. If you did like it, know that while the plot is very repetitive and the heroine isn't as compelling, we do learn more about the world in which these characters inhabit. We learn a little more about the Sisterhood, we learn what makes some Infected turn psycho-fast whereas others are bumbling and slow. We learn about the world outside of the Forest, and there' s some imagery, especially at the end, that's just freaking awesome (it relates to the title). The end does end on a kind of cliffhanger, in that it doesn't make you go "OMG, now what?!?!?!" but it's not a resolved book, so you know there's more story around the corner.

No, you don't have to read The Forest of Hands and Teeth to read this. But doing so will give this book more layers, but will also expose the flaws of this book in much greater detail. I'll still read Ryan's next offering, but with quite a lot of caution.

Cover Commentary: Welcome to the longest cover commentary you may ever read in this blog, complete with a poll! I'm not just going to talk about the cover for The Dead-Tossed Waves, but also The Forest of Hands and Teeth, for reasons I hope you'll find obvious. And let me note: I'm only talking about US cover styles. This series has even MORE covers outside of the US, but I'm focusing on what I can get my hands on.

Set #1:

The cover for The Forest of Hands and Teeth, and the original cover art for The Dead-Tossed Waves are the kind of covers that make me not care what the book is about, because I must have them. They're haunting and compelling, capturing their heroines perfectly (and believe me, the model and pose used for Gabry is perfect, perfect, perfect!), and these covers even capture something of the atmosphere of the books. I'm not sure how they do it, but they do, and I stress, these are the kind of covers that make me buy without caring about premises or reviews.

Set #2:

But something happened after The Forest of Hands and Teeth was published. I don't know why the publisher changed its mind, but for the trade paperback copy, they used a different look, a different design. Clearly, a younger heroine, who--even though humanity is cut off from EVERYTHING in the first book, is still able to wear black-eyeliner (seriously?). The font isn't elegant but more fun, and here's where I'll give credit: the forest is plainly obvious in this second cover. Okay, fine: I won't complain about the change to trade because I have my hardcover and I love it.

Only, they decided to make the hardcover of The Dead-Tossed Waves match the new style of trade. To which I say, damn it.

The new covers aren't anything that'd catch my eye for very long. I might pick up the books and glance at them, but my decision is no longer swayed by a cover that I must own, but rather by the premise and the reviews. And believe me, I was never impressed with the premise of The Forest of Hands and Teeth. I'm not into the zombie fad. These covers, which seem to be more YA-friendly and therefore generic, would've been the deciding factor to put the books down.

Like I said, I don't know WHY the publishers changed their mind. Maybe, despite excellent reviews for The Forest of Hands and Teeth, it wasn't selling as well as they hoped so they thought changing the cover would do the trick. After all, this isn't the first series it's been done to (see John Scalzi's original Old Man's War and the new art for the trade, which in turn dictated the art for the sequel, The Ghost Brigades), but it bugs me here because I loved the original art SO DAMN MUCH. I can't believe that if given the choice (and if money were not an issue), that someone would choose the trade paperback art over the hardcover.

Of course, the hardcover art of The Dead-Tossed Waves isn't horrible. Only the red font for Ryan's name is practically invisible on the cover, and the model is wearing what looks like a nightgown, and well, can I just say how much BETTER the original art captures the book than this art does? Because if you read the book and you compare the covers, you just KNOW it's a better fit. And I'm bitter, because I can't buy this book with the original art (and you can bet your bottom dollar that if it ever is an option in hardcover? I'll buy it and get rid of the one I've got).

But you know what? Maybe I'm crazy. Maybe I'm out of touch with what readers really want out of their YA covers. So I'm giving you a poll so you can tell me.

Mind you, one CANNOT get the original cover for The Dead-Tossed Waves at all, and for that matter, one cannot get the second cover for The Forest of Hands and Teeth in hardcover. So these "sets" are currently a pipe-dream, except for set two, if you buy trade, because this appears to be the standard.

And I promise, I won't think less of you if you decide you like the second set. I'll just die a little inside, that's all. :) And to be fair, the second set is GOOD, I just don't think it's AS good, and I'm bitter that the publishers are screwing with the aesthetic look of my collection.

Set #1:

Set #2:

Poll Cover War

Next up: Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi