OMG! I'm so happy this was my 100-read book :') And like this book more that the first one but ot was really FRUSTRATING. Sometimes i really wanted to kick Gabry and tell her "HEY CAN YOU SEE WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YOU ARE BRAVE, LIKE YOUR MOTHER, hell, YOUR REALLY ARE!!" Spanish review also here :) http://librosjuveniles55.blogspot.mx/...LO MAS IMPORTANTE:El libro empieza con un habiente rapido,las cosas al principio suceden con mucha rapidez que apenas te dan tiempo para asimilar las cosas...pero despues de los primeros capitulos la historia se calma y te da tiempo para pensar. Como es de adivinar este libro no es de comedia ni de color ROSA, no, para nada, Mary en poco tiempo se queda sola y solo tiene a su alrededor a las mujeres de la hermandad, de las cuales no confia nada ya que esconden oscuros, muuy oscuros secretos.Un dia normal el pueblo de Mary es atacado y ella, su familia y unos cuantos amigos son obligados a huir. Perro ellos tienen miedo ya que no tienen a ningun lado al que ir, ya que como ellos fueron educados, como siempre les dijeron, su aldea era la unica restante, ellos eran los unicos seres humanos que habitaban la tierra, ellos eran la salvacion de la humanidad,pero ahora que su aldea habia sido invadida por los No-Consagrados ( tambien conocidos como zombies) fueron forzados a escapar sin tener lugar alguno al que ir.O al menos eso creian.Triangulo Amoroso? bueno como ya habia comentado el libro no es de color rosa y la parte amorosa menos lo es, no se puede esperar mucho de un libro que tiene un amor posapocaliptico, Mary definitivamente hace muchas malas deciciones y eso afecta a los demas. Una o dos lagrimas se salieron de mis ojos, pobre Mary, pobre, sufrio tanto. El libro en si me gusto mucho mas que nada porque AMO A LOS ZOMBIES!! y porque tiene una buena historia y tambien interesante, les dejaria un link de descarga pero no lo tengo :( lo busque por dias pero nunca lo encontre al final lo compre en ingles, no es un ingles muy complicado la verdad asi que deberian leerlo.

Considering I recently reviewed GODS OF THE JUNGLE PLANET, it's really unfortunate that THIS is the worst book I've read in a long time. Real review is under construction, below this line. It ain't finished.+ + +I'm sure some of you who made the decision to read The Forest of Hands and Teeth will decide to go ahead and read the rest of the series. DON'T. No, really: you've seen all there is to see. If book one was an iMac, this sucker right here is an early model of Windows Vista. In fact, my goal in writing this review is to rescue you from having to read this book at all. Instead, I shall rewrite an abbreviated--and less emo--version of the book. Once you've read this review, you will know everything needed to skip over this book completely and just read book 3. . . which I've heard is slightly better than this one, although I won't be reading it to find out for sure. Act 1Scene 1: Old abandoned amusement parkProtagonista: Gee, guys, I'm not so sure it's a good idea to climb over the fence and go into the amusement park, since zombies are likely all over the place out there.Female Bee Eff Eff: Oh, don't be such a wuss! It's going to be lots and lots of fun! What possible bad things could happen by wandering around an abandoned amusement park that may or may not be populated with zombies! God, girl, live a little!Friend's Hot N Sexy Brother: (Looks at her with eyes that radiate warmth, and with pecs of chiseled marble, and other Edward Cullen-like descriptions) Yes, Protagonista. . . . I want you to come. To the amusement park. Protagonista: (aside) I wish I were able to just have fun like other people my age, and not worry about the swarms of pesky zombies that are moaning and groaning around the fences around my village. Maybe just this once, I'll just go and have fun without being such a wet blanket. After all, what bad things could possibly happen?(Everybody climbs over the fence and into the abandoned amusement park.)Female Friend: Isn't this fun? We're outside the safety of our village! Weee!Zombie: AAAAARRRGHGHGH!Random Red-Shirt: Arrgh, I've been bitten! Ack, now I'm a zombie, too! Aaaaaarrrrgh!Everybody else who is non-zombie: AAAAHH! Hot N Sexy Brother: (attacks the zombies) Oh, shoot! Looks like I've been bitten, too! Doesn't that just take the cake!Protagonista: I'm petrified with fear, and overwhelmed by swarms of internal dialogue! I don't know what to do!Hot/sexy: Run, and know that even though I never said anything about it until we were in this zombie-infested amusement park, I've loved you for my whole life, and you mean everything to me!Protagonista: Thanks a lot for telling me now, douchebag! But seriously, I love you too! (Runs back to the fence)Everybody else: We're stunned immobile! This is all so sudden and surprising! We just wanted to be out in zombie-infested territory and have some kicks! Who would've thought something like a zombie attack might happen?Scene II: Protagonista's Momma's LighthouseMomma: Basically, all of your friends were found roaming around outside of the safe zone last night. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?Protagonista: Gee, mom, I'm shocked. So, is that the kind of thing you, like, get in trouble for doing? Momma: Yes, sweetie. The ones that aren't already zombified are being deported. Sent to Gary, Indiana. Protagonista: (Stunned) Not Gary, Indiana! Why? Momma: Because the stupid thing they did could've gotten everyone in this entire village DEAD. So, we're a bit miffed about the whole thing.Protagonista: It's so unfair! Aside: and I feel immense internal guilt for running away last night, when I could've maybe helped out by staying outside of the fence and screaming while I watched my friends get eaten by zombies.Momma: By the way, I'm not your real mom. I found you when you were a tiny little tot, wandering around out in the wilderness, so I rescued you and took you in, and then raised you. But, we aren't related by blood. I've just taken care of you since you were a toddler.Protagonista: You're not my real mother, and you didn't tell me before now? I hate you! You're an evil, bad person!Momma: Are you taking your medicine, sweetie?Protagonista: (Runs away crying)Scene III: At the Holding Cell for Stupid TeenagersProtagonista: (Looks at her friends who aren't zombified. Is wrought with guilt.) Bee Eff Eff: Oh, Protagonista! Have you seen Hot n Sexy? Is he okay? He must be okay!Protagonista: I know, right? Life would be so unfair otherwise. I. . . uhh, I haven't seen him. He must. . . still be out in the zombie infested territory.Bee Eff Eff: You have to go and find him! He's my brother, and I love him, and before I get deported to Gary, I need to know if he's alright!Protagonista: So, you're willing to sentence me to nearly certain death, just in case he's hanging around outside of the protected zone and ISN'T a zombie?Bee Eff Eff: Yes.Protagonista: I'm on it. Scene IV: Out in the dangerous territories. A rundown old hut.Protag: Hotsex!H/S: Protag!Protag: Are you okay? Did you get bitten?H/S: Doi! See this wound on my arm that looks like teeth marks? Yes, I got bitten. And I could change at any time. That's why I'm out here beyond the safety of the village. Protag: But I cannot leave you! Can we have some steamy, passionate sex before you turn?(Just kidding. That didn't happen. . . as Carrie Ryan understands, teenagers consider kissing on the lips to be the extent of sexual recreation.)H/S: Will you hold my hand, Protagonista? Protag: (Getting hot and bothered) Sure!At this point, we skip ahead to the beginning of Act 2 where the real conflict begins: which of multiple hot boys Protagonista will choose to hold hands with. ACT 2Scene 1: Outside the safety of the village after having rescued BFFProtag: Hi, Hot n Sexy! I'm so glad you're immune to zombie attacks, because otherwise, you'd be trying to eat my brains!H/S: I know, right? I'm pretty glad about that, too! (Protag leans in to kiss him. H/S moves away, looking emotionally torn apart inside)H/S: Alas, we cannot. I may infect you with the zombie disease that's still in my blood. . . and anyway, I'm not like you anymore, Protag. I'm all alone in a hard and unforgiving world.Protag: Can we hold hands?H/S: No. That's how STDs happen. (Runs off into the woods in a state of emotional turmoil.)(Bald and Sexy enters the scene.)B/S: is everything alright, Protagonista? You look distraught. (His pectorals start flexing and unflexing as animal magnetism radiates from his being. The sheen on his bald head is quite arousing.)Protag: ASIDE: I can't decide whether I want to go with the boy I loved through most of my life who is now part-zombie, or if I want to go with the sexy boy who has rescued me from zombie attacks on multiple occasions, and who doesn't run away from me. Although he is involved in some strange zombie-related cult. Or, perhaps I'm most interested in the forbidden love I could share with my BFF. . . she's looking quite comely as well.(Just kidding. This world is purely hetero. These kids don't even experiment.)To be continued. . .

Oh, Carrie Ryan, you break my heart. At times while reading it, I wanted to give it 5 stars. At others, I wanted to throw it across the room and give it 1 star. Well, I never give 1 star, but you get the idea. But damn, she writes a good book. I just have to remind myself that "5 stars" doesn't necessarily have to equal "happy". I also have to remind myself that just because a character occassionally might act like a bitch, a crybaby, a scaredy cat, or an idiot, it doesn't mean she's not a good character. It just means she's real. I act like all those things at one time or another, and I'm a pretty good character--if I do say so myself.I liked this one more than I liked the first in the trilogy, and I want the third book right now, not a year from now. Ugh.

I'm torn with the rating I gave this book. It deserves more than three stars but I wouldn't say I 'really liked it'. So, even though I like this book more than I like it's companion, The Forest of Hands and Teeth, I gave it the same amount of stars. Quick review: In The Forest of Hands and Teeth we were introduced to Mary, a not entirely likable teenage girl living in a remote village reminiscent of the village in M. Night Shyamalan's 'The Village'. Mary's village is fenced off from the surrounding forest which is full of zombies (referred to as the unconsecrated). Mary desires, more than anything, to venture outside the fenced-in village to find her way to the ocean, even though she's been told her whole life the ocean no longer exists. At the end of The Forest of Hands and Teeth Mary receives her heart's desire: she sees the ocean, and that is where her story ends. The Dead-Tossed Waves is told by Mary's teenage daughter, Gabry. This is Gabry's story. Gabry (Gabrielle) is quite unlike her mother. Raised in Vista, the seaside city Mary discovered at the end of The Forest of Hands and Teeth, she has no desire to venture outside the city walls where the Mudo--unconsecrated!--dwell. In the first chapter Gabry is invited by her best friend's cute older brother, Catcher, to sneak past the barriers to the abandoned amusement park, which, while still technically fenced in, is forbidden since those fences are no longer maintained or guarded. It is only the lure of Catcher, his flirtatious promise to protect her, that finally gets Gabry to do what she fears most: leave the relative safety of Vista.It is in the amusement park, as Gabry receives her first kiss, that things go horribly wrong (who'd have guessed??? I kid, I kid). A Breaker--an über-mudo, if you will--attacks the group Gabry is with. Long story short: their little adventure outside the city walls does not end well.Because of the commotion caused by the attack they know it is only a matter of time before the city militia arrives. So Catcher insists Gabry flee the scene because those caught outside the city walls will be punished severely. Before she leaves, Gabry tries to round-up Cira, Catcher's sister, to go back with her, but is unsuccessful.Gabry returns to the city by herself, a decision with which struggles throughout the rest of this novel. She's riddled with guilt that she was unable to stop everyone from going to the amusement park in the first place. Gabry hates that, unlike Cira and the rest of her friends, she wasn't caught.Because she's the only one who wasn't caught she's obligated to search for Catcher, at Cira's request. The only problem is, Catcher may have been bitten by a mudo. What's worse, he's hiding somewhere outside the city walls. So Gabry ventures outside the walls once again, attacked by more mudo, and saved by a young man, named Elias, who is clearly not from her village. And this is when the adventure really begins. Overall, this is a pretty good book. I think it's much better than The Forest of Hands and Teeth, mainly because I don't mind the protagonist; she's not selfish like her mother was at her age. Also I think The Dead-Tossed Waves is written better than The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Before I go on, I need to mention that I'm not a fan of the love triangle in this book. It's not that I don't luuuurve me a good love triangle, because I do. It's just the fact that Carrie Ryan already did the whole love triangle thing, and not very well might I add (IMHO, Mary was undeserving of such attention so the love-triangle in The Forest of Hands and Teeth felt forced. And in the end it turns out the triangle was completely unnecessary). I feel Carrie Ryan should have gone a different direction this time around--not everybody has two equally good-looking guys vying for their attention. I feel Carrie Ryan, along with a lot of authors these days, are relying on the love triangle a little too much. I think Carrie Ryan cheated herself, her story, and the readers, by focusing too much attention on the love story.Example: Gabry spends too much time being torn up over the whole Catcher or Elias question. Especially when, as far as I'm concerned, her preference is obvious. I wish Gabry had made a decision early on, sparing everyone involved (including the readers), and spent more time thinking about more important things. Such as the many interesting ethical questions raised by various characters in this book (What is the difference between existing and surviving? Is there a difference? How are the infected (mudo/unconsecrated) different from the non-infected? When a body Returns, is part of their former self--their soul--still there, just trapped inside?). There are other things I didn't necessarily like but I can't bring them up without giving away too much. Basically, what I'm trying to say is, while I do quite like this book (and I'm planning to read the next one) I'm left feeling a little disappointed. Carrie Ryan could have done so much more with this storyline, the deeper elements are present but not explored. Which is why I couldn't give this book four stars. (I do want to give Carrie Ryan props for writing zombie books targeted specifically at females. If it weren't for her I wouldn't have picked up a zombie book, ever. Which, in retrospect, would have been quite unfortunate as it is a genre I quite enjoy.) Side note: Also, I think Carrie Ryan could have should have released The Dead-Tossed Waves first and eventually released The Forest of Hands and Teeth as a prequel. Why? Because The Forest of Hands and Teeth does not actually add to this story, seeing as Gabry spends the majority of this novel (mostly) ignorant of her mother's past. Sure, we the readers are able to make the connections, but that just takes away from the reading experience--we already know what Gabry doesn't. It's sort of infuriating. Plus, the way in which this book ends I'm assuming the next book, The Dark and Hollow Places, will start where this one leaves off; Gabry still telling her story. Which is just another reason why it doesn't make sense that The Forest of Hands and Teeth was released first.

The Dead Tossed Waves seriously surprised me. While I still had similar problems that I had with the first book, Ryans wonderful prose kept me gripped throughout. She has a serious gift for creating fear out of the small moments and that which we find to be so normal, like the ocean (water zombies FTW!) The feeling of claustrophobia, even in the wide open spaces that Gabry lives in, is constant, and Ryan does a fantastic job of crafting a secret filled, constraining society in a situation where one would think such a thing isnt even possible. We also get answers to questions posed in the first book which is always a good thing. The mythos of the zombies, known here as the Mudo, is fleshed out further, no pun intended, and we get a wider view of how the world has been affected by the epidemic. There are some very interesting twists in this tale that I wont spoil for you. But the love triangle problem looms in the distance and I just cant ignore it. I was seriously bugged by Marys love-sick moping in The Forest of Hands and Teeth because it seemed like a ridiculous priority to have when ones life is at stake and it just dragged the plot down and sadly the exact thing happens here. While I like the protagonist in this book more than I did with Mary, it still feels highly unnecessary and uninteresting. Like her mother, Gabry suffers from some real moments of head-desk inducing stupidity. The adult Mary also gets a couple moments to display her unchanging personality from the first book. Im disappointed that Ryan decided to repeat this plot element from the first book since it was evidently the weakest part of the story and weighed down the rest of it so much. Id love to see her try this story without the love element in it. She manages to pose some very intriguing philosophical questions what does it truly mean to be alive? When you are undead are you still you? in an interesting way that keeps the plot moving, as well as some genuinely eerie moments, mixing together themes of religion, power and responsibility, and theyre all so much more interesting than the teenage romance, although I give credit to Gabry for being so much less selfish than her mother, even if she does spend a lot of time comparing herself to her. Id love to see a story set in this world around the time of the Return. It would probably be as depressing as hell but Ryan could definitely pull it off. I will definitely be picking up the final book in Ryans trilogy, The Dark and Hollow Places. Soap opera moments and unnecessary love triangle aside, I love Ryans prose and the world she has created. The Dead Tossed Waves builds upon its predecessor and even beats it on several levels and I was highly satisfied with it. Ryans a great storyteller and I hope she sticks with the stuff shes great at and makes the final book in her trilogy everything it deserves to be. 3.5 stars.