Review: The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan

A companion novel to Ryan’s debut, The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Gabry has grown-up in the quiet, sheltered seaside town of Vista with her mother, Mary. While the world outside rages with Mudo (zombies), Gabry feels safe within the fences – until one night she makes a fatal mistake that changes her life forever…

Author: Carrie Ryan

Pages: 416

Published: 2010

Bottom Line: A great second novel in what is shaping up to be a very exciting trilogy. While this story presents many similar plot elements and conflicts, it is nevertheless an enjoyable and exciting read from start to finish.

The zombie apocalypse is upon us again with Carrie Ryan’s thrilling companion to The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Rather than being a direct sequel, The Dead-Tossed Waves is set quite a few years in the future. Mary, our heroine from The Forest of Hands and Teeth, is the lighthouse keeper in the sheltered, seaside town of Vista – the perfect place, she believes, to raise her teenaged daughter, Gabry.

Although the whole world is overrun by the cannibalistic undead, Vista feels safe – high fences and militia keep the zombies at bay, and the waterlogged dead who wash up on shore are quickly dispatched every day. However, as anyone who is familiar with the laws of the zombie apocalypse would attest to – something will, inevitably, go horribly, horribly wrong.

I have a confession to make. Zombies absolutely terrify me. There is a small part of me that is quite certain that a zombie apocalypse could (and will) happen and dreads it immeasurably. I made the tragic mistake of reading The Dead-Tossed Waves in the darkness late at night, and it left me feeling uneasy, paranoid and just plain afraid.

As I walked through my dark, silent house to get a glass of water after I finished the book, it would have taken only the slightest creak of the stairs or groan of the wind to put me into a state of zombie panic. That being said, I am always impressed by the tenacity and pure will of live of Ryan’s heroines – I can’t imagine being able to live in a world full of stark, constant terror and danger without wanting to hurl myself out of a window.

In this book, Gabry is a law-abiding, zombie-fearing, “good girl” who is tempted beyond the fences that surround her town in order to visit an abandoned amusement park with her friends. Though Gabry is reluctant to go and frightened by the consequences, it is the encouragement of Catcher, her best friend’s brother and her greatest crush, that finally convinces her.

The situation spirals rapidly out of control, however, as the teenagers are attacked by a Breaker – a type of extremely fast and vicious zombie. The repercussions of this night change Gabry’s life profoundly – she must grow up quickly and decide whether she wants to live her life safe and secure within the walls of the city, or follow her heart and risk everything for love.

I found that The Dead-Tossed Waves mirrored many of the plot elements and conflicts that made The Forest of Hands and Teeth such a compelling read – though not necessarily in a detrimental way. There is an angst-ridden love triangle, a heroine who must question the very traditions and laws that have kept her safe, unexpected twists and turns, zombie mayhem and friendships fractured in the face of calamity.

I am not entirely sure whether Carrie Ryan intended for these plot parallels between mother and daughter (Mary and Gabry) in order to illustrate that no matter how hard one tries to shelter one’s child from the horrors and mistakes of the past, history will always find a way to repeat itself (especially in the midst of a global zombie apocalypse), or whether she is simply recycling what worked well in her first novel. However, plot parallels or no, The Dead-Tossed Waves is an exciting, edge-of-your-seat read.

It is packed with enough interesting characters, action, unexpected plot twists and startling revelations that will keep you guessing and turning pages until you’re done. I am tremendously excited for the third installment which, judging by the ending of this book, should be a straight sequel. The Forest of Hands and Teeth series definitely has all of the makings of a great young adult fantasy trilogy.

If you enjoy thrilling coming-of-age tales replete with love, loss, life lessons, and hordes of the undead, shamble over to your nearest bookstore and pick up The Dead-Tossed Waves.

(Follow the link to read my earlier review of The Forest of Hands and Teeth)

Review: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith & Jane Austen

The title says it all. Jane Austen’s classic tale of Pride & Prejudice with zombie mayhem interspersed. Lizzie and her sisters are martial arts masters and zombie-killing machines who must rid Meryton of the “sorry stricken” and, sigh, find themselves husbands to love…

Author: Seth Grahame-Smith & Jane Austen

Pages: 317

Published: 2009

Bottom Line: Read for the novelty. If you’re a true fan of Pride & Prejudice it’ll just make you want to pick up your old, dog-eared copy of the original and read it right.

I’m afraid that, despite my oft-mentioned love of all things Jane Austen and zombies, this book simply didn’t do it for me. I didn’t find it terribly clever or funny, and the zombie bits written by Seth Grahame-Smith just didn’t quite gel with Jane Austen’s lovely, witty prose. Now I am not a humourless old bat and I really had high hopes for this being a fun, silly mashup but, for me, it didn’t deliver.

If you’ve ever read Pride & Prejudice before it’s completely unnecessary to read the entire book. Just read the zombie chapters and look at the lovely, zombiefied illustration and you’ll get all that the book has to offer.

The gist: Same story, same characters. There’s a zombie plague in Meryton. Lizzie Bennet and her sisters were trained by a martial arts master in China, and so have the battle skills necessary to slaughter said zombies. Needless to say, there’s zombie killing, zombie bites, zombie transformations, and some good, old-fashioned romancin’ (non-zombie).

Honestly, while I was reading this book, the only thing I could think about was how much I wanted to reread the original. It felt almost improper to be reading this bastardization of a classic text. Grahame-Smith’s writing and dialogue simply isn’t good enough to fit in seamlessly with Austen’s, and his chapters feel like they were written by a bored young boy desperate to jazz up a required reading.

Moreover, the zombie storyline was just too goofy to be taken seriously. Perhaps I could swallow zombies in Meryton, but not zombies and martial arts masters and ninjas and God knows what else.

Needless to say, if you love Austen you may just want to give this one a pass. Why not reread Pride & Prejudice and integrate your own zombie mashup? I’m sure it couldn’t be any worse than this one.

I’m not even going to try to read Sense and Sensibility and Seamonsters, though the cover is absolutely hilarious.

Review: Beastly by Alex Flinn

A modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast set in New York City.

Author: Alex Flinn

Pages: 304

Published: 2007

Bottom Line: A bit fluffy and insubstantial, but a good, quick YA read. Perfect for those who want a satisfying, romantic escape from reality.

Unless you’ve been living in a cave since you were born, you know this story. You know the beginning, middle and end of it and won’t find any surprises lurking in Alex Flinn’s Beastly. Sure, it’s a modern retelling set in the present (full of ‘in the now’ references and product placement), but the heart is the same – vain boy angers witch, witch turns boy into beast, beast has x amount of time to find someone who truly loves him to reverse the spell, hijinx ensue.

In this case, the entire story is told from the Beast’s point of view – a shallow, wealthy New York high school student who gets on the wrong side of a vindictive witch and gets himself beastified. He’s got two years to find someone who loves him but is hindered by poor self esteem, daddy issues, and the fact that he looks like a wolfman (not a cute New Moon wolfie, but a full on furry-faced, claw-handed man beast).

I felt bad for the kid, I mean the only career paths open to him were circus freak and Disney theme-park mascot, but having watched Beauty and the Beast a multitude of times as a kid I was pretty confident that it would all work out. Also, his wealthy and famous dad buys him a five-storey brownstone in Brooklyn with a garden, live-in maid and tutor, huge plasma screens and all the DVDs and video games money can buy. Oh, and he has access to his dad’s credit card to buy anything (and I mean anything) that his heart desires. Boo hoo. I’d suffer through some claw hands for those kinds of amenities any day.

All in all it was a quick, fun, fluffy read. It took me about two hours to get through Beastly and though it wasn’t exactly thoughtful literature, I was never once bored and definitely felt the need to see it through to the end. Beauty and the Beast is truly a timeless tale, and it definitely doesn’t suffer during the modernization. The book tries to tackle serious teen issues such as low self-esteem, bullying, drugs and poverty, but the true story here is the romance and it is a satisfying one. Amusing read for those who like YA fantasy, Twilight-esque romance, or just a quick, relaxing escape from reality.