Gabry lives a quiet life, secure in her town next to the sea and behind the Barrier. She's content to let her friends dream of the Dark City up the coast while she watches from the top of her lighthouse. Home is all she's ever known, and all she needs for happiness. But life after the Return is never safe, and there are threats even the Barrier can't hold back.
Gabry's mother thought she left her secrets behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, but like the dead in their world, secrets don't stay buried. And now, Gabry's world is crumbling.
One night beyond the Barrier...
One boy Gabry's known forever and one veiled in mystery...
One reckless moment, and half of Gabry's generation is dead, the other half imprisoned.
Gabry knows only one thing: if she is to have any hope of a future, she must face the forest of her mother's past.
The Dead Tossed Waves picks up a generation after the end of The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Gabry is Mary's daughter, and the opposite of her adventurous mother. They live in the town of ocean town of Vista where Mary found herself at the end of the first book. And while they aren't in the Forest, most of the problems Mary faced, Gabry faces as well.
The Unconsecrated are back. Only in Vista, they have different names for them. Mudo are the normal slow zombies, and Breakers are the fast ones (and we get more explanation for how/why Breakers exist!). The zombies and the zombie virus is of course still the main threat. And just like in The Forest of Hands and Teeth, Carrie Ryan doesn't pull any punches. No characters are safe.
The pacing, action, and suspense is fantastic. I could not put the book down. Even though it was late. Even though I was exhausted. There were several twists I didn't see coming, and there was more than one time, I thought everyone was about to perish. And the love triangle had me torn. I couldn't even choose a team because I liked both guys! I found myself waffling back and forth over which guy I wanted Gabry to choose.
Carrie Ryan is a master at creative tension. In fact when I got to the end (which I'm not a hundred percent sure I loved, though it is realistic), I realized similar to my feelings about Mary, I actually didn't like Gabry all that much. She's flawed and not always sympathetic. But that didn't stop me from reading the entire book and still rooting for her to make it.