The Dead Tossed Waves, by Carrie Ryan

The Dead Tossed Waves (companion to The Forest of Hands and Teeth), by Carrie Ryan; horror, romance; 416 pages

The Forest of Hands and Teeth was one of my favorite books of 2009, so I was really excited to start on this one. We learn a bit more about the zombies here, and what the rest of the world has been doing since the Return. It's pretty cool to see the cults and governments that have sprung up, especially since the view in Forest was so limited. In some ways, Waves is more swoony and romantic than Forest (sorry Patrick), but I found myself getting annoyed with the main character more easily. Then again, I got pretty annoyed with the main character in the first book, too, and that didn't affect my enjoyment. I did think that the romance part of the story went from disappointing to downright creepy, but I can't say any more without revealing huge chunks of plot. Overall, I think I liked Forest better, if only because it was scarier. This one seemed a little less realistic (one character is dying of blood loss one day, and running from zombies the next--really??), and didn't have the same breathless pace. It also felt unfinished, so I'm hoping Ryan's next book will be a true sequel, rather than a story set in the same world.