Dead Tossed Waves + The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan

The Dead Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan
"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--home is all she's ever known and all she needs for happiness.

But life after the Return is never safe.

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.

In one reckless moment, half of Gabry's generation is dead, the other half imprisoned.

Now Gabry knows only one thing: if she has any hope of a future, she must face the forest of her mother's past."- summary from Amazon

The Dark and Hollow Places by Carrie Ryan
"There are many things that Annah would like to forget: the look on her sister's face when she and Elias left her behind in the Forest of Hands and Teeth, her first glimpse of the horde as they found their way to the Dark City, the sear of the barbed wire that would scar her for life. But most of all, Annah would like to forget the morning Elias left her for the Recruiters.

Annah's world stopped that day and she's been waiting for him to come home ever since. Without him, her life doesn't feel much different from that of the dead that roam the wasted city around her. Then she meets Catcher and everything feels alive again.

Except, Catcher has his own secrets -- dark, terrifying truths that link him to a past Annah's longed to forget, and to a future too deadly to consider. And now it's up to Annah -- can she continue to live in a world drenched in the blood of the living? Or is death the only escape from the Return's destruction?"- summary from Amazon

I read both of these books back-to-back because well, I needed to, lol. Each of the books are companion novels rather than direct sequels but it does help to read them in the order they were published in, especially the second and third books.

I like to call these books "literary novels that include zombies" because it's true. Yes, there are zombies in these books (known as Unconsecrated or Mudo) but it's not strictly a zombie book. It's really more about the human condition to survive, and deals with love, loss, inner turmoil, guilt, and a myriad of other emotions and situations. Ryan does a wonderful job of fleshing out all her characters, giving them backstories and motives as to why they act the way they do. The characters are the main thing that keeps me reading these books.

But Ryan's prose is just as mesmerizing- the way she writes everything, whether it's a love scene, an action scene, or an emotional scene, is just captivating. The action scenes don't feel out of place nor does the style change when they pop up in the story, but they still feel realistic and make my heart pound.

Overall, Ryan has an amazing trilogy under her belt now and I'm excited to see where she goes next. If you haven't read these books yet, you must do so as soon as possible. They're fantastic.

FTC: Received ARCs of each from publisher and Michelle of Hooked to Books, respectively. Links above are Amazon Associate links; any profit goes toward funding contests.