LIttle Fish Review: The Dead-Tossed Waves

Vital Stats:

Book: The Dead-Tossed Waves

Author: Carrie Ryan

Genre: YA

Sequel/companion book to Forest of Hands and Teeth

Book Jacket Blurb:

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.

Review in long:

I audibly gasped in the bookstore when I saw this had come out, and there was no question I was going to buy it. I read it in one day.

And still, in looking back on it, all I can think is that… it was a sequel.

This one had tight writing, with the stakes being raised in pretty much every chapter, and MOST of the plot twists felt natural and realistic (MOST, mind you, not all, I’ll come back to that) and the character development felt natural – although maybe the love scenes felt a bit forced (similar to Forest)

The things that seemed to bug people (read in other reviews) like repetitive bringing up of character issues (“That fateful moment in the amusement park” “oh woe is me, I’m so scared and insecure and guilty”) were all there and noticeable, but not that irritating to me.

But the main thought running through my head was

“this book is such a sequel.” Nothing seemed QUITE as urgent as the first one. I didn’t quite care as much, either for the people or the plot. It was like both were good action movies, but the second one was just a good copy of the first, and by being a copy it simply wasn’t as good.

Specific nit-picks: The end. UGH! It ends on a “there’s obviously going to be another book” hook-end, which bugs me – probably because I wasn’t as thrilled with Waves as I was with Forest.

But the part that really bugs me about the end?

(spoilers! - highlight to read the white text)

The last big stakes-raising-tension-driving-OMG-plot-shifter moment was Elias accidentally stepping off a cliff. Really? Like… no one saw how the path just abruptly ended? Too lovesick to be aware of your physical surroundings, I guess? I hope that I was just reading too fast, and that somehow that cliff-fall was actually a bit more believable, but… really he just randomly steps off a cliff? Really? Because Alien abduction at that moment didn’t feel quite right? We went with cliff? Ok. I also had a hard time figuring out how, exactly, the bridge and fence were curving for the entire last chapter.

Forest of Hands and Teeth left me a bit haunted – it stuck with me for awhile, in a good way. At the end, you’re left to make your own conclusions about the meanings,

whereas Waves tried a bit harder to pound in the “this is what life means” bits. Forest hit tragedy/action just right, while Waves tried a bit too hard and didn’t stick the landing. Forest felt satisfying, Waves didn’t. Forest resonated with me, Waves didn’t. Something just wasn’t clicking.

Both had similar writing problems, that I could see: melodramatic writing, intense love interests going on with no real reason – and actually for both I was able to get over it in the first couple of chapters and go with it. Again, the writing is very good, and both are fun re

ads. I just... wanted to be haunted by Waves, and I wasn't.

Review in short:

I’m not sure which of my quibbles really sinks Waves, (probably the combination of all of them) but Waves just wasn’t as good as Forest. It’s worth the read, because it’s still “a good action movie” but it’s a sequel, and it’s not as good as the first.

As a stand alone it’s simply a good book, the way I feel solid action movies are “a good action movie”… so it’s still worth a read. But Forest of Hands and Teeth? Make sure you read that one.

Anything else?

The cover was so not as awesome as Forest of Hands and Teeth, although the title was pretty good. For some reason the font on Waves bugs me a lot.

Little Fish Review: Jerk, California

Vital stats:

Title: Jerk, California
Written by: Jonathan Friesen
Genre: YA
Pub stats: Speak, 2004

Summary:

(taken from Booklist, by way of amazon.com)

In rural Wisconsin, Sam, a high-school student with Tourette syndrome, is alienated from his peers and rejected by his stepfather, and he has trouble getting close to lovely, kind Naomi. After graduation, his stepfather kicks him out of the house, and he accepts a job and lodging from another outcast, who knew Sam’s late father and dispels some of Sam’s misconceptions about his dad. Then, after more shake-ups at home, Sam embarks on a road trip with Naomi to California, hunting windmills and answers left by Sam’s dad along the way. Sam and his story are quixotic in the best possible way: he is a good-hearted dreamer trying to do right by his dulcinea. Debut author Friesen has Tourette syndrome, and he brings complexity and nuance to Sam’s struggle for understanding and self-acceptance. The pacing is leisurely, but like any good road story, there are enough corners and bends to keep readers eagerly anticipating what lies ahead at the journey’s end. Grades 10-12. --Heather Booth

Review in long:
(spoilers)

This was a book that caught my eye from the shelf several times. It's bright orange and has a quirky title that includes the name of my home state. I finally bought it when I read the first few pages and the voice really grabbed me.

Sam, our main man, is wonderfully written. The way he talks to himself, the way his Tourettes affects him, all of it. He was unique and awesome, and I really loved getting to know him. The writing in general is very good. It has some lovely telling details, and, again, voice is spot on.

Plot-wise, the beginning of the book is quirky and funny enough. Things are set up to be interesting - weird old guy and road trip? rockin', I'm so into this. The people they met on the roadtrip? hilarious and heartwarming in all the right ways.

I liked everything up until two thirds of the way in.

A few things happened at that time to turn me off.

1. I started to dislike Naomi. She was just so irritating sometimes. like in how she misunderstood things. Looking at stuff from Sam's perspective, you could see how/why he misunderstood, but it felt like Naomi was just kind of dense and moody. Also, I just did NOT understand where she was coming from. After her big secret is revealed, it doesn't really give that flash of insight into her character that makes you like her. it just kind of sits there and you go "oh." and then move on.

2. The ending surprises. Kind of anti-climactic in some ways, and it was just so sudden and easy the way Sam suddenly becomes this whole new confident dude. I don't know. I felt like I needed a bit more, or maybe a bit more subtlety?

3. The happily ever after ending. ugh, really? and I'm not talking "everyone is happy in the end" I'm talking "the bad get punished, the good rewarded and all living together in harmony with little birds tweeting around them" happy ending, which felt so flippin' sappy to me. I like my realism, dammit.

Review in short:

I wanted to like this book better then I did. Man character is a gem to read, but the ending just made it "meh" for me. Maybe get this one from the library.

Anything else?

Aw, according to my brief search on Google maps, Jerk, California does not exist. That makes me frowny. It would've been so much cooler if there was an actual town called Jerk.

Little Fish Review: Skin Hunger

Vital Stats:

Book: Skin Hunger
Author: Kathleen Duey
Genre: YA fantasy

Review in long:
(contains a bit o' basic plot spoiling, but no details)

Maz, my co-worker and kindred spirit in YA reading, lent this one to me. I read the back of the book and it was a jumble. It starts out with two different main characters and each one, Sadima and Hahp, alternate chapters. Hahp is first person, Sadima is third person. It's a bit jarring, but the effect is good: it makes the book interesting enough to keep on reading. Which is what the first quarter of the book needs.

While Hahp's beginnings are pretty interesting (shipped off to a terrible wizarding school) Sadima's are pretty flippin' boring. Honestly, even with Hahp's interesting predicament, after I left the book a quarter of the way in, I didn't get back to it for a couple of days. It wasn't screaming to be read.

And then tonight I picked it up again. And read. and then KEPT READING, because the book gets so dark and twisted that you can't stop. It's not like gruesome things suddenly start happen, it's just that the book works its way into the world and the story deeper and deeper.

Character-wise I'm not super attached to either Sadima or Hahp, but their problems are so serious that I need to know what happens next.

Which is a shame, because the book completely DROPS at the end, as it is the first in a trilogy. EEP!

The second book is out, but she's still writing the third. I fully intend to get the second, and I can't wait to find out how much darker the story can get.

As Maz pointed out, it's a nice change in the world of magic. Most YA fantasies are not this dark, and even though evil people are about and bad things happen, the idea of whatever magic exists is still kind of "normal" and "happy." Skin Hunger is a bit more ... well, again, dark and twisted. Morbid?

I don't know, all I can say is I really liked how I got pulled in, and I really want to be pulled in even more.

Review in short:

a YA fantasy that appeals to me because it's dark. It's slow start and possible distant protagonists are made up for by having the twisted world it has. The duel stories help move the book along, and I can't wait to see how many more connections are made between the two.
Recommended, although that could change depending how the ending of the series goes.

Anything else?

Damn. I don't have Maz's phone number and she's not on Facebook. How the heck will she know I need her to bring me the second book?