The Dead-Tossed Waves (Forest of Hands and Teeth, #2)

by Carrie Ryan

[nannah]

Trigger warnings: attempted rape

A friend had told me the second installment was about Mary's daughter, so I prepared myself accordingly, but I wasn't prepared for ANOTHER love triangle and another heroine who depended on the love of two boys to function, to feel self-worth and to make any decisions. There has to be something said for someone who feels the need to put two love triangles in two successive books involving separate characters. Seems a bit excessive to me . . . at least unimaginative.

So yes, I didn't like Gabry much. She did feel stronger in the end, but I felt cheated, because she kept talking about this newfound strength, and I know she only felt that way because some boy told her he loved her. She spent the whole first three-quarters of the book moaning about these two boys and that she was doing something wrong and pushing them away and then yanking them closer. Pages after pages were spent on this interior monologue that basically ran over the same issues: "I NEED HIM, OMG GET AWAY." The writing in general was a bit redundant: chapters spent discussing the same thing that happened earlier, or treating the same issues, etc.

But what really bothered me the most was the heroine's dependence on the male protagonists of the book. It seems that every YA book I pick up geared towards a more "female audience," if I have to be so stereotypical, has this same attitude. And it's starting to worry me. That, and it's plain aggravating as all heck.

I'd add more here, but I'm starting to care less and less, unfortunately. The plot didn't seem strong enough to hold its own (hence the love triangle forming most of the focus), Ryan also had to put some totalitarian-feeling controlling figure to make the book a bit more cliche as a YA book and it just went on and on, spiraling into the same issues without resolving most of them.

However, I'm being overwhelmingly negative, and I did rate this thing three stars. The climax, when it did happen, was pretty darn well-done. The scene was chilling (the not-so-much-a-waterfall concept made me literally shiver), and I started to root for the main protags in a way I hadn't done the whole book.

. . . but I might just look up a detailed summary of the third installment instead of reading it, I'm that frustrated . . . or at least I'll see if the love triangle makes a comeback. If it doesn't, I'll give The Dark and Hollow Places a shot.