The Dead-Tossed Waves

AUTHOR: Carrie Ryan

PAGES: 407

WEBSITE: http://www.carrieryan.com/

TWITTER: @carrieryan

GENRE: YA

SUMMARY:

The sequel to The Forest of Hands and Teeth. Gabry is a girl living in the world surrounded by barriers, and for Gabry, she couldn't ask for anything more. While her friends dream of going to the Dark City, Gabry is content right where she is. Safe. Gabry is always safe.

She has heard the stories her mother has told her of the Forest. She knows beyond the barriers and into the forest there is Mudo wanting nothing more than to spread the infection. She has heard their moans, has watched from the lighthouse as her mother nightly patrols the beach decapitating the ones washed ashore. This is what must be done to keep safe. This is the way of life in Vista and so many villages.

When her best friend, Cira, brother and a group of his friends decide to cross the barrier to the ruins of the amusement park, Gabry is not tempted in the least, but Cira begs until Gabry agrees. Even when she is on the wooden barrier she still has doubts and wants to go back to the safety of the lighthouse, until Catcher slips his hand into hers and she feels his warmth and feels their relationship shift. She jumps down to the other side. She takes a chance.

With that one choice, Gabry has completely changed the course of her life. She'll learn how strong she really can be, who she really is, and just how hard it can be to just live.

"Just when I thought I was putting all the pieces back together they've cracked and fallen into different patterns, this time with sharper edges. I don't know how to make it work, how to make it right."

OPINION:

At first I was so disappointed the story wasn't being told from Mary's pov. I wanted to know what happened to her. She had so much more to tell.

Gabry seemed so weak I couldn't tell if I was going to like this book as well as The Forest of Hands and Teeth, but I did end up loving Gabry just as much as Mary. She becomes stronger and you can see Mary in her. Even though Gabry feels she is nothing like her mother, her strength comes through.

"What's she like?" I ask him. His face twists just a little but he never stops looking at me. "She's strong," he says. "Beautiful and sweet." I see the memories swimming behind his eyes. It feels as though I'm intruding too far in his life and I've already turned away when he says, so softly, "She's a lot like you."

You feel the torment Gabry goes through as she loses everything she has ever known. And you feel her incredible power as she fights for the one she loves.

Can a zombie book be beautiful? YES.

"-But rather than the feel of his lips I remember him telling me that sometimes you can think you know someone and then they say something or do something and suddenly everything changes."

The author is so good at description you feel as if you're right there beside Gabry. Gabry's adventure is definitely worth reading and , if you loved Mary as much as I did, you'll get all the answers to your questions The Forest of Hands and Teeth left you with.

The ending, OMG, all I got to say is there better be a book 3 in this series.

Beautiful Malice

AUTHOR: Rebecca James

PAGES: 256

WEBSITE: http://www.rebeccajamesbooks.com/

TWITTER: @BeckyJames1970

ACQUIRED: ARC publisher

Genre: YA

SUMMARY:

Katie is your normal teenager. She's happy and carefree. She is discovering love, she's popular, she's happy, until the night her sister is murdered. Now Katie has become Katherine. She's changed her last name, she's moved in with her aunt, and attends a different high school hoping to escape her past. She doesn't want to stand out, she just wants to make it through high school without the scrutiny of that one night, of who she was/is, of who her parents are, of who her sister was. She just wants to be normal.

When Katherine meets Alice, her world is turned upside down. Alice is popular, the center of attention and can make any situation fun. Katherine is reluctant to accept Alice's friendship, but when she does she realizes just how much she has missed having a friend and being carefree. The guilt is there, always inside her, the guilt of surviving when her sister had not.

Katherine experiences Alice erratic behavior and is shocked at how easy it is for her to hurt the people who care about her. How fast she is to lashes out at anyone. And how Alice expects everything to be like nothing happened after one of her episodes.

When Alice's behavior becomes just too dark for Katherine she ends the friendship. But Katherine will learn you can't just be rid of someone like Alice, she gets in you, tries to eat you alive and destroy all that you love.

Katherine's life may have been surrounded by secrets but Alice has a few secrets of her own.

OPINION:

This book is so hard to talk about without giving away spoilers. It was a great read. Very well written and a definite page turner. You will stay up late, not being able to put it down.

Intriguing. This book will get you from the very start. Right away you get the sense something is off with Alice. This girl is extreme, but you are just so happy Katherine is finally starting to feel her age again, you hope Alice will get herself together.

It's heartbreaking that Katherine holds the burden of her sisters death. It's a struggle for her to even begin to be happy. Katherine is consumed with survivors guilt. She feels guilty, not only for being alive, but deep down she wonders if her actions caused her sisters death.

Alice becomes so twisted and sick you just don't know how far she will go to get what she wants. Alice taints everyone she comes in contact with.

It was a fascinating read, full of mystery. Learning what happened that night Katherine's sister was murdered and learning all of Katherine's and Alice's secrets leaves you with a tale that is funny, horrific, loving and chilling. Creepy, bone chilling, beautiful story.

Green Witch

AUTHOR: Alice Hoffman
PAGES: 135
WEBSITE: http://www.alicehoffman.com/index.htm
GENRE: YA

SUMMARY: (from book jacket)
Green lives every day with feelings of loss. Her family is gone, the boy she loves is missing, and the world she once knew has been transformed by tragedy. In order to rediscover the truth about love, hope and magic, she must venture away from her home, collecting the stories of a group of women who have been branded as witches because of their mysterious powers. Only through their stories will Green find her own heart's desire.

OPINION:
Loved it. Green Witch is the continuation of Green's story from Green Angel. It's a whimsical dark fable about a girl named Green. Green finds the strength not to let the deep sadness, that is her life, consume her as she tries to find her best friend and the boy she loved. With the help of the "witches" Green finds her way. Each woman has a story to tell, a story of sadness, a story of hope. With the help of these enchanted, Green discover who she is. Who she is beyond: Green full of grief.
It's lyrical and fast paced. It's a vivid story that comes to life as you read. It's a magical little book.

What you dream, you can grow.
"Someone told me that, but I didn't believe it. I said I had nothing and that people with nothing are unable to dream. But I was wrong. Dreams are like air. They never leave you. It takes less than nothing to begin. Start with a pile of rocks. Moonstones, night stones, stones the color of snow. Start with heartache, thorns vines. Let there be mud on your clothes, nails in your boots, ink on your skin, pain deep inside you. Let it grow and don't be afraid."

Be sure to read Green Angel first, you really need to know Green's back story before starting Green Witch. The two books put together aren't even 300 pages. Short but memorable series.

Shiver

AUTHOR: Maggie Stiefvater
PAGES: 392
WEBSITE: http://www.maggiestiefvater.com
TWITTER: @mstiefvater
ACQUIRED: The Book Elf

SUMMARY: (from book jacket)
the cold.
Grace has pent years watching the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed-wolf-her wolf-watches back. He feels deeply familiar to her, but she doesn't know why.

the heat.
Sam has lived two lives. As a wolf, he keeps the silent company of the girl he loves, And then, for a short time each year, he is human, never daring to talk to Grace...until now.

the shiver.
For Grace and Sam, love has always been kept at a distance. But once it's spoken, it cannot be denied. Sam must fight to stay human-and Grace must fight to keep him-even if it means taking on the scars of the past, the fragility of the present, and the impossibility of the future.

OPINION:
I loved this book so much. The book is just so well written. The flow is fantastic, the way the chapters are broken up. Graces obsession with the wolves is beautifully portrayed. She falls in love with Sam before he is even in human form. Now that might seems kind of creepy but it doesn't come off that way. The whole thing is just so romantic.

The characters are likable. I loved the characters actually and think you will fall in love with them too. You want their relationship to work, you want to keep reading about them. That is not always the case when reading YA it seems.

Grace is bitten years earlier but, unlike Sam, she has never changed forms. Sam is approaching his last year of being able to turn human, just as his and Grace's relationship is beginning. The struggle to find a way to stay together, with her inability to change and his to stay. Grace would run into the woods and live as a wolf with Sam if she could without hesitation and Sam would do anything, even face death, to stay human to be with Grace.

I found the ending of the book beautiful and touching, just as I did the beginning and middle. Most of you have probably already read this wonderful book but if you haven't READ it. I hope you love it as much as I did.

Although I thought the story ended perfectly, I am excited that there is going to be more books on this love story. Linger, coming this summer, and Forever in 2011.