June 8, 2013

The 5th Wave



The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
Fiction – YA Post-Apocalyptic
2013 G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Finished on 5/5/13
Rating: 4.75/5 (Outstanding!)





If aliens ever visit us, I think the outcome would be much as when Christopher Columbus first landed in America, which didn’t turn out very well for the Native Americans. ~ Stephen Hawking

Publisher’s Blurb:

After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, just one rule applies: TRUST NO ONE.

Now it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

From award-winning author Rick Yancey comes a gripping epic of catastrophic loss, unthinkable odds, and unflinching courage.

I don’t read a lot of teen fiction. Other than The Book Thief (which became a widely popular cross-over novel with adult readers and is one of my all-time favorite reads ever), there have been less than a handful of teen novels that have piqued my interest. While I enjoyed The Hunger Games and Twilight, the sequels were disappointing and I quickly grew tired of all the teenage angst. However, I love a good post-apocalyptic story (The Stand, Swan Song, The Road, and The Passage, are just a few of my favorites), so when the ARC of The 5th Wave arrived I knew I wanted to read it, but decided to let my husband have first dibs. I figured he could save me some valuable time, if he felt it was poorly written or not compelling enough. Well, surprisingly (as he rarely ever reads teen fiction), not only did he finish the book, he thought it was very good. And, much to my relief, not filled with a lot of angst.

I dove into the book as soon as I finished The Light Between Oceans (something I rarely do, as I like to have a little break between books, if only a few hours) and was immediately drawn into Cassie and Evan’s stories. Other than a few instances in which I thought that Cassie’s internal monologues depicting her romantic attraction toward another character were beginning to feel overly saccharine, I loved the book. While not as intricate or sophisticated as The Stand or Swan Song, it was highly entertaining and much better than I had anticipated. With that said, I will continue to hold out hope that the second installment (yes, this is the first in a trilogy) doesn’t follow the trend of disappointing sequels.

Final Thoughts:

The 5th Wave is a tautly written page-turner, sure to satisfy readers of all ages and appeal to fans of Ender’s Game and The Hunger Games. I look forward to the next novel in this trilogy, but meanwhile, I plan to check out Rick Yancey’s backlist. Any recommendations?

Go here to read Justin Cronin’s (best-selling author of The Passage and The Twelve) review of The 5th Wave.

16 comments:

  1. This book is getting great buzz! I'm not sure it's for me but I'm going to tell my son about it.

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    1. It's selling really well where I work, which is always a good thing. :) If you're not into post-apocalyptic tales, you probably wouldn't care for it.

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  2. I'm willing to give this one a try even though I'm not a fan of the "them" idea-aliens per se. It sounds engaging though.

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    1. I found it "unputdownable!" The aliens weren't a huge part of this book, but I have a feeling they'll be more prevalent in the second installment.

      Thank you for stopping by with your comment. I see (from your profile) that you live in Iowa. We're almost neighbors. :)

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  3. Sounds good. Have you read any John Green? He is one teen author that I totally love!

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    1. I haven't gotten around to reading anything by John Green, but I have several titles that have been recommended. I hope to get to a few of them this summer.

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  4. I got about twenty pages in, where our poor main character is hiding from horrible creatures, and I found I was absolutely frozen with fear, and I realized that I could not read such a scary, scary book. (I am a big scared-y cat.)

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    1. It is a pretty intense story and I think I remember which scene you're referring to. Probably not your cuppa. ;)

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  5. I like the sound of this one, especially since I felt the same about Twilight and Hunger Games. I also loved Ender's Game, The Passage, and liked The Road. I liked Cronin's The Twelve, too, but not as much as The Passage.

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    1. If you loved Ender's Game, you'll enjoy this one! And I'm with you on The Twelve. Good, but not as good as The Passage. I hope #3 is better than both of its predecessors!

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  6. I just read another awesome review of this one. I will be reading it for sure. I see your above comment about Ender's Game. I adored that book big time. In fact, I've used that one to get many reluctant boys to read!!!! Snagging a copy of this one for sure!

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    1. If you liked Ender's Game, you'll love this one. I actually think this is better. Happy reading, Staci!

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  7. This one really does look great. I think Nancy's review was the first one I saw. Definitely keeping an eye out for this one.

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    1. I'm behind in my blog hopping, but I assume you still haven't given this one a try, right? Don't wait too long. It's fantastic!!

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  8. I picked this one up, started reading and was very intrigued. I decided to wait until school was out so I could devote some real time to it. I'm looking forward to it!

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    1. You'll be able to zip through it very quickly! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Remember, it's #1 of a trilogy. ;)

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