The 5th Wave

4.5/5 Stars"They are coming for us.All of us..."Whoa, what a journey! Like, seriously, I'm not sure my world has stopped spinning yet it's so bloody fantastic.I'm a little late to the party, especially considering that the last book in this trilogy has been released, and not too long ago (don't worry, I picked it up, which was brave considering I hadn't read the first entry yet). I've seen the film, which I think is fine, and, accidentally (curse you Google!), while perusing online for some info I spoiled the end of the series for myself (what was I thinking?).But, neither do anything to rob me of my enjoyment. The 5th Wave is a tremendous story of survival, loneliness and trust; three themes that author Rick Yancey perfectly portrays in a plot rife with action and emotion. The apocalyptic landscape is a wonder to behold and the characters that populate it are all diverse and layered.A smashing foundation for a trilogy.Synopsis (This time round, I'll be using the blurb that comes with my edition of the book.)THE 1ST WAVETOOK OUT HALF A MILLION PEOPLE.THE 2ND WAVEPUT THAT NUMBER TO SHAME.THE 3RD WAVELASTED A LITTLE LONGER, TWELVE WEEKS...FOUR BILLION DEAD.IN THE 4TH WAVE,YOU CAN'T TRUST THAT PEOPLE ARE STILL PEOPLE.AND THE 5TH WAVE?NO ONE KNOWS.BUT IT'S COMING.On a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs.Runs from beings that only look human,who have scattered Earth's last survivors.To stay alone is to stay alive,until she meets Evan Walker.Beguiling and mysterious, Evan may be her only hope.Now Cassie must choose: between trust and despair,between defiance and surrender, between life and death.Plot - 4.5/5 StarsThe 5th Wave is one of those novels that has you right from the start. Yancey mixes the present with the past, showing us where characters are and the trials that they went through to get there. It's not seamless, but it's pretty darn close. It's not an easy balance to achieve, especially when tenses are switching so often. The stage is set with emotional scenes that depict an Earth ravaged by alien invaders, and the quality is on point.Action offsets the exposition, and once we're past the past, the present is a hooking ride. The way the author imbues his novel with so many dark themes but still manages to keep a sliver of light is remarkable.There is a lull in the middle, I will admit, but, for me personally, with such an interesting story of survival championed with such an exceptional cast, I can't muster any annoyance.There are a few things that I'm not entirely sure of or understand, but they're small things that border on being completely inconsequential. And when we reach the explosive ending, Yancey answers enough to satisfyingly close the novel while keeping a few cliffhangers to make sure we're salivating for more.Pace - 4.5/5 StarsWhile The 5th Wave has its fast-paced moments, I wouldn't necessarily call it a fast-paced novel, and that's not a negative. The delicious themes demand time and effort, and both are apparent. The depth of the cast eclipses the overall plot, but that plot is still a wicked ride. The beginning might prove difficult for some considering the rapidly switching tenses, but a little focus during that part should prove invaluable.As a whole, it's consistent. Aside from that lull in the middle, it's riveting.Characters - 5/5 StarsThe 5th Wave's cast is my favourite aspect of the novel. It's phenomenal. The chemistry and development are intricately woven throughout this alien-infested landscape. With trust out the window and isolation most people's only friend, the unpredictability of scenes is a definite highlight.I adore Cassie, our marginally predominant protagonist (we do get other viewpoints). She's a screwed up human being whose morality has been completely splintered. Her compassion wars with her fear, and that palpable inability to trust makes the romantic relationship with mysterious Evan all the more sweeter. Her progression from scattered victim to capable survivor is wonderful, and is only bolstered by how much fun her sarcastic voice is.Zombie, or Ben, is likely second when it comes to the time given to the various viewpoints. And the fascination doesn't dim. Where Cassie is driven more by the sheer determination to understand and fit in a new world, Zombie works more from undiluted guilt. He has a heart of gold, but that hasn't stopped him from making choices that haunt his every second. His beginnings are a realistic look at someone in such a contentious environment; a merciless gut-punch that asks the reader to be honest about what they'd do in a life-or-death situation.Now, Cassie and Ben know one another, with both having attended the same high school (plus Cassie had a major crush on Ben, while he largely only knew her in passing). But in this new world you just don't trust anyone, and while most have adopted the mindset of never hoping again, little Sam, Cassie's young brother, becomes the novel's link between worlds, and I love that. Sam's development follows him toughening up in a world gone deadly, but he also keeps the ideal of hope alive when it's missing from most.Our last main, main character (in my opinion, there are more people) is Evan, the stranger steeped in the unknown that saves Cassie from certain death. I won't go too much into it, because I don't want this review having any spoilers, but his identity crisis and personality are two fantastic elements to the story.The way the characters are placed and moved and worked around one another is a thrilling experience.Writing - 4/5 StarsThere's a certain philosophical aspect to Yancey's writing in this novel that really has you contemplating everything. While the world is in the middle of an alien invasion, the parallels between the fictional and the real really have the reader absorbed.Scenes, for the most part, are clear and built well; the switching tenses at the beginning can jar a little, but keep with it, it evens out; and be wary for swapping viewpoints, because I know some folks absolutely hate that (I don't, especially when each character rocks, like here).Overall - 4.5/5 StarsBetter late than never. I am so glad to have finally started this trilogy.Keep up the great work, Mr Yancey, I shall see you all in the next entry!

Great book. This book has it all. Brilliantly written, with likeable characters and an amazing plot. Every time I thought I had it figured out it took another turn. It hard to review this book properly without giving something away. What I will say and reiterate is this book is amazing I would recommend it to anyone.In 5 months the would has changed. Humanity is all but been wiped out in 4 terrifying waves. With Humanity facing extinction the story follows Cassie who could by the last human alive. She has seen her species and family destroyed. She is even too beaten down for revenge, all she has is a promise to fulfill. This is a chilling emotional stroy of that made me want to just keep reading till it was finished. I enjoyed every moment of the book. Comparing Cassie to other the main characters of book like Twilight or the Hunger Games, Cassie is tougher then Bella and more likeable/relatable that Katniss. She is more like Tris from the Divergent series. I just loved this book I can't wait for the next in the series.

[Spoilers in here] I really enjoyed this book which was a fast-paced apocalyptic vision about the days after an alien invasion. The epigraph to the book pretty much sums it up "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). As predicted by possibly the world's smartest man, the alien visit doesn't turn out so well, with them raining down upon humanity a range of things to neutralise them (including wiping out the whole of technology as we know it and reducing humanity back to the dark ages, a devastating disease which wipes out pretty much everyone else, in addition to invading humanity by taking over the consciousness of certain humans, so it becomes impossible to tell who's who any more).The story primarily follows Cassie in her struggle to survive after the death/loss in one way or another of her entire family. It's a well known fact that if the human race does face this kind of difficulty in the future, it's going to be entirely down to teenagers to save us, and, so, of course, Cassie is a normal teenager before all of this happens. In fact, she continues to be pretty much a normal teenager after it all happens (throwing strops about the alien invasion and reducing the fate of mankind down to the fact that it's her who has suffered most). When she is saved by Evan Walker, who tells her he is in love with her and seems to know way too much about her (hmm, I wonder how that could be?), even he gets a bit sick of her whingeing on and on about me, me, me, all the time, and starts thinking that perhaps alien annihilation wasn't such a bad strategy after all.In some ways, this book was so obvious (you don't have to be Stephen Hawking to work out that Evan is one of them there aliens), the reader can predict pretty much how things are going to pan out before you get there. On the other, this is a wonderful exciting read and there were some surprises in here, as not everything was as certain as it initially seemed.With this in view, despite the clichéd nature of some of the material, I think this deserves 5 stars and adding to my favourites list. It's a product of our times - and it's good to know that us older folks can rely on teenagers to save the world, if it comes down to it.

The Fifth Wave is an amazing YA book that was recently turned into a movie starring Chloe GraceMoretz. I haven’t watched the movie yet, but people who have, say it’s nothing like the book andthat the book was much better (as always with a book turned to film). This is a must read forscience fiction fans and strays away from the clique dystopian books popular at the moment, withan original storyline, characters with depth and lots of action throughout.The plot isn’t easy to guess/not predictable and at times is really unexpected. As some peoplehave already mentioned, the point of view changes throughout the book. I liked this because itmade the story unpredictable, at first you assume it’s a character mentioned before butinformation is given little by little so by the end you reach quite a few (sometimes right but mostlywrong) assumptions.The main character, Cassie O’Sullivan, is an amazing character that is easy to relate to. She issomewhere in between Bella and Tris… She’s tougher than Bella but shows more emotion thanTris. The aliens in The Fifth Wave aren’t the usual green things with big heads… They look thesame as any other human which makes it a gripping story filled with paranoia because thecharacters struggle to trust anyone.

I really enjoyed this book. Most notably, I really love Cassie. Rick Yancey has done something most writers fail to do for me - he made me care about the main character. And I kind of fell in love with her story.The Fifth Wave, now a major motion picture, tells the tale of an alien attack on Earth. Why they are attacking, we don't know. All we know is that they are killing the humans easily, reducing their battlefield, in a series of waves. The first wave, they took out our infrastructure using an electromagnetic pulse. Bye bye Instagram. Then they hit us with flash flooding. Not so bad unless you live by the water. Then they used their heads a bit more and sent us a plague via birds - ever noticed how many birds to every human there are? There's more though. After we're basically all dead, they aliens channel Invasion of the Body Snatchers and jump on in to their human hosts. Now your neighbour could be your enemy.Cassie has lost a lot in the attacks, including her brother who has been taken hostage with a bunch of other kids. Little does she know they're much more than hostages. But she made a promise to Sam, that she would find him and that's exactly what she does.I loved Cassie's voice. Yancey has made her sarcastic, smart and pretty damn funny. I sped through the book - it was literally like reading my best friends journal. I also really liked the secondary characters, particularly little Sam, and some of their character traits which all aided the plot.The plot moves swiftly, with the first half mostly telling the story of the attacks and the second challenging what it means to be human and how it might be to question every person you encounter - could your school boy crush be a bad guy now? I thought Yancey handles these questions and challenges brilliantly and I really enjoyed figuring out how each situation made me feel and how I'd react. I love a book that makes me do that!Overall, I can't fault this book. A complete roller coaster with plenty of twists and turns to keep the plot moving along at pace - some things even surprised me. If I had to be super picky, there are a few predictable twists that might have been more fun with a different spin on but this is easily forgiven. I can't wait to see what The Infinite Sea has in store for us.