The 5th Wave by: Rick Yancey

Genre: Young Adult Fiction, Science Fiction
Published: May 7, 2013 by: G.P. Putnam
Pages: 457
Rating: 4/5 stars

The world as we know it is in shambles. Aliens loom overhead, sending the apocalypse down in waves. The 1st Wave: a worldwide power outage. The Second Wave: An earthquake shakes the nation. The 3rd Wave: Infection that spreads like wildfire. The 4th Wave: Sending the aliens down in human form to capture the humans. Cassie Sullivan will do anything to protect her brother from the Waves. But when they capture her brother, she must learn to fight, to conquer, and to strategize to get him back. But who can she trust?

This book was a whirlwind of thrills, excitement and shock. It's not everyday that you read a book about the apocalypse in it's full form, most books I read are about the post-apocalyptic world. However this book was different, it gave a fully unique glimpse of a life that seems so familiar to us, that is torn apart without warning. It was like a breath of fresh air.

I really loved the concept of this book. Like I said before, you almost always read about what life is like for the humans after the end of the world, but never during. The earth was set up exactly how it would be nowadays, with teenagers biggest worries being relationships and grades. Cassie was just a normal girl trying to get through life, but now she is forced to play a protective role.

I really had a deep appreciation for Cassie. She wasn't set up like a kickass dystopian heroine who automatically is assumed different and forms a revolution. She had no one to learn from, and she was just trying to get by, and she tried the best she could. She was an accurate representation of an average teenage girl.

I didn't really care for the supplementary characters in this book though. Cassie was the only one who really stood out to me, everyone else I found kind of dull and underdeveloped. Evan annoyed me to no end, he seemed so overly stoic and I didn't like his relationship with Cassie at all. Ben was ok I guess, but I didn't find he added much. I just couldn't really couldn't fully appreciate the other characters in this book, they didn't bring much to the table.

I thought that the plot could have been executed better too. While it was very action packed and fast paced, I found it lacking in information. I found that it took forever to figure out what the different waves were, and I just needed things to be explained a bit more.

So overall, a very cool concept with a great lead, but it needed some more description to add some explanation. If you're into dystopia, I really suggest this one as it is not your average science fiction at all.

Have you read The 5th Wave? What did you think?

Emily @ Paperback Princess