Saturday 23 January 2016

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

12 comments:

  1. I'm glad you enjoyed this one! This is definitely one of my favorite books and I can't wait to go see the movie, I really hope they give it the justice it deserves. I loved Cassie as well, but I also really did like her relationship with Evan in book one! What I didn't like was Ringer. Oh god she was the worst of them all. And you get so much of her in book two I really hope there's not that much in book three lol. I can't wait to hear your opinions on The Infinite Sea! Are you planning on reading it soon?

    http://novelsandnecklaces.blogspot.com

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    1. I really hope the movie is good too! From the trailers it looks promising so fingers crossed! Ringer served no purpose for me, I didn't really care for her at all. I actually just recently finished The Infinite Sea and I can say that I didn't enjoy it as much as this one for those reasons. Again, Ringer and the other secondary characters just didn't do it for me. Hopefully the third will be better!

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  2. I thought I'd reviewed this book...but apparently not! Haha I remember having good feelings about it though. I think it dealt with the concept of aliens (which can be stupid) very very very well. I definitely agree about it being a breath of fresh air and Cassie being a great character (I remember she had a stash of pads and tampons- thank you Rick Yancey for being realistic). I don't remember the other characters very well, so you must be right when you say they aren't very memorable or great.

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    1. I loved the fact that Cassie dealt with real problems! It made everything seem so less predictable and cheesy as well. Yeah like I said before, Cassie was really the only character that I appreciated.

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  3. Ahhh I've heard of this book and love the concept of it too! Haven't read it - definitely need to soon! Have you/Are you going to see the movie? For me, the movie is another motivator for me to read the book!

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    1. You should!! I am so going to see the movie when I get the chance, it looks so good!

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  4. Sounds interesting - I've heard a lot about this book, but it seems like people either love it or hate it.

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    1. It is quite evenly split, but I found it to be really interesting.

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    2. fair enough - I might give it a whirl ;)

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  5. Awesome review! I really liked The 5th Wave! I agree with you-- Cassie wasn't a kickass hero teen. Cassie was just your average teen and I really enjoyed that. I didn't like Evan but Ben was a good character. I hope the movie adaption is good...

    anna | annaish

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    1. I really hope so too! Maybe in the movie Ben and Evan will appeal to me more.

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  6. I completely agree with you 100%. This was such an intense and gripping read and I loved it. Glad to hear you did too, and I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on the sequel. :) Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous review! <3

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