Review: The 5th Wave

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

All the stars!!

The 5th Wave was so good! Amazing... Incredible... Wonderful... out of this world. You probably get the idea. It was that good.

The 5th Wave alternates POVs which isn't always a good thing, but it worked really well for this book. It really helped give more details as to what was going on. Throughout the first few parts of the book it alternates between past and present to help give the reader a better idea of what happened to who; what everyone witnessed, what caused so many deaths and what the living endure.

I don't want to give anything away because the twists and turns are one of the great parts of The 5th Wave; the mystery, the parts that keep you guessing.

We begin by meeting Cassie (short for Cassiopeia, not Cassandra or Cassidy); 16 year old girl that wonders if she is the last human left on earth after an alien invasion. An invasion that came in 4 waves - 1st wave: lights out, 2nd wave: surf's up, 3rd wave: pestilence, 4th wave: Silencer. Cassie witnesses more death than any person should ever have to; death of loved ones and death of strangers. While anyone could easily just give up, Cassie doesn't - she struggles of course, but she made a promise to her little brother Sammy that she is determined to keep. On her mission to reunite with Sammy, Cassie gets shot in the leg by a Silencer (alien hunter, assassin, finisher) and finds herself seeking cover in the trunk of a Ford during a blizzard. Next thing she knows, she's being nursed back to health by Evan Walker.

Ah, Evan Walker - I immediately fell for him. 19 year old farm boy who knows all the right things to say.

"I didn't save you," he whispers, lips tickling my eyelashes, "You saved me."

"I had it all wrong," he says. "Before I found you, I thought the only way to hold on was to find something to live for. It isn't. To hold on, you have to find something you're willing to die for."

Evan literally helps to get Cassie back on her feet and they continue to the mission to get to Sammy together. But there are twists and turns... and Evan Walker has a secret. (I still love him though)

Then there's Zombie - he is a 17 year old high school football player whose smile gets all the girls. But there isn't high school anymore; there's a war. Humans vs Aliens. And Zombie and his squad are being trained for war; under grueling and gruesome conditions. Children as young as 7 are being trained for war (ugh - sickening). Nugget/Sammy is part of Zombie's squad, but since he's only 5, when the squad is assigned a mission, Nugget has to be left behind. But Zombie makes Nugget a promise; that he will be back. During the mission, again you encounter twists and turns and start questioning who is who; what is what... who are the bad guys, who are the good guys! Zombie, too, finds himself on a mission to get back to Nugget.

The 5th Wave is filled with action, mystery, a tinge of romance and humor! I loved the sarcasm and witty comments sprinkled throughout the book. It helped lighten some of the heavy parts. It ends in the perfect spot for book #1 to end, but there is a slight cliffhanger so be prepared for that. This book... EVERYONE should read it!



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