The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey Narrator: Brandon Espinoza, Phoebe Strole
Series: The 5th Wave #1
Published by Penguin on 2013-05-07
Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 480
Format: Audiobook
Goodreads
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, only 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.
Julie’s Review:
The 5th Wave was one of those books that tries of offer a unique perspective on the human condition. I give it a very high 3.5 stars. I really liked Cassie and thought her reactions and behavior were relatable and real. She really gave a good understanding of what this type of alien invasion would feel like and look like. Her sarcastic attitude helped make the book enjoyable.
I also liked how smart this book was. There are some cool quotes you can pull and some good life lessons to be learned. The 5th Wave did not give away all the secrets at once. It let you wonder for a long time who the enemy really was, who are human and who are alien. I went back and forth on my predictions.
It was close to a 4 rating, but I felt the book bogged down a bit with unexpected multiple POVs and all the details of the military base narrated by Ben Parish. Those sections could have been a lot shorter in my opinion, as I found them a bit dull. Part of the book was about Cassie narrating survival and flashing back to telling how she got to where she was, and the other part of her story line was Cassie trying to get to her brother Sammy. I typically don’t like flashback narration, but I think it was done really well here.
This book wasn’t about the romance, and yet there is a bit of a triangle going on between Cassie, her high school crush Ben Parish aka Zombie, and Evan Walker, Cassie’s rescuer (can you really call him that?). Evan really grew on me, though I found him creepy and confusing at first, like Cassie did. He seems trustworthy tough, because of everything he did to help Cassie, and I’m curious to see where that story line goes in future books in this series. But I also wonder if the story with Ben Parish will develop any. Both Ben and Cassie want to protect Cassie’s little brother Sammy, so they will be seeing a lot more of each other as the series progresses I’m sure.
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Can I ask you something? Is this a Zombie or an alien book? Hahaha. I thought that this is an alien book but after reading your review, you mentioned aliens.
What really interest me is the fact that the twists were slowly revealed so as to keep the readers hanging. Should I give this one a try? I really want to because of the plot and that quote that you’ve shared. 😀
Charlotte @ Thoughts and Pens recently posted…Stacking the Shelves {29}
It is an alien apocalypse book. You might like it, worth giving it a try, right?
I think I enjoyed this book much more than you did, but that’s probably because I was more into the flashbacks and the parts centered on the military base. I felt like the end (and who the real enemy was) was a bit obvious for a while before it was revealed but that might have just been me and my need to always have some kind of hunch or idea for what will happen. 🙂 Great review!
Jessica @ Strung Out On Books recently posted…Reading Progress for #BtHReadathon
Yea it was obvious, but I was going back and forth still thinking/wanting the military dudes to be on the good side and waiting for that to be explained heh.
I really enjoyed this book but I agree about the multiple POV; I’m super excited about the sequel though.
A lovely review.
Sharon – Obsession with Books recently posted…Review: Frozen (Heart of Dread #1) by Melissa De La Cruz
Yea I don’t like when the multiple POVs feel so choppy and out of place. I’m wondering about this, will it be a trilogy? A full on series? Cause there’s a lot that can be done with this world.
I believe that THE 5TH WAVE is shelved as dystopian too, eh? I’m going to take my first crack that this genre later this week, and if I like it, maybe I’ll come back to this one. That’s too bad that the author wasn’t able to deliver on the multiple POVs, but Cassie sounds like a great character. What a well-written review, Julie!
Carmel @ Rabid Reads recently posted…Fighting Chemistry and a Giveaway with Robin Bielman #StompvsRomp
OOh what’s your first dystopian gonna be? This can probably fit under that bucket, though it is more post-apocalyptic end of the world than a messed up world.
Poison Princess by Kresley Cole in audio. Have you read it?
Carmel @ Rabid Reads recently posted…Fighting Chemistry and a Giveaway with Robin Bielman #StompvsRomp
Not yet, but it is on my wishlist.
Hmm, I have this book on my shelf, Julie. The synopsis sounds so promising. But I understand what you’re saying about it bogging down. Do you think it would have made a difference to have read it? I did, finally, listen to an audio book while I was on vacation last week. I really liked it but I found myself thinking that I couldn’t wait to read (not listen to) the next book.
Bookworm Brandee recently posted…**#COYER Release Day Review ~ Bound Forever ~ Hanna Peach**
I think I’m much more patient with audiobooks than with actually reading a print or ebook. I get so little time to sit and read so if something is boring, I’m mad! LOL
I was not a fan of this book. I felt like the plot was really predictable and that the narrators were not distinguishable.
I know are many people out there who liked and/or loved this book. I decided this series just isn’t my cup of tea.
Terri M recently posted…A Note from the Director: A Few of My Favorite Things #2
I’m with you, it wasn’t as good as it was hyped up to be. It was decent, pretty good even, but not great. I want to read more great books. I haven’t been lately and it makes me sad.