Description: Four waves of increasingly deadly attacks have left most of Earth in ruin. Against a backdrop of fear and distrust, Cassie is on the run, desperately trying to save her younger brother. As she prepares for the inevitable and lethal fifth wave, Cassie teams up with a young man who may become her final hope – if she can only trust him.
Director: J Blakeson
Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson, and Alex Roe
Info from IMDB.
As Julie has already reviewed 5th Wave on the blog, I thought I’d tackle the book vs movie review. Our book club read 5th Wave just in time for the movie release.
Book: I really liked this book. Cassie is a great heroine. And the two Sammys. I just want Sammy the bear and Sammy the boy to reunite, and not have to deal with the horrors of the alien invasion.
I spent most of the book confused as to who the enemy is. As Cassie’s dad says,
Do you know know how to tell who the enemy is, Cassie?
I did not! and I think that’s one of the things that kept me listening to the audio. It took Evan explaining everything two-thirds of the way through for me to finally understand what The 5th Wave was about, both literally and figuratively.
I’m not sure if I’d wholly recommend the audio as the male narrator read both Ben’s and Evan’s parts, which became confusing at times. But I did think Ms. Strole did an excellent job with Cassie’s voice.
I am anxiously anticipating the movie, and reading the second book. Always a good sign!
Overall book rating: 
Movie: Alright. I’ve seen the movie. And it was ok. For me, the best part of the book was the development of the characters and the little bits of humanity. The movie is a condensed version of that. Yes, I understand that a 112 minute movie cannot fit in 12 hours of book. I just wished that the movie was 20 minutes longer, to add in some of the scenes that I really liked in the book.
Here’s what I liked:
- There is a scene (Cassie on the highway) I don’t want to spoil, but the movie works it out in a better fashion than the book.
- The actors worked for me. There is nothing like seeing Zachary Archer portray Sammy, along with the other kids in the movie. They were age-appropriate. It is kind of disturbing and appropriate to watch kids learn to fight and shoot guns.
- The end of the movie was slightly more optimistic than the end of the book. Though, we are still not sure what happens to Evan!
Here’s what I didn’t like:
- The pace was rushed. Cassie trusts Evan too soon. Zombie and the rest of the team accept their orders too quickly. And then figure out the truth with few issues.
- The big reveal of The Others was told to the audience at the beginning. I preferred the slow reveal in the book.
- Everyone was very clean. Which seems odd for no power or running water.
Overall, I’d say 
1/2 stars for the movie.
The book was better. But, if you can accept some plot changes and missing key scenes, check out the movie.
It seems like they always have people much cleaner and combed in the movies, in general. Just imagine how cowboys looked after traveling for months, yet they always looked good, while wearing the same clothes.
very good point, Ray!
Hi Lynn. I am totally share your opinion. I like the final scene and I think it was better than the book there are mixed positive and negative emotions that cause emotional explosion․ And whether it would like to see in the series, including a 12-hour?
Good Point, Jason. A series might do the books better justice, with more time to delve into the plot.
This was a book that sounded good to me but then the trailer came out and I thought I’ll just see the movie. It looks fun. Love the comment about everyone being clean- I saw another post that said the same thing, about someone’s hair being perfect. LOL.
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Thanks, Greg. And for someone living in the woods, Cassie was way too clean!