Book Review – Infinite Sea (The 5th Wave #2)

The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey
Narrator: Ben Yannette, Phoebe Strole
Series: The 5th Wave #2
Published by Turtleback Books on November 3rd 2015
Length: 8 hours, 13 minutes
Genres: Action & Adventure, General, Love & Romance, Science Fiction, Young Adult
Pages: 300
Format: Audiobook
Goodreads

How do you rid the Earth of seven billion humans? Rid the humans of their humanity.

Surviving the first four waves was nearly impossible. Now Cassie Sullivan finds herself in a new world, a world in which the fundamental trust that binds us together is gone. As the 5th Wave rolls across the landscape, Cassie, Ben, and Ringer are forced to confront the Others’ ultimate goal: the extermination of the human race.

Cassie and her friends haven’t seen the depths to which the Others will sink, nor have the Others seen the heights to which humanity will rise, in the ultimate battle between life and death, hope and despair, love and hate.

Lynn’s Review:

Let’s just get this out of the way – Not. Enough. Evan. Walker. In this book.

Though, seriously, Evan Walker does make me wonder why we are attracted to the hero type. Always sacrificing himself for us. Definitely appealing to me, at least. Also, I now visualize the actors from the movie while reading the book. Which makes me want to hate Liev Schreiber just a little bit. 

Let’s get on with the actual review part!

The point of view in Infinite Sea switches to Ringer from Cassie, who is the main focus of The 5th Wave. I enjoyed learning about Ringer’s back story. Her childhood before the invasion definitely plays a part in who she becomes at the end of the novel.

But I don’t panic. I don’t bolt like a frightened gazelle. I am more than the sum of my fear. It isn’t fear that will defeat them. Not fear or faith or hope or even love, but rage.

I’m still not sure if she’s a knight. Or a pawn. We learn more about the rest of the group as well. Poundcake, especially. He’s story is heart-wrenching. There’s also more of Ben. And of Sam. Ben is maturing into an excellent leader. And Sam is following Ben around like a puppy.

The plot of Infinite Sea is where this book shines. Mr. Yancy does an amazing job here.

Maybe you reach a certain point in evolution where boredom is the greatest threat to your survival. Maybe this isn’t a planetary takeover at all, but a game. Like a kid pulling wings off flies.

Like Ringer’s penchant for chess, Mr. Yancy moves the pieces around. And then reveals the big secret to the invasion.

And what a whopper of a reveal it is. I literally had to stop listening to the audio and just take a breath after that portion of the book. Just all sorts of kudos to Mr. Yancy.

The downside of Infinite Sea was the audio. First, the same narrator is used for Cassie and Ringer. With no differences in narration. Making it very difficult to tell who’s POV we are listening to. Second, I ended up having to listen through the majority of the book twice. (Good thing it’s only 8 hours long!) The second listen helped clarify some points that really made no sense on the first listen. But, I really don’t think I should have to listen to an audio book twice to figure out what is happening.

Infinite Sea is a great second book in a series. It bridges the original story, and leads me to WANT to read the next book in the series. Though, if the narrators are the same for the final book, I might switch to reading instead of listening. Plus, I need the movie for Infinite Sea to be made posthaste! 

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