The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey Series: The 5th Wave #1
Published by Putnam Juvenile on May 7, 2013
Genres: Aliens, Post-Apocalyptic YA, Science Fiction
Pages: 592
Format: Hardcover
Source: BookExpo
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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.
If you’ve been around these parts before, you might have seen me mention that, while I don’t HATE aliens and hard science fiction, it’s not usually my go-to genre. But that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy a good alien apocalypse story every now and then, and THANKFULLY, Rick Yancey’s THE 5TH WAVE is just that. It’s basically amazing. I picked it up with heaps of anticipation and then couldn’t put it down.
THE 5TH WAVE is about a girl named Cassie, who’s living in Ohio in the midst of the alien apocalypse. The whole world has been decimated by the first through fourth waves of the invasion (the first: electromagnetic pulse that fries ALL THE THINGS; the second: epic tsunami waves on the coasts; the third: ALIEN BIRD FLU (OMG); and the fourth: assassin drones). We hear her story as she makes her way to a compound to rescue her little brother, Sam. During her solo trudge through what’s left of Ohio, she meets Evan Walker, a young guy living on a farm. They’re both alone until they meet each other, fearful and distrusting of anyone they meet. We get flashbacks to her life before the first wave, all the way up to present time, and guys? It’s HARROWING. There’s no one she can trust.
We also meet a guy named Zombie. He is living on a military base where life is cruel, dangerous, and deadly. He’s in a unit of other kids, all being trained to be ruthless killing machines by the military. Cassie, Evan, and Zombie’s stories all converge as they try to figure out what the fifth wave is, what the aliens want with Earth, and what their endgame is to eradicate humanity once and for all. DUN DUN DUNNNN.
One of the prevailing themes of THE 5TH WAVE is HOPE: why the remaining humans need it and the aliens fear it. Cassie struggles with it. Her life is so bleak now that it’s hard for her to find things to be hopeful for. I liked Cassie. Being in her head creates this insane drama. Paranoia and the very real fear of death rule her life. She is suspicious of everyone and everything. This is survivalist mode at its most basic, and Rick Yancey does such a great job of creating this environment of utter fear. Cassie is a badass, too. She’s no-nonsense and brave, and we feel everything she does. I can’t lie, either, friends: shit is so bleak for Cassie, and she has the courage to face her fears even when they’re so overwhelming, that I cried a few times.
When she meets Evan, she’s already run through the gamut of crap that has become everyday life in the invasion’s aftermath. She’s suspicious, paranoid, worried about her brother, and swimming in a veritable SEA of not knowing WTF is going on. Evan is an interesting character. Rick Yancey makes it so that we like him, but can never be sure about him. His relationship with Cassie is one of the few bright spots in THE 5TH WAVE, but Evan has his own secrets, and I’m really excited to see where things go with him and how he fits into the bigger picture.
The bulk of THE 5TH WAVE features Cassie, especially in the beginning, but we gradually begin to spend more time with Zombie and his killers-in-training at the military base. His experiences are eye-opening. It’s one of those situations where something is off but you can’t quite figure it out and you’re waiting with bated breath for the pieces of come together. That goes for the whole book, by the way. I couldn’t stop myself from DEVOURING THE 5TH WAVE to figure out MORE.
As far as the relationships go, I feel a triangle coming on, and I can’t say I’m opposed. I’m totally on board with whatever Rick Yancey tells me is going to happen, because there’s so much more to these characters than romance. There’s so much more to this BOOK. It’s nice to have a few seconds of lovin’, but that’s all these kids can afford in this bananas world.
I also just want to take one quick second here to shout out the pace and action in THE 5TH WAVE. It’s non-stop. Well, mostly. There are those flashbacks to give things emotional heft. But for the most part, THE 5TH WAVE just keeps going. At least for me, it did. It’s not a small book, either, and I couldn’t read it fast enough. Plus, the way things end, we have some answers to a few big questions, but there are still things flapping out there in the breeze, and I’m dying to know what happens. Pat yourself on the back, Rick Yancey. You’ve made me a fan of aliens.
Check out another review of The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey!
Brittany @ The Book Addict’s Guide: “THE 5TH WAVE lived up to the hype. PHEW. I devoured it in one day (seriously).”
Heyyyy thanks for including my review!
Great job with this review, Ame! I totally agree. Cassie was SUCH a badass (she kind of reminded me of Alyssa HAHA) and I really liked reading her POV.
I loved Zombie! At first I was like, “Oh this part is gonna be boring…” But it turned into many OH SNAP moments!
This book freaked me out because we really could NOT TRUST ANYONE. Such an interesting concept and hey, for someone who doesn’t like aliens, I was hooked!
I’ve never been a fan of aliens, either, but I’ve read a few books in the past year that changed my mind – The 5th Wave included. I was a little iffy on the Cassie and Evan romance, but I am curious to learn more about Evan and others out there like him. I can’t wait for the next book!