Series: The Fifth Wave #1Author: Rick Yancey
Genre: young adult, science fiction, dystopia, aliens, post apocalyptic, fantasy, romance, adventure
Published: May 2013 (first published January 1, 2013)
Publisher: Penguin Group Inc.
After the 1st Wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. After the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th Wave, just 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.
From award-winning author Rick Yancey comes a gripping epic of catastrophic loss, unthinkable odds, and unflinching courage.
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I've had the 5th Wave on my TBR for quite some time now. I started reading it thinking that the third book will come up this Fall but for some reasons, they moved it to 2016. I was like, WHY!? Now I'll hold-off in reading the second book.
The 5th Wave is a really thrilling read that really absorbed me. It's about an alien apocalypse. Cassie and Zombie tell the story (and maybe two more POVs which were only shown once). What I really admire in here is Rick Yancey's writing. The way he tells the apocalypse through switching POVs was really great. The doubts each characters have and their thoughts on the apocalypse really had me wanting more. The flashbacks were also great - Cassie and Zombie tells their story from the beginning of the apocalypse to how they got to where they are at present. These flashbacks also effectively told us the first four waves leading to the fifth wave which wasn't immediately revealed until later on in the book.
Aside from Yancey's great storytelling, I really enjoyed the characters particularly Zombie and Ringer (and maybe Nugger and maybe a few more). Anyway, I really enjoyed Cassie especially in the beginning. She's strong and really knows what to do. She tells her story and what made her that way. Evan Walker, on the other hand, didn't really grabbed my attention. In fact, whenever he's involved, I would always wish for the next part of the book to come up already. I just wasn't fond of him.
I wasn't really a fan of Cassie and Evan's romance. I mean I know almost everyone is craving to have someone. An apocalypse can get you crazy, I'm sure of that. BUT how Cassie suddenly became a really disappointing heroine. Her thoughts were still there, she keeps on telling herself not to trust the guy but she ends up helplessly falling for him (and I was like, SERIOUSLY?).
The climax was great - a really gripping thriller right here. It really had me reading the book without putting it down. Zombie and Cassie going through Wonderland to find Nugget. When the two of them (Zombie and Cassie) found each other - they had this trust/not-to-trust thought: is he/she an alien? Is he/she one of them? Who's to say after all the things they've been through?
OVERALL, The 5th Wave is certainly a MUST read alien-apocalypse novel. I'm not a huge alien-novel reader but I still ended up enjoying it. And while the romance isn't very appealing (to me at least), the rest of the books still got me going.
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What I Like: (1) all the characters (except Evan Walker. . . sorry Evan and Evan Walker fans!), (2) the great storytelling - how it was written && how effective the multiple POV is, (3) the bloodydamn twist (okay, it's not so much of a twist since you'll expect it when you start reading this... but still...), (4) the thrilling climax (and annoyingly cliffhanger ending)
What I Didn’t Like: (1) Cassie and Evan's romance (nope, just no), (2) how Cassie had that weak moment (well weak moments are a given but seriously? and I'm not talking about Cassie's body condition there but how she easily accepted and trusted Evan)
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