Brad About Books: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Read on May 31, 2013

THE 5TH WAVE
Published: May 7, 2013
Publisher: Putnam (Penguin)
Format: ARC
Page Count: 457 pages
Source: RAK
Series: The 5th Wave, #1

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.

Words can't even begin to describe how amazing The 5th Wave truly is. This book deserves every ounce of hype surrounding it - it's absolutely fantastic. Definitely a favorite of all-time!

The creepiest part about The 5th Wave? The silence. This is, honestly, the most terrifying world I have ever read about. Think about it: You have aliens who have come in, destroyed the world and everyone you know... then... silence. You don't hear anything from them. They're sinister and quiet, waiting for the perfect moment to finish what they started. You can NOT tell me that that is not super scary. I would be scared for my life in Yancey's magnificent world. The world-building was fascinating, and I loved getting to explore this wasteland of a world with our ensemble of character: Cassie, Evan, Zombie, and everybody else.

Speaking of which, the characters are amazing. Another cool thing Rick Yancey brings to the table is that this book is split into parts (fourteen, I believe; I could be wrong.), and each part is from a different POV. They rotate between a couple of characters (the main ones being Cassie, Evan and Zombie), so you can see this world through multiple eyes. But he doesn't tell you right away who you are experiencing this world with. It takes awhile before the character is mentioned and we understand who is speaking. Usually, this is a major turn-off for me, but for some reason, it works with The 5th Wave. We get clean slates of who these characters are, and it just fits with the tone of the book so well! I never thought I would actually like that in a book, but I loved it in The 5th Wave!

And the entire concept of an alien invasion! So cool! I have read very little alien invasion books (a standout in my mind is Icons by Margaret Stohl) - The 5th Wave is such a unique take on aliens. The destroying waves, the eerie silence, and the Silencers (my gosh, they are FREAKY! Silencers are one of my new favorite villains), EVERYTHING about The 5th Wave is marvelous, fantastic, and utterly phenomenal. If you have not gotten this book yet, run -- AND I DO MEAN RUN -- to the bookstore and purchase this amazing, amazing start to a promising new series. You won't regret it.

Overall, The 5th Wave is definitely a new favorite for 2013 and of all-time. As soon as I finished this book, I wanted to go right back to the beginning and start all over again; I can definitely see me re-reading this book soon. Yancey's newest novel is a climatic thriller that had me on the edge of my seat and had chills running down my spine. And I adored every minute of it.

M Y   R A T I N G