Tuesday, June 10, 2014

The 5th Wave: A Review

Description (goodreads):

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.



My Review:

This is actually one of my more recent books that I have bought, and I have heard many a great thing about it. So finally, I picked it up and started reading.

Cassie for Cassiopeia is a kick-butt, no nonsense kind of girl. But she wasn't before the 1st wave. Cassie has been hardened by the nature of the extraterrestrial attack on the planet Earth. Through many trails, tribulation, and death, she is brought to a little tent in the middle of the woods, hoping that she might live another day. Yet, she had a promise to keep. So she left.

Cassie was a strong character who held true to her humanity, even when she thought it was leaving her. I could understand why she did many of the things she did, and why she acted the way she acted. When she met Evan Walker, she found it quite hard to trust him and yet in the end, he was the only other person she knew on the planet that was alive. He helped her heal and become strong again.

I admit that at first, their relationship and "romance" confused me, because the amount of time in which they spent together wasn't clear until the mid-point in where Cassie becomes super paranoid about what he is. They fought a lot, but also didn't. I don't know. You'll have to read it to understand their weirdness together.

I mean, Evan's a good guy, in the end. I just wish I saw more about his and Cassie's odd relationship. It would have made things seem more realistic and more believable.

Of course, Evan isn't exactly what I would call a normal person, and Cassie wasn't exactly in a normal situation. So I guess it makes sense in the end.

Ben Parish was kind of awesome. I really liked his character. I appreciated that he wasn't rock hard in the beginning--that he had to grow into the strong young men he ended up to be, and it took time. His strong-awesome-commander-style-coolness didn't come in the blink of an eye. It made him easier to connect with, made his character more... believable. And, I loved the way that he stood up to the aliens. Not only for a young boy, but for the entire world. That he made his mark and made the right choices. Sure, he was fooled and sent to the verge of a complete anxiety attack, but he did not allow that to break him. He didn't allow that to crush his soul. No, he held onto his sanity and he kept his promise, just as Cassie did.

Ben went through an entirely different scene than Cassie, but he still was hurt and played like her. The aliens were smart ones. They definitely knew how to erradicate Earth of human kind... except for one thing.

They couldn't rid humans of their own humanity.

They tried...

And failed.

Granted, I would have liked to know more about the aliens and their kind, especially the ones who didn't want to kill the humans. I wanted to know why they wanted to coexist. I wanted to see more strife between the two different aliens. Unfortunately, we only saw one of the aliens that actually liked humans. The rest were monsters.

Sammy was another one of my favorites. If I was five and in a hell like the post-apocalyptic world, I would NOT be as strong as him. Despite all the crap that was dealt to him, he was still such an innocent child who just wanted to have someone to trust and care for him. Seeing his POV made the book seem so much more... devastating. Seeing or reading about a hurting child makes my heart hurt. Even if they are fictional characters.

One thing that kept me really hooked in the beginning was the mystery. Who was the bad guy? What did the aliens look like? Who was safe? Was anyone safe? AH! Why do people keep dying?!

It made my heart race and even freaked me out a bit that I couldn't determine who was good and who was bad.

And for a moment, even I was fooled about who the bad guys were.

In the end, I have to say that this book was well done. It was confusing at parts. Like, when the first POV transition occurred, I had no idea that it actually happened, and then I didn't know who was talking (I guessed and turned out to be right, so that made me happy :)  ). The time from which the first wave occurred to the fifth wave also confused me a bit too. I felt like things kept jumping around in time (and I'm not talking about the flashbacks, those were obvious).

But, other than that, Rick Yancey wrote with a unique, but great prose. There was more foul language in this than I appreciated, including the word I dislike the most, the "f" word. It wasn't enough to kick me out of the story, and honestly, it fit the
situation. If the world was ending, well. Who cares, eh? I mean, I probably won't start swearing like a sailor, but I can understand why others would.

This wasn't what I was expecting. In fact, I sort of thought this was about zombies, even when I read the synopsis. I was pleasantly surprised! I think aliens make cool books too.

I rate this a 3.5 out of 5!

*I bought this at Barnes and Noble, but I am in NO way associated with them. I was not asked or compensated for this review. All of the opinions above are my own.*

11 comments:

  1. This was a dnf for me because I was confused too. But glad that you pushed past and enjoyed.

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    1. I think it really was a good book, but it would have been nice if a few things were cleared up.

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  2. I don't normally read books about aliens but this one has always appealed to me. I am glad that you enjoyed this one even if it sounds like it was a bit confusing. That has me a little concerned on whether or not this would be a good fit for me.

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    1. It's mostly the time frame that confused me. I didn't really get how long people were at certain locations and such. It had to have been a while considering what they went through, but... I don't know. Other than that everything else was great!

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  3. I have to agree with you! This one was pretty darn amazing, and I really loved it... though it was a bit confusing at times. Well said! :)

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  4. This is on my tbr list. Thanks for the great review.

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  5. There's a sequel? Cool! I didn't know that. I will keep an eye out for it!

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  6. Great review, glad you enjoyed this one. I really want to start this one and I hope I end up loving it. I really shouldn't start yet another series but I can't help myself.

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    1. I am the same way. I have read and started to read so many series. It's amazing I can still separate them all in my head :)

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