The 5th Wave - Review

The 5th Wave (The Fifth Wave #1)

By: Rick Yancey

Published: May 7, 2013 by Putnam Juvenille

480 pages

Source: Personal Library, Harcover

(Goodreads / Amazon / Book Depository)

Summary:

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:
What an incredible story!!!  I enjoyed every page and was eager to read more....even to the point of not wanting to socialize much (on a weekend trip with extended family) just so I could read more.  It's packed with action and suspense as you try to figure out what is going on and who's behind it and exactly who the "good guys" are.  Humans are quite oblivious to the possibility of life existing outside of our own bubble so when an alien ship appears in the earth's atmosphere and does nothing for 10 days there is a mixture of reactions.  Some people pack up and leave their homes - escaping to where they feel safer.  Some people go on living their daily routines trying to be as "normal" as possible.  Some people are the conspiracy theorists and probably are stock piling guns and ammo for safety.  When the 1st wave hits, chaos erupts.  How are we supposed to live without electricity, phones, cars, TV's, etc...?  And that was just the beginning...

The book is divided into sections in which there are 4 POV's, but 2 main ones and the sections alternate between them.  I had to go back and reread  several parts and take notes about each section just so I didn't miss some vital piece of information because the stories told from each POV are so intricate and involved in the characters within them.

The book starts off with the POV of Cassie and it follows her and her family's experience of the alien invasion all the way through the 1st Wave.

"What were they thinking?  It's an alien apocalypse!  Quick, grab the beer!"

"I'm determined, when the time comes, to at least go out with clean teeth."

"Because if I am the last one, then I am humanity.  And if this is humanity's last war, then I am the battlefield."

Rule #1: Don't trust anyone.
Rule #2: The only way to stay alive is to stay alone.

How do you fight a battle when you can't trust anyone else and you aren't sure how to define and pinpoint who the enemy is?

The next POV we are introduced to is a character we know as Zombie.  When we meet him it's after the 3rd wave and he is on a military base.

"I will make my final stand here"..."and you will be my battlefield."

Next up is a character we know as the Hunter.

"His heart, the war.  Her face, the battlefield."

And last we have a section told from the POV of Sammy, Cassie's younger 5 year old brother.

The majority of the story alternates between the POV's of Cassie and Zombie.  There is so much going on with so many characters, but yet all things begin to intertwine together.

Favorite Quotes

"If you don't kill all of us at once, those who remain will not be the weak."

This was truly an ingenious story about survival and the fight for humanity!  And I about had a heart attack at the end thinking this was a stand alone novel.  An "oh nu-uh" moment thinking that was the end of the story.  Imagine my surprise when I realized there are 2 more slated to come out.....but waiting until August of 2014 for book 2 is pure torture!!

If you love apocalyptic books or alien invasion books then this is a must read!

Final Rating: 4.5 stars!