The 5th Wave (2013)

I am late to the table with this book. Embarrassing late. It’s a well-written book. I’m impressed, from a strictly impartial standpoint, but I gotta say it isn’t my cup of tea.

The story is told from two perspectives, Cassie and Ben. It begins with Cassie. She gives the details of what has been going on since the “arrival.” Humans are dying by the masses. In the 1st wave, an electromagnetic pulse wipes out all power. In the 2nd wave a massive earthquake annihilates all populations along the coast. In the 3rd wave an Ebola-like plague wipes out 90% of the remaining population. They are in the 4th wave. Silencers are hunting down the remaining humans. No one knows how many people remain. It’s every man for himself. Trust no one. Silencers look human.

The 5th wave is about to begin. The “others” are using humans to kill humans. Ben is being trained to take out the rest of humanity, not understanding at first what he’s doing. Cassie is just trying to stay alive. On the verge of death, she is rescued by Evan. She goes against her instinct and decides to trust him.

What I liked.
There is a lot of detail. Yancey did his homework. He must have spent hours just thinking about what an apocalypse would look like. He supports his ideas with scientific information which makes it all the more believable. It’s hard not to succumb to his writing style. He uses short sentences that pack a punch, interspersed with description that flows like a mountain stream over rocks. Here’s an example. “At night the firelight turns the smoke a deep crimson like the air itself is bleeding.” See what I mean? He’s a master of language.

What I also liked.
The book begs you to think about the deeper meaning. Cassie surmises that the goal of the “others” is to strip humans of their humanity and reduce them to animals.

What I didn’t like.
All the profanity. It takes this book completely out of the middle grade category. It’s a 100% young adult read. There are even “f” bombs. I think Yancey got so absorbed in the story that he couldn’t help himself. We all know teens talk that way and certainly they would if they’re gunning down people left and right. But let’s just acknowledge that The Hunger Games didn’t do it and its ratings are just fine. I don’t hold this against Yancey, but unfortunately I can’t recommend this book to my middle graders.

What else I didn’t like.
Cassie. Her personality drove me nuts. She’s too sarcastic and cynical. She constantly contradicts herself. I want to. I don’t want to. I want to trust. I don’t want to trust. This might kill me. This might save me. At first I was intrigued, but when it became clear that I would have to deal with this for the entire book, I considered bailing. That’s how desperately I wanted to get away from her. Normally I appreciate characters with a well-crafted stream of thought, but with Cassie it’s overkill, too drawn out and repetitive. Nothing against Yancey. At least he stayed consistent with her character.

I also wasn’t keen on all the romance. It was too much in the forefront and was a distraction from the main plot. A little is fine, but it got out of hand. I wanted to yell, “Stop. You don’t have time for this. You’re fighting for your life here.” I just had to sigh, roll my eyes and keep pushing on.

Recap. Not my cup of tea, but Yancey’s fame with this book is well-deserved. ( )

An Alien invasion destroyed humanity in 4 waves but what will the 5th be?

We follow Cassie as she is struggling to survive and rescue her brother after they are separated by the military. She is shot by a Silencer and wakes up under the care of Evan Walker, a mysterious young man with a complicated past of his own. We also follow Ben, a former high school stud who is recruited by the military to train and become a savior of the human race - by killing all of those remaining aliens on the planet. But which side is the good side?

I really enjoyed the story and the jumping between Cassie and Ben to learn about the state of the world and the alien invasion through their experiences. I also liked the suspense and the ultimate reveal. I felt that the reveal could have been done later in the book and some of the story cut shorter but I don't think it hindered the flow of the events and how the ending turned out. I will be continuing with the series and found this an entertaining read. ( )

RGG: Exciting, intense sci-fi read. With hints of Twilight -- inter-species romance, and Ender's Game -- children trained as soldiers, the many initially unanswered questions border on being frustrating but the plot unpeels enough to keep the reader engaged. Graphic violence and teenage romance (although no actual sex) makes this a YA title. Reading Age: YA.

Frankly, the novel is filled to the brim with fast-paced action! Initially, the main narrative voice is the one from Cassie, the main character. She explains events unfolding as she sees it, which is well portrayed with the adequate teenager language and turns of phrases. Then other characters related (or not) to Cassie also fill in the narrative blanks when they are separated or to give a different perspective. This is a good ploy to keep the suspens going. The writing style is rather fluid, easy to follow and we identify with each character when the first person is used.

However, I feel there is something I must mention, if only because it didn't help my reading experience and I found this to be the one thing that made me lower the rating on the book: does the author has a problem with fat people? Each time there's a discussion about the local cop, he's nicknamed 'fatty'. Also, the chubby kid gets mentionned and Cassie's narrative voice has weight prejudice. Each time I read something about this, I winced. This is wrong.

I'll probably read the whole trilogy, it was a (relatively) good read and we are left wanting to know how it all ends. ( )

I chose this book to accompany me on a 8 hour flight across country, and at the end of the flight I was hoping for a few more hours. I loved it! This is set in a ongoing alien invasion and the quest to destroy our world. The story was very well put together and there was lots of action and drama. ( )