The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey Review

"The Passage meets Ender’s Game in an epic new series from award-winning author Rick Yancey.

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."

This book has been just sitting on my bookshelf for a long time while I was debating whether or not to read it. The synopsis was intriguing. The synopsis was killer especially this part: "To give up or to get up." The cover of the 5th Wave is clever, matched with the setting, perfectly colored, and beautiful.

The 5th Wave was a whopping five hundredish pages book. It's actually four hundred forty-seven. Still a lot of pages, though. Many people wouldn't bother reading this book because of the thickness of the 5th Wave. The author could have cut a hundred pages from the book. A little more editing and cutting please. And cutting shouldn't involve a lot a trees.

The 5th Wave in general was entertaining and delightful and perfectly paced. The switching POVs made the 5th Wave even more exciting. The 5th Wave's genres are Young Adult, Romance, Dystopian, Science Fiction, Extraterrestrial, and Supernatural. (That's a lot of genres). The 5th Wave was easy to understand yet also difficult for an outsider.

1st Wave: an electromagnetic pulse
2nd Wave: a giant metal slab that hit the earth
3rd Wave: bird flu
4th Wave: Silencers
5th Wave: unknown

The 5th Wave has many theories of what it is. It may be soldiers. It may be something else.

The plot was confusing at first. It gets easier to understand over time. Hopefully the second book in The 5th Wave will not be like the first book. I felt the need to flip back to the beginning to understand the plot. A little recap between events may be helpful. Or a little hint that can link the memory to mind.

The writing. Easy to understand and flows well. Not the worse I have seen before. It is certainly not the best of all the books I have read. Rick Riordan could have done a better job.

The POVs. You have to name the POVs. Whose is whose. Readers can become very confused by all that unnamed POVs. I rarely become confused with POVs. In the 5th Wave, it was a new story. I was confused every time the POVs swap. Every character's beginning felt the same to me. It was hard to hear their individual voices.

Characters:

Cassie for Cassiopeia... Not for Cassandra. Cassiopeia, the legend. The upside down queen on the night sky. Punished by a certain god for her (Cassiopeia) flaws/mistakes. Cassie carries a M16 gun and is Katniss Everdeen in a worn down, bleak, uncertain future. She's looking for her brother Sammy. She made a promise and she wants to fulfill it. Cassie is an interesting character who is has defiance in her eyes. She refuse to believe that anything is impossible. Her determination and bravery and strength will lead her to where she is at the end of the 5th Wave.

Evan Walker... A Silencer. One of the 4th Wave. He's been targeting Cassie for a while. Interestingly enough, Evan didn't shoot Cassie. He's one of those aliens. Evan Walker is a rebel to his people. He doesn't do what he is suppose to do. He helps Cassie find her brother. He helps Cassie get better and protects her too.

Ben... A soldier. He is another fellow rebel, although Evan and Ben never met till the end of the book. He is a major character in The 5th Wave.

Sam... Cassie's brother. I love how innocent and charming he was at the beginning of the book. Let's hope that The 5th Wave wouldn't go Hunger Games. After all, in the Hunger Games Trilogy, Katniss Everdeen's sister dies.

Rating of the 5th Wave: four out of five. Should be three, but I feel good today.