Review--The 5th Wave by 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, just 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 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.

From award-winning author Rick Yancey comes a gripping epic of a catastrophic loss, unthinkable odds, and unflinching courage.

I finally read Rick Yancey's The 5th Wave and while I had gotten my expectations pretty high, I have to say that I pretty enjoyed this one! It wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but it was still an amazing read!

We have here quite the dystopian tale. The Others--aliens as we think of them--have invaded Earth and there have been four waves of attacks. The first one knocked out technology and electricity and what follows are more catastrophic events such as a plague that kills the majority of the population. Now there are so few humans left on Earth, but what it comes down to is that you cannot trust anyone! The Others can look just like you and lure you into a false sense of security and then they attack and you're left dead.

Cassie has learned a lot of hard truths in the days that have passed. She has lost everyone she knows and loved. Except her brother, but he's been taken by a military group to a camp that is to "protect" the children. Cassie isn't so sure of that and she sets out to find him.

We have quite a few narrators (first person p.o.v.) in this one, but for the most part it's Cassie and Zombie--a solider bred by the army to fight in the upcoming war. There's also a section with Sammy, Cassie's brother and a mysterious Other who we don't know much about. There's a bit of backstory telling going on in the first few chapters with Cassie. And it is pretty pivotal to the story to know what's already happened and how Cassie got to her current path. The crux of the story comes down to survival and needing to do everything possible to do that.

Then Cassie meets Evan and things change. Who is this boy and why is he helping her? Some humans have been known to side with the Others and join them. Is Evan one of those? Or is he one of the few survivors just trying to survive and looking for human interaction? It's quite the dilemma.

I found myself really enjoying this one, but I admit there were some parts that dragged. Mostly the flashbacks of what's already happened, but again, they were kind of necessary. And sometimes during the narrator shifts, it wasn't always easy to tell who was talking, after awhile though, you could tell whose voice was who. But these minor struggles really didn't detract from the amazing-ness of this story!

And I have to admit that I loved how realistic it was. This is not a happy-go-lucky kind of story. It's hardcore survival tactics. You have to be brutal to survive, practically and that's what these characters learn. Like Zombie. He knows he must assimilate to the hardcore army if he wants to live to see a tomorrow. And it's a weird little factoid, but I gotta give Rick props to making Cassie's essentials in her backpack that she carries in the beginning essential. She mentions carrying some necessities which include some food, water, weapons, mementos and, yes, tampons. I mean it's kind of an awkward realization, but you think, it's kind of necessary considering our hero is a teenaged girl. So kudos to Rick to keeping it real!

There was a bit of romance between Cassie and one of the guys. Won't say who. But I liked it. It wasn't really insta romance, but it did kind of come about quick, one sided at least. But the way it developed after that point, was kind of refreshing! 

And the ending, oh the ending! It was...epic! A lot of action started going down and those last few chapters just flew by and then of course we have a bit of a cliffie. It's not the pull your hair out kind, but it does leave you wondering a lot of things. Like what's next for our characters and even the fate of one character. So yeah, epic pretty much describes it perfectly! 

The 5th Wave is an enticing sci-fi, dystopic read that I highly recommend! Just because it's YA shouldn't deter you, because Cassie acts far more mature than her age. And at times, it reads like an adult novel would. Not based on content in "mature" sense, but because this is an intense read! And a series that I will be holding onto until its chilling end!


Overall Rating 4/5 stars