The 5th Wave (The 5th Wave, #1) in The Reader's Lounge

Mar 25, 2013 Jasprit rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: arc-galley, read-in-2013, out-2013, post-apocalyptic

I’m always a little wary about picking up a book which has been receiving incredible reviews and ratings (an average of 4.5 from my Goodreads friends.) in the last few weeks. But especially more so when it’s for a book I wouldn’t typically read. But I admit when I heard the word aliens I was intrigued. I had my fingers crossed that I would love The 5th Wave as much as everyone else too. I’m pleased to say The 5th Wave did not in any way disappoint. The concept of billions of people being wiped a I’m always a little wary about picking up a book which has been receiving incredible reviews and ratings (an average of 4.5 from my Goodreads friends.) in the last few weeks. But especially more so when it’s for a book I wouldn’t typically read. But I admit when I heard the word aliens I was intrigued. I had my fingers crossed that I would love The 5th Wave as much as everyone else too. I’m pleased to say The 5th Wave did not in any way disappoint. The concept of billions of people being wiped away from the world because of an alien invasion was a brilliant idea and Yancey managed to pull it off incredibly. So far there had been four Waves in total which had demolished everything. If you were one of the last surviving individuals you were either taken away (depending on your age) to camp or left on your own. The latter situation is how our protagonist Cassie finds herself, she’s lost everything except her brother whose been taken away, but she’d promised she would come back for. It’s become a dark and dangerous world out there with you not knowing who you can trust (is the person you’re talking to even human?). So just watching Cassie at just 17 years old toughing it was just incredible.

The story was given to us through multiple narratives, usually this can be really confusing, but Yancey managed to make it work well together. With the narratives I enjoyed getting into the heads of the different characters and learning about what led them to where they were in the first place. Ben and Evan were definitely two characters I enjoyed being around, one was always straight forward so you knew what you were getting from him, where as the other was such a tangled web, but I still ended up falling for him more. I had my doubts about this character throughout the story, but didn’t want my doubts to be confirmed either, but by the end this sweet guy just crumbled my heart. I think as I was drawn to his enigmatic character so much, all I wanted to do was get his story. Like I said I really enjoyed reading from the different narratives, but once I came to the end of Cassie’s I was tempted to skip ahead just so that I could go back to their story again. Parts of their story were scary as I didn’t know what to expect, but then the sweeter scenes definitely topped it and won me over.

The solid characters and their character development over the course of the book definitely made The 5th Wave a wonderful read for me. Evan, Ben and Cassie were such strong characters, but there was also a bunch of extremely memorable secondary characters too. Books which have characters which weave their way to your heart that they easily become favourites, this is exactly what Yancey was able to do. I found myself fully invested in each and every character until the very end.

So much has already been said about the incredible world that Yancey has created in The 5th Wave; it’s dangerous, dark and scary but most of all it appeared so realistic. I could totally imagine this happening to our world and us humans having no clue of how to react and who to trust. The self-doubt that Yancey was easily able to create amongst these characters was unbelievable. One minute you could be fine, and the next you were doing Dorothy. I was utterly surprised by some of the outcomes of this story, I just loved how through it’s entirely it kept me on the edge of my seat.

It’s already been endlessly said but honestly guys The 5th Wave is not one book to be missed this year. It’s gritty, so realistic and has a great story of individuals set on their own paths, but being ultimately connected in some way in the end.
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Mar 12, 2013 Danielle rated it liked it

The 5th Wave is a well crafted novel that tackles the subject of an alien invasion with more realism and tension than I have come across in a long time.

The story is told in multiple points of view, the main being Cassie Sullivan, a teenage girl, on the run, surviving the wilds as she aims to find her brother who was taken to a rescue camp by the military. I really like Cassie, she was snarky, brave, enjoyable to read about. Yancey did a realistic job in creating a strong narrative voice in part ...more

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