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The 5th Wave (The 5th Wave, #1)

Rick Yancey

Start date: August 1, 2021

Finish date: August 31, 2021

Discussion: Book of the Month

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What Members Thought

Feb 09, 2013 Trisha rated it really liked it · review of another edition

jaw-dropping amazing. once I started this book, I couldn't stop reading.
With each chapter, each POV, each characters - you are wrapped into a story and world that is real and scary and just...OMG

and, just like that - it's hopless and humanity is done and we're lost and we're losing..

but then there's Cassie and she refuses to fall and she refuses to lay down and just accept it.

And in that we find courage and love and remember what it means to be human.

amazing story, amazing characters. ...more

13 likes · Like · see review

Sep 19, 2020 Tammie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: post-apocalyptic, series-completed, fantasy, fantasy-book-club-reads, young-adult, owned-audio

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 mysteriou 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.

I don't read a lot of post apocalyptic stuff, but most of the ones I have read have had the "aliens take over the world" theme. Certain elements of this reminded me of The Host by Stephenie Meyer, although that was a cake walk compared to this, and in the end, the stories had little in common. The atmosphere of this book, and the not knowing if you can trust other people thing reminded me a bit of the TV show Falling Skies. I think it was that atmosphere that won me over. It was tense, and the characters not knowing who they could trust made it interesting for me. Then there is also the "enemy turned lover" scenario that made it interesting too. I think I'm in the minority when it comes to the romance because I actually liked it, and it was one aspect of the book that I enjoyed. I liked the whole "love can change the way a person sees the world and others" theme there, and I didn't think it took over the story or anything.

I'm not gonna lie, this series was depressing at times, and there are some morally questionable things done by characters. I particularly found the boot camp where the children as young as five were being conditioned and brainwashed, and turned into soldiers hard to read. I almost wanted to stop, but I kept going. The main character, Cassie doesn't exactly come off as the most likable protagonist to a lot of people, but I was still able to like her. The thing is, I could understand her behaving in the way she does in this book, because she was a teenager put in a horrifying situation. She's lost her whole family. She's alone, and she's lost all trust in everyone. I could see a person becoming that way in this situation. I do think that the book could have shown us more people willing to trust and help each other. Most of those type of people end up dead in this book. That brings up the questions, how far should we go to save the human race? How much of ourselves should we sacrifice? What would we have to become in order to do that, and is it worth it?

In the end, I have mixed feelings about this book. I gave it 4 stars because there were things I liked a lot about it, and at certain parts I had a hard time putting it down. As a YA book I would definitely say this isn't a book for young teens. It's very dark and gritty. There is also a lot of cursing in this series as a whole, with lots of F bombs thrown in; more than in most of the books I've read written for adults in the last year.

Review also posted at Writings of a Reader. ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Apr 12, 2015 Chris Cummings rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: to-read-owned

Now, I'm not someone who has read a great deal of Y/A fiction. I like to think of myself, though, as a reader who is willing to give most things a try. I've read some Y/A, but this was my first Y/A distopian, of which there are plenty. A story of a world in which aliens have obliterated earth, demolished our planet, and left very few survivors. We follow a few different people here, and we learn about the four waves that happened as "The Others" attempted to take over. I didn't expect this book ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Feb 20, 2016 Collette Tepperberg rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: calcifer, library

I had "poo-pooed" this book when all the hype began over the movie, then reluctantly read it. How I have changed my tune! I am totally loving this book. The story is not only great but the course of events are believable (for the genre at least). Told in different voices, it was a great way to see the whole scope of the apocalypse through different eyes and I really appreciated being able to connect with different characters in that way.

*Note the movie doesn't do the novel justice! ...more

1 like · Like · see review