The 5th Wave (The 5th Wave, #1) in YA and Beyond

Feb 26, 2013 Brigid ✩ rated it liked it

Shelves: romance, sci-fi, adventure, dystopia, futuristic, young-adult, arcs, aliens

Thank you Karen for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Edit: I've decided to bump this down to 3 stars. This was one of those books that I liked more at the time I was reading it, but after digesting it for a while, I realize that it just didn't stick with me. And after thinking about it and reading a bunch of other reviews, I don't think this deserves more than 3 stars (I originally had it at 3.5.) Rick Yancey, you're awesome and the Monstrumologist books are the bomb, but ... sorry, this on ...more

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Nov 30, 2012 Renuka rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, young-adult, owned, romance, paranormal, dystopia, adventure, action, thriller, war

I really liked this book. I got into it really easily, and then it gripped me into making speculations and flipping the pages. It was very intense, and I started to see why this book has made such a splash.

Cassie is in hiding from the Others; she is one of the few that survived the first 4 waves, that ended in the destruction of 7 billion people. She is on a mission to save her brother, and to simply survive whatever else the alien invaders are planning to throw at her. It is the dawn of the 5t I really liked this book. I got into it really easily, and then it gripped me into making speculations and flipping the pages. It was very intense, and I started to see why this book has made such a splash.

Cassie is in hiding from the Others; she is one of the few that survived the first 4 waves, that ended in the destruction of 7 billion people. She is on a mission to save her brother, and to simply survive whatever else the alien invaders are planning to throw at her. It is the dawn of the 5th Wave. Cassie's a really tough girl, and surprisingly, doesn't hesitate to kill. She knows it's either kill or be killed ("it's an either/or world"). She also has serious trust issues, but when she meets Evan Walker, she begins to trust again. On the other side of the coin, there is Zombie or Ben. He evolves from a regular teenage guy, to a loyal soldier willing to fight or humanity, and also becomes tangled up in Cassie's story when he begins to protect her younger brother.

It's very interesting, although at times, Cassie's chapters bored me. My favorite chapter's were definitely Zombie's, he was a hundred times more interesting. I also didn't like Evan all that much, and his whole relationship with Cassie was twisted and weird. He was too erratic, going from "innocent farm-boy" to "shark" and honestly, it was just creepy how quickly they fell into a relationship. Cassie keeps saying that she has trust problems, but it seems to me she trusted him quickly enough.

I liked Ben's side of the story way more; how he had to rebuild himself, overcome his depression, and leave the past behind so he could again succeed and pull himself up. HIs relationship with his team was bittersweet and I really liked seeing him become protective of the kids he was charged with. However, Ringer felt really inconsequential at times, maybe she'll have a bigger part in the next book, but I didn't really connect with her either. I guess overall I didn't connect with Evan or Ringer. Just Ben, Cassie, and Sammy, who is the cutest 5 year old on the face of the planet. I mean really, he is so adorable.

Now my favorite part of the book was definitely learning what the Waves were and speculating about the 5th Wave. I'm not going to say what they are, (just go read the book), but it was frightening to see how easily the Others crippled us with the first wave and just kept knocking us down with debilitating wave after wave. Killing 7 billion people...is really terrifying. It'll be incredible to see where humanity goes after this, whether Cassie and Ben can pull everyone back up.

The Others seemed very distant for the majority of the book, but the villains are there, ever lurking, and it was impossible not to be awed by them. I can't wait to see where the story goes from here. How will humanity survive if they're turned against each other? Will they cause their own destruction?

...more

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Jul 05, 2013 Heidi rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2013

This one started off strong and kind of petered out. I liked Cassie a lot...until I didn't. Say what you will about Hunger Games but whether you loved it or hated it Katniss was always a strong independent gal and did not waiver in her convictions when some guy came around - even one who could bake yummy bread. Why or why must all dystopian heroines these days either be Mary Sue's (aka Triss from Divergent) and/or become idiots when a cute boy comes along (aka Cassie)?? Wouldn't you think if the This one started off strong and kind of petered out. I liked Cassie a lot...until I didn't. Say what you will about Hunger Games but whether you loved it or hated it Katniss was always a strong independent gal and did not waiver in her convictions when some guy came around - even one who could bake yummy bread. Why or why must all dystopian heroines these days either be Mary Sue's (aka Triss from Divergent) and/or become idiots when a cute boy comes along (aka Cassie)?? Wouldn't you think if the world was coming to an end it would force you to figure out who you were as a person and I don't know - be a little less worried about how your hair looks and whether a boy likes you?? I would hope so. Also while I am ranting here - why must there always be a boy who is a natural born killer? A boy who is good at everything because I guess he is born that way and oh yeah super hot of course. But instead of these boys worrying about you know things like not dying they become instantly attracted so some girl and we never really know the reason, (well I know the reason - it is because authors want all the females out there reading the books to fantasize that this guy could also fall for them), but that is neither here nor there, where is the originality people?? Where are the Viola's and Todd's from Chaos Walking? I mean what ever happened to starting out as normal people and rising to greatness? And what about growing into love - not falling blindly into insta-love?

Man I think this book struck a nerve and I didn't even realize it until I starting my ~~rant~~ review here. All in all I didn't hate this book but it didn't have enough character building for me (Hello Evan - if that is even you real name. Who the he** are you?) I liked the premise of the 4 waves and the world building - it kind of reminded me of a tamer

and I was digging that. I guess I just wanted more. The actual writing wasn't bad - I know Mr. Yancy can write because I am in awe of his Monstrumoligist books. Due to my faith in Mr. Yancy's abilities I would be willing to go along for the ride for book two ONLY if some of my other trusted GR friends take the plunge first and tell me the water is fine :) ...more

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Apr 28, 2013 Lloyd rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

This really should have been a book I enjoyed, yet something was ultimately missing from this novel for me. I can't quite even put my finger on what it is. Sadly, it wound up leaving me feeling like I'd just watched a movie. One that should have been really cool, that you really WANTED to be cool...but yet you leave feeling empty and unfulfilled. Like you've already seen it a bunch of times before.

This whole thing felt cliched. The plot. The characters. And the stupid, ever-present in YA books t ...more

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Sep 20, 2013 Falling for Books (Tia) rated it it was amazing

Great book, I was definitely hooked from the beginning. I think this is a great portrayal of an alien invasion. I liked all the characters and how the story unfolds piece by piece. This book kept me up reading late into the night!

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