The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey Published by Penguin UK ISBN: 9780141350417
on April 8th 2013
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Action & Adventure
Pages: 457
My rating:
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Synopsis
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.
Have you seen the movie? I have my issues with it too *cough* the actress *cough*. But we’re here to talk about the book, right?
Snail pace
I should’ve heeded Faye’s warning about this, because she was right. For a post-apocalyptic story, where everything is at stake, and there’s a quest, and the clock is ticking; the narrative is so sloooooooow. It felt like wading through jelly. I kept trying to push forward but book was all ‘No, no, no. This is super important. You must read this. Haha, no it wasn’t.’
Annoying MC
I said I wasn’t going to mention the movie. Well, let’s make an exception here. In both the book and the movie, the MC is incredibly annoying. Her quest is honorable, some things that happen to her are heart-breaking, but I think I can connect with everyone in there but her, which is bad news, because who likes to be inside an annoying person’s head?
I feel someone else should be the MC
The book eventually starts showing another POV; what happens in the place where Cassie’s brother was taken to. And honestly, what goes on there is ten times more interesting than what happens to Cassie. The story potential there would’ve been awesome. I feel like that’s where the story is, that’s where everything takes place. The book would’ve benefited a lot from this change.
Sure, I love romance, but not when it takes from the real story. You don’t have to add romance. Be strong, and resist, if you’re only adding it because that’s how YA works. Believe me, a lot of us are single and our only relationship is with fictional beings :3 Not everyone has a person.
So not everything is bad, because the story itself, the plot, was actually really good. It was what drew me in in the first place, but unfortunately, characters are a big part of a story, so I really couldn’t continue if the characters, specially the main character, kept giving me troubles.
I really loved this book! Sorry it didn’t work out so well for you though. It always sucks to read hyped books and not love them, or even really enjoy it. I agree a bit on the romance part. It got annoying. I read this book a while ago but when I saw the movie, I was reminded how annoying it was. xD
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Sorry it didn’t work for you! I’ve got this one waiting on my shelf, so I’ll keep this in mind when I start it! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Annika @ Hiding in Books recently posted this awesome thing…The Sunday Post: in which it’s all too much
You’re welcome! I do hope you enjoy it though!
I have not seen the movie yet (mostly because I am very skeptical about the casting and their ability to do justice to the book) but I actually enjoyed the book. I do agree that it is a little slow at times and Cassie could get on your nerves, but the plot and the action toward the end was enough to redeem the book for me. I really liked the new perspective on aliens and the mystery about who the aliens really were. Zombie’s plotline was really interesting for me and I wish that it had more time in the spotlight.
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Exactly! The POV that showed the kids being trained and how hard it was for them SHOULD have been the main story, because that’s where all the juice was, in my opinion. Fortunately, I had the chance to appreciate that in the movie. You really should see it to compare the two! The actor who plays that militar in charge whose name I can’t recall is on point!
Ahh it’s a pity you didn’t enjoy this so much! I have heard very mixed reviews about this book – some people seem to love it, whilst others hate it! Sad you weren’t in the former category! Oh well, life goes on – there are more books out there! <3
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Yes, the thing is, there are a few things that weren’t so bad. But yup, more books!