Sunday 15 June 2014

The 5th Wave Book Review

WARNING: Spoilers are marked in red highlights.
 
I finished Rick Yancey's, The 5th Wave in the early hours of the morning last night. 4:32am to be exact.

I'm not quite sure how to write about this book.
It was so different from anything that I've read/ for a long time.

I will say that I absolutely loved Rick Yancey's writing style. It was so engaging and funny, and totally not what I was expecting. I do admit though, that I was thrown slightly when the narrative changed. I thought I was going to get a little lost and confused but it was all made very clear who the narrator was.

As I'm sure most people would agree, Cassie's point-of-view was by far my favourite. Her sarcasm was brilliant, and I loved her attitude to everything. She had me smiling through my teeth at some of the things she said.
“What were they thinking? 'It's an alien apocalypse! Quick, grab the beer!” 
“I don't move. I wait behind my log, terrified. Over the past ten minutes, it's become such a dear friend, I consider naming it: Howard, my pet log.”
She is smart, resourceful and levelheaded. She endures and overcomes.
Providing you could get her to even marginally trust you, I believe you would survive a hell of a lot longer with her by your side.
She has easily become one of my favourite badass characters.

A small portion of these aliens in the novel take on a similar role to those invading Souls in The Host by Stephanie Meyer. In the form that they are inserted into a human.

The 5th Wave. It's an intense and brilliant way to wipe out the rest of the human population. Genius really

This book had me second guessing and being paranoid about all the assumptions that I'd made so far.
When we first are introduced to Evan, I was convinced he was the shooter, but then, they way he was with her made me rethink that.
Also, Vosch. At first, I was adamant he was the bad guy, but then once you've switched to Zombie's pov, you can't help but question if he was only doing what had to be done. 
Rick Yancey does a brilliant job at making you second-guess the motives of everyone and I just had to keep reading.

Every single character in the book, I love.
Ringer, with her cold indifference.
Cassie's Dad, with his theories and positive outlook.
Vosch, the perfect bad guy.
Evan, the perfect stalker.
Sammy, someone you fell in love with and wanted to keep safe yourself.
And of course, who could forget Bear?
Every time Cassie talked to Bear, I was laughing.

The only downside I could really pick up on, was that sometimes, the pacing could seem a little slow. It in no way made me want to stop reading, but I didn't feel quite as enthralled as I wanted to be in the middle.

Also, I'd like to point out, that I was so glad of the swearing in this book.
I hate it when authors are like.. ' I swore under my breath.'
Let be honest here, what like.. 80% of the teenager population swear, especially in shitty situations. It was refreshing.

Now let's talk about Ben/Zombie.
He was brilliant. I took a little time for me to warm up to him really, but the second he stood up for Nugget, that pretty much sealed the deal for me.
Seeing the camp from his pov was really insightful. I was glad Rick Yancey had decided to split the narrative.

That awkward scene towards the end. With Zombie, Cassie and Evan in the execution room. I was laughing so hard.
It's really nice to see the two of them come full circle sort of. Cassie and Ben, I mean.
Can we all agree on how badass both those characters were too, when storming the base and trying to rescue Sammy?

And on a last and final note.
The fact that this book mentions the word 'fangirling' pretty much made up my mind then and there that this was going to be a great book.

I wanted to be able to give this book five stars, I really did want to love it, and I did, just not as much as I was hoping.
So overall, I'm giving this book four stars.
I'll be waiting nervously at home scouring the internet to find the next installment The Infinite Sea for as little money as possible.

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