Wednesday 19 June 2013

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

The 5th Wave (The Fifth Wave, #1)Age Group: YA
Genre: Dystopian/ Science Fiction
Pub date: 7th May 2013
Publisher: Puffin

I went to an event at Penguin HQ courtesy of World Book Day (thank you!), to see Rick Yancey talk about his new book: The 5th Wave. Youtube video about that will be up soon. But let’s get to the point here: the book itself.

Do you know how long I have been waiting for a good alien invasion YA novel? Specific I know, but nevertheless true. In a time where I’ve got a bucketful of dystopian novels raining down on me, this book was refreshing.

The 5th Wave tells the story of Earth after aliens, which our protagonist, Cassie, names “The Others”, invade and are attempting to wipe out the human race. It’s do-or-die in this world, but it more feels like die-or-die. We join Cassie as she attempts to keep a promise in a world where you can trust no one. I have to say; initially I was a bit sceptical of the book, mostly because I thought I could predict what was going to happen. I was so wrong. There was enough plot twists in this book to make your mind believe it’s playing mental Twister.

The book is written from several points of view, I’m not going to say who, but I am glad of that because it broke the book up a bit, and allowed you to see the full world from different angles. And boy, it’s a good world. As a science-fiction fan, I was impressed by the plausibility of the scenario and the differences it presented, even if I was miffed by the sweeping generalizations Yancey made of alien stories.

I really liked all the characters. There was something relatable to all of them, and the portrayal of how terror and loss can affect people differently made them and the story realistic. I definitely think the best character was Ben, his views on the world, his sense of morality, and his wit. Cassie had that funny kick-ass girl attitude, which was nice to read, but it was at her moments of weakness and doubt that I liked her the most. I have a slight criticism of the writing, in that Ben and Cassie had the same type of voice at the beginning, which felt like another generalization, but this one of teenagers, but I was pleased as Ben changed over the story, his voice felt like it did too. I loved how Yancey had a different tone to most dystopians, with jokes and attitude, but never losing sight of the seriousness of the situation.

Overall, I loved this book. It kept me gripped right to the end. In fact, I got to the last page and was like “where’s the rest?”. I cannot wait till the next one!


5 comments:

  1. Great review! The book sounds great, I am excited to start it soon!

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  2. I've heard great things about this book. Glad you liked it and lovely review!

    I followed you via Bloglovin' :)

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  3. I just bought this book and I'm so excited to read it! So jealous that you got to meet Rick Yancey!

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