Book Review: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

So, I'll admit, I've been skeptical about reading this. First, the book had little tiny samplers in Barnes and Noble, which seemed a bit pretentious to me. Then, he's (Rick Yancey) got about half a million reviews on the back (not that they aren't the exact same reviews as every other book, but still. And, to top it all off, this book is what I call a "tall" book, meaning that it's length is slightly taller than most. And usually, those books are reserved for J.K. Rowling types. Like I said, pretentious. As if he already knows how great his book is. Naturally, I had an aversion.

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.

However, when I finally picked this up, I LOVED it. I think that this book is seriously going to be the next Divergent, which was this next Hunger Games, which was the next Twilight, which was the next Harry Potter. It didn't feel like I was reading 457 pages of blah, like most books. It wasn't filled with SAT words or nonsensical syntax, like some books. It was like easy. The entire story was engaging and quick, like you only had to read a page, instead of a book. 

So, by that, my review may be scattered and not in any chronological book event order, but it won't contain any major spoilers that couldn't be figured out immediately.

Ringer. Yes, that is a character's name. If you get the gist of the summary, then you'll make the inference that they have human armies (not really, don't look at me when you find out that it's totally not). Anyway, each of the members of the child armies have army names (crazy, I know. But seriously, that took like three sentences to describe where she got her name- too long). Ringer is a pretty brunette in which our beautiful love interest could potentially be harboring feelings for and I DON'T LIKE HER. Not because she's not a great character (she is), but more because I have the dumb mindset that Cassie, the main protagonist, should have the guy.

Evan. For the longest time with this character, I didn't like him. Basically, he's lying to Cassie and she knows it, but he was constantly covering his tracks with dumb excuses. However, he grew on me. That's all I have to say to that shameful confession.

Ben. LOVE ME. 

Cassie. She was awesome because she was all like, "I am an independent womaaaan who, not only don't need no man, but I also will shoot you if you touch me." Sometimes, those sarcastic-bang bang protagonists get on my nerves because I don't see shooting people as an ends to show how awesome you are, but she ended up being better than I first expected. Her sibling love for Sammy was evident and potent.

If you love action books, this is for you. Every other page was a logical, thought-out action scene that was just great, followed by character development and even romance.

I could go on and on about this book, but you'll just have to go pick it up to see how great it is. I highly, highly recommend this. It definitely makes my 'absolute favorite books' list (which is a hefty accomplishment, let me tell you). GO READ IT. I SWEAR IT ISN'T AS PRETENTIOUS AS IT LOOKS. It seems to me like one of those books that you could re-read forever and never get tired of.

Rating: 5 million out of 5 stars

Over and out,
Nerdalicious