Book Review: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

I received an unsolicited physical galley copy of this book for free from Putnam in exchange for an honest review. 

Title: The 5th Wave

Author: Rick Yancey

Series: The 5th Wave #1

Publisher: Putnam

Publication Date: May 7, 2013

Genre: YA Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi

Length: 457 pages

Source: publisher

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Literary Awards:

The Inky Awards Nominee for Silver Inky (2013)

Goodreads Choice Award Nominee for Best YA Fantasy & Sci-Fi (2013)

Georgia Peach Book Award Nominee for Honor book (2014)

Milwaukee County Teen Book Award Nominee (2014)

Carnegie Medal Nominee (2014)
Abraham Lincoln Award Nominee (2015)

Green Mountain Book Award Nominee (2015)

Louisiana Teen Readers Choice Award Winner (2016)

Missouri Gateway Readers Award Nominee (2016)

Oklahoma Sequoyah Award for High School (2016)

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. 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, until Cassie meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan may be her only hope for rescuing her brother and even saving herself. Now she must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up. Cassie Sullivan gets up.

MY THOUGHTS:

First of all, let's talk about that synopsis. It really draws me in, even after finishing the book. It screams post-apocalyptic fiction and I'm beginning to love stories of survival in the future, so yeah, I definitely wanted to read this just because of the synopsis.  

This is a book about aliens but the entire time I read it, I kept thinking 'post-apocalyptic' instead of 'science-fiction'. I can't choose which one fits better. I guess they are pretty much the same thing but I feel like I need to put them together to claim that they are any genre at all. 'Post-apocalyptic science-fiction'. Is that redundant since both post-apocalyptic fiction and science-fiction are both set in the future?  

The 5th Wave is written from the point of view of several characters but it's pretty obvious that Cassie is the main focus. The entire story, as well as the other characters, revolve around her.

I found it pretty difficult to choose a favorite character. It's easy to assume that it should be Cassie but I liked all of the characters. There wasn't anything that turned me off from any of the characters or made any of them the 'villain'. My only problem is how level-headed all these kids seem to be throughout everything that happens to them.

It is well written in a way that draws and keeps your attention. I especially liked the sarcasm and other little things that make this perfect for young-adults.  I seriously didn't want to put this book down. I wouldn't have if I didn't have obligations like sleeping and other such nuisances.

 Another great thing about this book is that it has tons of action. I can definitely see it as a 'kick-ass' movie. The back of my copy says that The 5th Wave has been optioned by Sony Pictures/GK Films. That's exciting. They wanted to make this book into a movie before it even released to the public!

I don't know if I'm correct, but I read that The 5th Wave is the beginning of a series and in that case, I really can't wait for the next book to come out. How long do I have to wait?

One word I would use to describe 'The 5th Wave':

Intense.

I was pleasantly surprised when FedEx showed up at my door with a package containing this book. I was expecting something from England but I got The 5th Wave instead, which was perfectly okay with me. The downer was that I received the book two days after the author toured in my state. I've never been to a book signing before and I was pretty upset that I missed this one. To be fair, I didn't even know about it until the day after.

Also, after reading Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta, I've wanted to read more Printz-winning novels and I just read that Rick Yancey is a Printz-winning author so I'm off to add anything else he has written to my to-read list.

My Rating:

☆☆☆☆☆

(4.5)

 Have you read The 5th Wave? What did you think of it?