The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Title: The 5th Wave 

Author: Rick Yancey

Rating: 4.5 bookmarks

Release Date: May 7, 2013

Genre: SciFi / YA

Pages: 460 

ALIENS ARE STUPID.

I'm not talking about real aliens. The Others aren't stupid. The Others are so far ahead of us, it’s like comparing the dumbest human to the smartest dog. No contest.

No, I'm talking about the aliens inside our own heads.

"Oh look! It's a post-apocalyptic sci-fi book with aliens and attractive boys who can't be trusted and a brave young woman placed in life-threatening situations, the fate of humanity in her manicured hands. That's something you don't see everyday!" said no one. ever.

And this one, this one is just the same and yet so, so different. 

So you know how in sci-fi movies about alien invasions, (Independence Day, ET, the MIB trilogy, that sorta stuff) the aliens either (a) are cute and cuddly and completely misunderstood because all they want to do is come in peace, or (b) are technologically advanced and want to take over the world (and always always always start with America, unless the show is British) but their intelligence does not surpass that of humans and so have nothing on us. And in most cases, humanity sets aside its differences and fights as one and Will Smith saves the day and we all live happily ever after.

But Yancey has different ideas. The 5th Wave tells the story of an elaborately planned game, the aim of which is the mass genocide of humanity.The alien invaders (aka "Others" in 5th Wavian) send off a series of 4 attacks, each one killing more people than the prior. The 1st Wave is an electromagnetic pulse that destroys everything and anything electronic with a single swoop. (half-a-million people die, many go to Disney Land, and everybody misses the Internet) By the end of the 4th Wave, only the unlucky survive. The real question is, is there a 5th wave? And if there is, what form will it take? The answer to is a terrifying and unexpected reveal, as the reader discovers the Others' final act in the process of human extermination.

The story revolves around Cassie (for Cassiopeia), a 17-year-old survivor of the brutal attacks who believes she's the last human on Earth and who very simply refuses to give up. (if you were the last person on the planet and you represented humanity and you knew you didn't stand a chance against the dark forces of many duplicates of a more ruthless version of Darth Vader, you too would still want to die fighting for the scraps of dignity you managed to keep). Among all the shattered hopes and thrown-away dreams and so many broken promises, she is still driven by the need to keep the one promise she made to her younger brother, Sammy, because he is now the only family she has left. And throughout the entire story, Yancey still manages to capture in Cassie the true essence of a teenage girl; in the midst of thrilling events, Cassie still has time to worry about her hair, and even finds room for poetic thoughts and a love interest.

Sometimes in my tent, late at night, I think I can hear the stars scraping against the sky.

Now, the plot twists weren't all that unpredictable -- to me, at least. Plus the one relationship in the story (it had the potential to be great and awesome and a lot like Romeo and Juliet without the dying part) seemed actually completely rushed and so out of place it gave the impression that Yancey was forced to put it in there, and I was kinda hoping for a bit more tension/ creepiness like in the prologue.  But all this was counterbalanced by the book’s awesome narrative style. While the blurb and the first part of the book suggest that the story is told from Cassie's first person view point, it’s actually an alternating point of view adventure, involving not only Cassie, but also Sammy (which I find is very interesting because not all authors can or will show you a post-apocalyptic world through a 5-year-old's eyes) and two other surprising perspectives along the way (I'm not telling).

And OK, so the book's sequel is coming out soon and it's already been titled The Infinite Sea. Now, when I finished this book I actually reached a point of complete closure and did not really find the need for a sequel (like a I did with The Clockwork Princess or Shatter Me). The story really does go beyond what is says and gives you a decent ending (not THE ending, but still) without the heart-ripping cliff hangers. 

What else can I say? I loved this book. Sank into it. And as this is the first alien-invasion book I've ever read, I'm actually surprised that it now takes its rightful place as one of my all-time top five books/trilogies. With amazing characters (RINGER), enticing plot, and heart-bursting style of writing, The 5th Wave is easily my favorite book of 2013.