The 5th Wave (The 5th Wave #1) - Rick Yancey

Review: The 5th Wave
Series: The 5th Wave
Author: Rick Yancey
Rating: 5/5
Genre: Dystopia
Recommend To: fans of Under the Never Sky, the Darkest Minds

I really liked this book. I got into it really easily, and then it gripped me into making speculations and flipping the pages. It was very intense, and I started to see why this book has made such a splash. 

Cassie is in hiding from the Others; she is one of the few that survived the first 4 waves, that ended in the destruction of 7 billion people. She is on a mission to save her brother, and to simply survive whatever else the alien invaders are planning to throw at her. It is the dawn of the 5th Wave. Cassie's a really tough girl, and surprisingly, doesn't hesitate to kill. She knows it's either kill or be killed ("it's an either/or world"). She also has serious trust issues, but when she meets Evan Walker, she begins to trust again. On the other side of the coin, there is Zombie or Ben. He evolves from a regular teenage guy, to a loyal soldier willing to fight or humanity, and also becomes tangled up in Cassie's story when he begins to protect her younger brother.

It's very interesting, although at times, Cassie's chapters bored me. My favorite chapter's were definitely Zombie's, he was a hundred times more interesting. I also didn't like Evan all that much, and his whole relationship with Cassie was twisted and weird. He was too erratic, going from "innocent farm-boy" to "shark" and honestly, it was just creepy how quickly they fell into a relationship. Cassie keeps saying that she has trust problems, but it seems to me she trusted him quickly enough. 

I liked Ben's side of the story way more; how he had to rebuild himself, overcome his depression, and leave the past behind so he could again succeed and pull himself up. HIs relationship with his team was bittersweet and I really liked seeing him become protective of the kids he was charged with. However, Ringer felt really inconsequential at times, maybe she'll have a bigger part in the next book, but I didn't really connect with her either. I guess overall I didn't connect with Evan or Ringer. Just Ben, Cassie, and Sammy, who is the cutest 5 year old on the face of the planet. I mean really, he is so adorable.

Now my favorite part of the book was definitely learning what the Waves were and speculating about the 5th Wave. I'm not going to say what they are, (just go read the book), but it was frightening to see how easily the Others crippled us with the first wave and just kept knocking us down with debilitating wave after wave. Killing 7 billion people...is really terrifying. It'll be incredible to see where humanity goes after this, whether Cassie and Ben can pull everyone back up. 

The Others seemed very distant for the majority of the book, but the villains are there, ever lurking, and it was impossible not to be awed by them. I can't wait to see where the story goes from here. How will humanity survive if they're turned against each other? Will they cause their own destruction?