“I had it all wrong,” he says. “Before I found you, I thought the only way to hold on was to find something to live for. It isn’t. To hold on, you have to find something you’re willing to die for.”
― Rick Yancey, The 5th Wave
Book Title: The 5th Wave
Author: Rick Yancey
Length: 512 pages
Genre: YA, Science fiction, dystopian, romance, fiction
My Rating: 6/5 stars!!!
My Age Rating: 15+
Content Notes: No sex, crude jokes and innuendo, strong language, violence and gore, illness and injury, emotional themes, death and grief, murder, child indoctrination, mentions of suicide, child abuse and exploitation, fear and paranoia
“Even the most sensitive person can get used to even the most insensitive thing.
Cruelty isn’t a personality trait. Cruelty is a habit.”
― Rick Yancey, The 5th Wave
Book 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, 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.
My Review:
This book is one of my favourite books of all time. I read it multiple times a year, and it never gets old. Let me tell you why!
I picked this book up on a whim while perusing the public library. I love dystopian/end-of-the-world books, but I’m never able to find any truly good ones. So after reading the synopsis I knew that I needed to read this one! And my book instinct has never been so right!
The writing in this book is some of the most beautiful yet powerful writing I’ve ever read. I’ve never found anything that could quite stand up to it! It’s punchy and poetic, going from the fiery and funny internal thoughts of the characters to beautiful and flowery writing that leaves you in tears. Sometimes I will sit there and just read a paragraph over and over while reading this book. I honestly can’t tear my eyes away.
Not only is the actual writing style so amazing, but the plot itself is fast-paced and perfectly laid out. You get multiple perspectives throughout the book (something I LOVE), and that keeps you reading because you’re not only learning more about the story, world and characters through each change of perspective, but you’re falling in love with all of them too! This book was the book that made me fall in love with, and crave, multiple POVs in every book I read.
Let’s talk about the characters. This book is pretty intense. I mean, it’s the end of the world. But the characters add so much humour to the story. I love every single one of them! The diversity of each of them gives the book such an interesting vibe, each with different thoughts and views, yet they’re all interconnected in their journey through the book.
My favourite character is definitely Zombie (no, that is not his real name. You’ll understand if you read the book). I love watching his character transformation. His inner strength (and let’s be honest with ourselves, physical strength too) is very powerful. Watching him change and become a better version of himself, and ultimately redeem his past mistakes is incredible. Honestly, he’s the guy I’d want on my side at the end of the world.
Now, let’s talk about the romance. At this point you’re probably thinking: “Man, the writing, the plot, the characters. If they’re seriously all that great, then the romance must suck. No book can be this good.” WRONG! The romance in this book is one of my favourite parts. It’s woven so perfectly into the intense scenes of the book.
There have been moments in this reading journey where I have thrown this book down and just screamed into my pillow, and no, that isn’t because I’m mad (though the main character can be dumb at moments, I mean I would have been married to him the moment I laid eyes on his chocolate eyes and chocolate breath. That will make sense, I swear.) but because I’m so extremely overwhelmed by the things that are said in this relationship. I mean, the love interest in this book knows exactly what to say, and I’m usually smiling uncontrollably when reading! Their relationship is raw and real and it will make your heart race. It’s one of the best romances I’ve ever read. It’s sacrificial, it’s not physical (for the most part, but we can get to that later) and it’s the type of love that hits you hard and never lets you go.
Let’s move on to the content notes, because if I don’t, I’m just going to keep talking about the romance, and it needs to end somewhere. This first book is free of explicit sexual content, but there are some crude jokes, along with some kissing. It is suggested that the main character was bathed while she was unconscious and was therefore seen naked, but it’s always just focusing on how she feels about that emotionally. Also, there is a scene where she has to clean shrapnel out of a wound that is located on the love interest’s backside, but likewise, it’s not described in explicit detail and is focusing on her internal thought process. Other than that, there is a bit of language throughout the book, including a few F-bombs. There are a fair number of heavy emotional themes, violence and gore, and a main part of the story revolves around the indoctrination, manipulation and mistreatment of children as they are being forced to become soldiers.
Something you should know going into this trilogy is that there are 2 sex scenes in the later books (end of book 2 and middle of book 3). Now, the reason I still suggest these books is that the scenes are very mild. Short, fade to black, and they are mostly focusing on the internal feelings and emotional details rather than explicit physical details. They are really easy to skip, but you should know going in that if you continue the series (and trust me, you will want to), you should expect that. This is why I suggest it for older teens, around 15+.
Even though this book is an intense read, everything is handled in a YA appropriate manner, and it’s never over the top explicit or scary. Most of the book is written in a poetic manner, and that softens the themes a little, while still giving them a punch that will take your breath away. It’s also balanced out by the positive themes of sacrificial love, loyalty, found family, holding on to humanity, and keeping promises that the characters bring to the story.
This book will forever stay at the top of my favourite list. Everything about it is perfect in my eyes, and really, the only flaw that I had was the swearing and scenes in the later books, which I always believe are unnecessary in a good story.
So, if you’re old enough and you’re looking for your next 5-star read, I highly suggest that you pick up this book! You won’t regret it, and I need more people who I can talk to about this beautiful, powerful and unforgettable book.
Happy Reading,
Ava
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