The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

The thing about reviewing a book that everyone has already read - or at least seen a review of - is there isn't much I can say that will be new. Thankfully, that usually make me feel like I have more freedom in what I write. The first half of this post will be safe for everyone to read. The second part is where I want to say something specific about the end of the book that is only for people who have read it. I will tell you when we get to the spoiler part.

The 5th Wave
by Rick Yancey
Read: May 14 - 17, 2013
Published: May 7, 2013 by Putnam Juvenile
Source: Library
Category: Post-Apocalyptic, Aliens, YA

The Passage meets Ender’s Game in an epic new series from award-winning author Rick Yancey.

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. (From Goodreads)

Note: I haven't read The Passage or Ender's Game (I know! Bad me.), so I would personally call this book The Host meets Chaos Walking. 
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The 5th Wave freaked me out. Big time. If I were going to stage an alien invasion, I couldn't manage it better than this one. Actually, this is much better than anything I could come up with. I'm just going to use it as my future invasion guidebook. The scariest thing is that I've seen elements of this strategy in play during some of the darkest times in human history, which only made it feel more real. Possible. But within all the action and alien created chaos, is a very thoughtful exploration of what it means to be human. Is it possible to erase our humanity? Or are the darkest moments when we prove ourselves the most? 

You know that creeping feeling of dread when you realize that something isn't right, but you can't figure out what it is? And you keep forging ahead anyway, even though you know something Very Bad is about to happen? I felt that way the entire time I was reading The 5th Wave. Although there are a few elements of the story that I figured out, they just made me more excited and nervous about what was coming next. 

The 5th Wave is recounted through four voices, Cassie, Zombie, Silencer and Nugget, and I think this book is bigger and richer because of its different perspectives. I also loved the moments when their stories converged, and fireworks happened. Cassie's voice is first and also my favorite. I found her to be relatable and and amusing even while the world was falling apart around her. Zombie gave us valuable information, but it is his moments of revelation that are powerful. Silencer and Nugget have the smallest number of pages devoted to their voices, but both of them made a huge impression on me. Silencer's POV is where some of the black and white of this book turns to grey. I struggled a lot with Nugget's role, but then I remembered that what his character faces is really happening in some places of the world today. I appreciate that Yancey took the risk to include him. I haven't come close to mentioning all of the fantastic characters. You'll just have to read the book to meet the rest. 

I was surprised at how much I swooned while reading The 5th Wave. Personally, I am a big fan of the pairing (and potential pairing) happening in here. I thought it made the story stronger and more complex. This book has no love triangle, and I hope it stays that way in the future. PLEASE NO LOVE TRIANGLES, Mr. Yancey! 

It took some time for the story to gain momentum. Although I was very interested from the beginning, it wasn't until the third voice that I was glued to this story. Also, I had a huge meltdown about the last two pages. I literally fretted about them for 5 days after I finished reading the book, worrying that they would completely change my feelings about this series (sometimes I get dramatic). But on day 5, I had a massive epiphany, which made me feel MUCH better about everything. I'm going to tell you all about my revelation, but it's a spoiler. Look below the line only if you've read the book.  

But really, The 5th Wave is as exciting and addicting as everyone says it is. The narrative asks compelling questions and includes some excellent moral ambiguity, all while featuring lots of dangerous action. Even with all the comparisons to other books in the description above, this book feels fresh and sophisticated. I'm hoping the next one will be even more awesome.  

Love Triangle Factor: None so far - let's keep it that way.
Cliffhanger Scale: Low. LOTS unresolved, but ended on a quiet moment. 

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SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS BELOW

It's no secret that I don't like love triangles, so I was pleasantly surprised that this book didn't appear to have one...until I got to the last two pages. Then all of a sudden there was a strange moment between Ben and Cassie that seemed to be foreshadowing a future triangle. I could not understand what it was doing there, because it felt so out of place with the rest of the high action, alien apocalypse story. Out of all possible choices, why would the author leave us with that moment? Even if it wasn't really foreshadowing a triangle, it felt like Yancey wanted us to THINK it was. I literally had a huge tantrum and started panicking that the whole next book would completely shift focus to Evan-Cassie-Ben relationship drama. But then I had an epiphany, and decided that maybe Yancey was saying something else entirely in that final scene.

What if those last two pages aren't foreshadowing a love triangle at all, or even about Ben hitting on Cassie. Maybe they're only saying something about Cassie. Maybe they speak to the end of something instead of a beginning. What I mean is that perhaps those final moments of The 5th Wave symbolize the end of Cassie's childhood, and life as she knew it, including her long held crush on Ben. Or at least how she always envisioned her crush would turn into a relationship with him. 

After Ben gives Cassie that weird cheek kiss (which could mean nothing more than being sweet on his part, we don't know what he's thinking), she tries to start up that conversation that she'd always imagined having with him - where they reminisce about a moment they shared on the bus in elementary school. But Ben is all "what are you talking about?" At first I thought it was a pretty harsh move on his part, showing how little he paid attention to Cassie, though he knew her for years. But perhaps that moment is really there to explain that Cassie's pre-invasion dreams don't matter any more, and it's time to move on from them.

I thought it was out of place to start something romantic at the very end of the book, especially after Cassie had just had a moment remembering how she and Evan had been one when their minds connected. That doesn't mean something won't happen between Ben and Cassie (though I hope NOT. He's much better suited for someone else.). In my mind, it just shifts the scene's focus away from teasing a relationship between them, and makes it about Cassie's growth and personal realization that life will never be the same again. Granted, I have no idea what Yancey is actually saying, but it makes me feel better to think of it in this way.

What is your impression of the final scene? Do you think it's foreshadowing a love triangle, or saying something completely different? 

If you're interested in further discussing this book, including my thoughts on the final scene. (Fair warning, that part gets ranty, especially before I had my epiphany), check the comments under my Goodreads review, HERE. 

***PLEASE NOTE IF YOUR COMMENT INCLUDES A SPOILER***