Review Detail

Where to even begin with this book? I guess I'll begin with the writing style since that was probably my favorite aspect.

I went into The 5th Wave thinking it was going to be all about Cassie (I even forgot about Evan Walker somewhere between reading the synopsis and starting the book) so I was very surprised and a little confused at the first POV change. I didn't really like it at first because I didn't see it coming and I just wanted to find out what would happen to Cassie next, but I eventually fell into the groove of POV switching and was just as interested in Cassie as the other main character (don't want to spoil you) and even enjoying the random little here and there's of other characters' POVs.

I really liked the way the first section was set up. We start out hearing about Cassie's Now and then she starts working in some Then bits before kind of fully switching over to Then storytelling with a few flashes of Now mixed in. It was a good way to get a feel of her character, learning about her life before and after the attack, not to mention the little mysteries that get solved along the way as well. What happened to her mom, dad, and brother? Why does she have a teddy bear? What is this promise she's talking about. I like that instead of dumping it all on the reader at once, by having Cassie just kind of blurt it out, Yancey makes it a real, tangible part of her story.

Am I the only one who feels the aliens are always better before you see them? Don't get me wrong, if there's an alien involved I'm dying to see it, but more often than not, I'm disappointed and not especially scared anymore. Things are much scarier without a face. That's why I love that the aliens' presence is everywhere in The 5th Wave, but the only knowledge you have of their looks is that they appear human just like everyone else.

Yancey is a master of making me second guess myself. I would keep telling myself I believed this or that person was bad/good no matter what, but then I'd start going “but he could be good because...” “but he's obviously bad because...” I was kind of driving myself mad with the hundreds of theories floating around in my head, but that's the sign of good storytelling, right? Another sign of good storytelling? I was constantly tensing up just waiting for the bad thing that was most certainly around that corner.

I'm not a hater of series'. I'm not a hater of cliffhangers. That being said, an ending will come along every once in a while that has me going “no, that's not it, this is unfair. Somebody give me the last five pages that have been so obviously removed from my copy.” The 5th Wave was one of those endings. The ending where I turn the last page fully expecting to see more and nothing (or in this case, the acknowledgements) staring back at me. Not cool. However, it did ease the sting a bit to find out it will be a series (trilogy?)

The Nutshell: I fully enjoyed The 5th Wave. It had me on the edge of my seat and kept throwing surprises at me when I thought there couldn't be any left. It's certainly the best (not the I've read many) alien book I've ever read.

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