Book Review: The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey.

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.

Genre: YA, post-apocalyptic, dystopian novel

Pages: 457 (paperback)

Published: April 7th 2013

I have been into dystopian books for quite some time now and this is one of the few books that seperates itself from all the others. It takes place in the near future, society hasn't really changed and the life before the first wave could be seen as our everyday life.

The book starts out with Cassie, the main character, who is trying to survive after the fourth wave. She hides in the forest for something that she describes as 'The Eye', while believing that she is the only living person in a radius of at least 50 miles around her. Until she comes across a guy who says that he is still human and asks her to do the impossible: stay with him. 

Okay, first point of discussion would be Rick Yancey's writing style. He has a way of using words that will grab your attention and never let go. He uses details, lots of them, background stories, and interesting characters. Cassie is determined to live, to hold on and to make sure that her father's death wasn't for nothing. He managed to create a somewhat psychotic girl who still manages to hang on to the real world. 
And then there is Sammy. Cute Sammy. Sammy is Cassie's little brother and before the fourth wave hit, he was taken to a special camp where he would be safe. That camp ended up being the devil but hey, plottwist! 

The book is divided into different sections and every new section is written in someone else's point of view; Cassie's, Sammy's or Zombie's, who turns out to be Ben Parish, Carrie's high school crush. 
In some books, which have different POVs throughout the story, it can be rather difficult to find out who is actually speaking. Rick Yancey did a really good job at making sure that his readers understood who was talking. For example Cassie is very down to earth, worrying all the time and looking back on what life used to be like. Sammy is still a young boy so his language is very simple, childish and not so complicated. Zombie is constantly scared of doing something wrong and his language is more boy-ish, which makes it easier to recognize. 
And then there is Evan Walker, the guy Cassie meets and the guy who keeps her safe. He takes her to his old house where they find shelter and where they fall in love. I think that even though Evan wasn't very important to the story now, he was a good addition. He was cute, some times a little bit creepy, and he was caring and protective. But every good thing has it's flaws, and so does Evan. 

The story itself was very well put together, especially the plottwist near the end of the book. Throughout the book, Rick Yancey makes it obvious that there is only one cause for the waves: aliens. I didn't doubt this theory because it was so convincing; there was nothing that suggested otherwise. Until, of course, the end when they all come together, including Cassie and Sammy, and they realize that everything they were told, was a lie. 

For me, after hearing so many people talking about this book, my expectations were high. Like Mount Everest high. But Rick Yancey convinced me and added me to  list of people who absolutely loved this book. Go read it if you haven't yet and if you have already read it, go read it again. 
I rated it 5 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.