The 5th Wave by Rick Yancy

Rating: 5 out of 5
Title: The 5th Wave
Author: Rick Yancy
Series: The 5th Wave (Book 1)
Hardcover: 480 pages
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile (May 7, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399162410
ISBN-13: 978-0399162411

Summary 

"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."

Perhaps I had started one to many fizzer books before I read this one, or it was the right book at the right time. Either way this book ticked all the boxes for me and I just blitzed through the book. heck I even tweeted about it. I was sucked in and held there till the end when I finally came up for air.

The alien invasion was realistic and well thought out. I could imagine an alien race doing the "waves" of death on mankind. In fact as far as invasions go it was smart, and involved little effort on the alien's behalf. The pole being dropped from outer space was perhaps a little much but everything else was very believable.

I felt the story had the feel of a "written for movie" story. It was a bit cliched, predictable and had a few unrealistic scenes (towards the end). But hey they are action scenes, action scenes in a sci-fi book no less, they should be spectacular and totally stupid all the time exciting and fun.

I did notice some faults with the book, and I didn't care. Nope not a bit. It was exciting, interesting and an interesting take on the alien invasion young adult story. That for me is a good book, when you notice flaws and you still don't want to put the book down or for it to finish.

I enjoyed Cassie, she was quite realistic. She was strong, tough and smart; but didn't have weird skills that she couldn't possibly have. She was a teen struggling with the situation she found herself in.

I have not looked forward to a sequel for a long time in the sci-fi arena but this one had me wanting the second book straight away.

If you like young adult books, and sci-fi, I would recommend this book. Don't expect a lot from it, and you should enjoy it.