ARC Review: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Goodreads summary:

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.

My review:

The 5th Wave totally blew me away.  This book is, in a word, epic.  It's a thrilling mix of sci-fi/post-apocalyptic/dystopian wonderfulness.  From the very first page, I adored it.  After less than 50 pages, I was positive I'd give it five stars - that's how amazing it is.

This book is definitely one I'd recommend to fans of hardcore sci-fi.  It's not strictly YA, either.  It'll easily appeal to adult readers as well as teens.  It's also great if you enjoy dystopian, survivalist stories, aliens, post-apocalyptic, thrillers, action...you get the idea.  Basically, The 5th Wave is impossible to put down. 

There is so much action and plot development.  I love, love, love the idea of aliens taking over.  The aliens in this book are so very creepy and scary.  And oh, the characters.  They're so varied and unique and real.  These characters become changed by the alien invasion and end up doing dark, twisted things, and yet you still love them anyway.  That's excellent character development right there.

And wow.  Talk about unpredictable!  There were some fantastic plot twists - the kind that make you sit there with your jaw hanging open.  This story is absolutely brilliant.  Oh, and although the summary kind of makes it sound like there's a lot of romance, don't worry.  The romance takes a backseat, and instead, we get lots more awesome twists and action scenes.  I love how for once, the romance doesn't become the main point of the plot.

So in case you can't tell, I loved this book.  One of my favorite sci-fi books of the year.  If you're looking for a brilliant, unpredictable sci-fi story that will leave you thinking for days after you finish it, then read The 5th Wave.  Needless to say, I am dying for the next book in this series to come out!

My rating:  10 out of 10 (5 stars)

~ The Bookworm