Review: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

The 5th Wave (The Fifth Wave #1) by Rick Yancey
Publisher: Penguin Books Australia
Publication date: May 7th, 2013
Number of pages: 480
Format:  E-Galley via Netgalley
Purchase: Amazon | The Book Depository | Book World (Australia)

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.

If there was words that existed to describe the length of my love for this book I would use them, but since there isn't, I will just say one thing: Holy. Damn. Amazingballs.
This is no surprise to those that have read it. Rick Yancey's The Fifth Wave has got to be one of the, hands-down best books I have read in years.
This was one of those highly anticipated books which everyone kept talking about wanting to read or have read. It definitely lived up to the hype and expectation.

The well-thoughtout characters to the devastating yet fascinating world building Yancey has created, there is simply nothing not to love about this book.
It may be the first in a new series but it might as well have been half way through, because the story was so thorough and planned out, I could not praise it enough.

Our main characters consist of female protagonist, Cassie; Evan and Ben. The book is also split up into sections and alternates POVs.
We're introduced how the world came to be how it is portrayed today. What happened to make it that way and how it hasn't stopped, just in a different stage. Cassie finds herself alone and fighting through life after the kidnapping of her brother. She soon meets mysterious and alluring Evan, who is someone she isn't sure she can trust. In a word such as this... I can't say I blame her. She'll do anything she can to find and locate her brother, Sammy, but she might have to trust Evan somewhat if he is her key in getting back the only family she has left.

This is a beautifully written story. It's tragic. Devastating and emotional as our characters slowly find the answers they are looking more... but will they find out more than they bargained for?
We're introduced to what exactly what the 5th Wave is, which happens to be the next stage of the elimination process of mankind, and it just may be the worst one yet.

There is a slow romance burning. It's not a main factor, but it is more like an ember slowly burning throughout the book, which will burn into the second book --- going by the ending, that is.

I absolutely loved Cassie. She is a lone ranger. A fighter. After all she has been through, I can understand why. Her brother is the only one she has and she takes it upon herself to do everything she can to look after him. Because if she doesn't, who will?
Evan I also loved from the beginning too. He was mysterious with secrets lurking in the shadows. There was something about him that appeared odd and suspicious... and just when you discover what he is hiding.... may shock you to the very core.

I absolutely anticipate the next book. Can August 2014 hurry up please? How do these publishers expect us to wait over a year? I just do not approve. Not at all.

Rating: 5/5