Reviews and ARC Giveaway! The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Publisher-Penguin Young Readers Group

Release- May 7th 2013

Pre-Order- Amazon / B & N / Chapters

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.

Amber's Thoughts:

The 5^th Wave is easily the best dystopian/apocalyptic/sci-fi book I have read and my favorite book so far this year! I am so overwhelmed by the rush of emotions and adrenaline pumping through me as I write this. I am pleading for this book to be made into a film and shown on the big screen because the story is absolutely awesome!

I tend to stick to female writers as I feel they connect on a deeper emotional level. Rick Yancey has proved me wrong. There were so many elements in this story that contributed to this well-deserved 5-Star rating. This isn’t about green aliens with huge buggy eyes. This story reaches a new level of epic proportions. I was touched by the sweet moments, crushed by the sad, grossed out by the gore, and on the edge of my seat with the action.

It took me a minute to get adjusted to the writing style and the switching of POV’s, but I appreciate that fact that he did that. I was able to connect with each of the characters more and what they have gone through since the 1^st Wave began. I wondered what was going through this authors head while he wrote this. Was he just released from a Psych ward? Was he mentally twisted? Nope!! Just a writer with an amazing imagination, and a stellar skill for relaying his characters actions and thoughts.

Imagine an alien race that hovers above. You know nothing of what is going on, where they came from, or what would transpire. You live day to day on edge waiting…waiting for something, anything to happen. You hope that life remains the same, but deep down in your gut you know that it will never be again. It would be unsettling to say the least.  

The gore is gory. The action is intense. And when all hope seems to be but a faint memory, you grasp at anything you can to remind yourself that if you let your hope die, you are just as alien as they are.  This is what these characters face. Death, destruction and trust are nothing but the same. You put your trust in another, you may die. If you don’t trust anyone, you may end up dead inside and all alone.

I was completely thrown off and questioned every character in this story. Were they good? Were they bad? Were they infected? Were they not? We follow the lives of Cassie Sullivan, Ben Parish, and Evan Walker. These characters were absolutely fantastic for various reasons. Cassie was strong and smart. She made a promise to her five year old brother, Sammy that she would come for him after he was taken with a busload of kids and soldiers. Determination and a promise fueled this character and I loved how strong willed she was. Ben Parish was the all-star athlete in school, and had a killer smile that would make you melt. He wanted revenge for the deaths of family members. Evan was just *Sigh* Evan was mysterious but at the same time, the guy that you would obsess over. (I am!)

If you love major twists, action, romance, mystery, sci-fi, the unexpected…this is for you.

This book will knock your socks off! This is one that I will be pre-ordering without a doubt. A MUST READ!

5 Snowflakes

Tina's Thoughts:

"I had it all wrong," he says. "Before I found you, I thought the only way to hold on was to find something to live for. It isn't. To hold on, you  have to find something your're willing to die for."

If alien-invasion reads are the new boom this year, then I vote The 5th Wave as it's leader!!

Rule #1-Trust no one. Rule #2- To stay alive is to stay alone. 

This is what Cassie Sullivan has to live by since she lives in an either/or world. It's either them or her. After all, she's survived all four waves. She may even be the last human on earth waiting on the edge of the 5th wave to finish it's job.  But Cassie made a promise to find her little brother, Sammy. So into the unknown she goes, with a teddy bear snugged safely in her backpack and her trusty M16 at her side, ready to face the Others, all alone, till she meets the mysterious Evan Walker. Something about him feels off, but he may be the only soul to help her find her brother. So in a world where you can only trust yourself, Cassie finds herself putting her faith in something she thought she'd lost. Hope.

Wow! Just wow people!! This is some seriously amazing storytelling my friends. I've always been a huge sci-fi fantasy lover, but I don't think I've enjoyed a story like this since the Hunger Games days. It has everything your looking for. Raw gut wrenching emotion. Drawn out suspense that pulls on ever nerve in your body. Fearful-disguised-in-fearless characters, outstanding writing and an unexpected love story that reminds us that even at the end of the world, there's still something worth fighting for.  This is by far my favorite read in 2013!!

To say I loved this book would be a huge understatement. I knew it was going to be an instant favorite only after the first chapter! I wanted to devour and savor this at the exact same time. It's just so unbelievable! This would be my first book from Rick Yancey, but it wont be my last. This man can write. The depths in which he brought these characters in a world completely powerless and defeated was pure madness. He has this uncanny way with messing with your mind and heart in the same breath. His words seemed to magically bring me to the very edge of my emotions, pulling me back or throwing me over in a single heart beat. I've read my fair share of alien books lately, but this one really does seem to make a lasting impression. I can't stop thinking about it. The story-line feels so.dame.real. What a terrifying and cruel reality to be faced with. To be tested against such slim odds, but it's also a thought provoking piece. What would you do if this was you? How would you survive in a world that's been completely destroyed and conquered. What humanity would you have left. Without trust, what hope does anyone really have? 

This book as such a fantastically fierce cast of characters, and Cassie Sullivan is on top of that list. I love the beginning of this book. Where we see her mourning the person she use to be before the Arrival. That part of her who use to be innocent and good. Now she's been reduced to living alone, isolated with nothing but spinning thoughts of fear and paranoia to keep her company along with a teddy bear and her rifle of course. She's a fighter, she has no choice but to be one. She knows what she has to do to survive, what needs to be done, even if it makes her a killer.

Evan Walker turns out to be such a huge surprise. But he's my favorite thing about this book. I never expected to find such a precious love story in a world where there's really no room for love. He's a light in a very dark dark place. Where you see nothing but death and sorrow and pain, how do you picture something happy or hope for something good. I think that's what Evan stood for. Hope. You may not be able to trust anyone, but you can still want to trust in love. 

Sammy is a little treasure and the hardest parts to read about. My heart broke for that little boy in so many different ways! All I wanted to do was reach in this book and hug him and never let go.

And then there's Zombie (you'll learn his real name after). He thickens up the plot nicely, specially for future books. 

Bottom line, I couldn't love a book more. This is seriously one of the best apocalyptic sci-fi thrillers I ever read. With sensational in-your-face writing, characters who feel so real they practically bleed through the book, all in a shutter-worthy world so realistic that it's terrifying to even fathom. 

I could sit here all day and gush about how amazing this book is, but I think you get the point. Read this!! 

Rick Yancey has a new fan and I can't flippin' wait to see what he has in store for us and these characters next!! I NEED MORE!!!

(Quote came from an uncorrected proof and may be subject to change)

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                                                                      5 Snowflakes 

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