Movie Release & Book Review: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Here's another series that I've recently become a fan of, which has a movie coming out this week! It's always exciting to see amazing books hit the big screen, and I'm proud to admit I've already purchased my tickets. :)
For those of you following The 5th Wave movie release, the first installment is about to hit movie theaters everywhere!  Enjoy this post to get an overview of the first book, my review, the movie details and trailer. 
The 5th Wave movie release is coming Friday, January 22, 2016.

Original Book Cover

The 5th Wave (The 5th Wave #1) by Rick Yancey
Published: May 7, 2013

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

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 Thoughts

A moment comes in war when the last line must be crossed. The line that separates what you hold dear from what total war demands. If he couldn’t cross that line, the battle was over, and he was lost…

That was incredible! High energy, amazing cast, and captivating plotline. I’m so happy I found a Young Adult series I can feel vested in for the coming months. 

I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to read The 5th Wave. Full disclosure… the only reason I finally decided to dive into it is because the movie is coming out, and I have a cardinal rule to never watch a movie before finishing the book. Any book nerd would appreciate that, I’m sure.

Well I absolutely loved The 5th Wave! Loved it! It was just what I was looking for in a Young Adult series… fast paced, absolutely intriguing, tons of twists and turns and loads of action… oh and don't let me forget the love interest…. not bad!

In this novel, the Earth is at the cusp of battling the 5th wave against an alien invasion. The 1st wave cut off all of the power. The 2nd wave created an earthquake felt around the world. The 3rd wave took out over 3 billion people with disease and pestilence that spread around the word. 

Cassie has survived up until this point, and she’s on a mission to find her little brother Sammy that was taken by “The Others.” However, she can’t do it alone, but the first rule for surviving the 4th wave is don’t trust anyone. The only way to stay alive is to stay alone.

First off, the cast was amazing! Every character in this book caught my attention. Cassie was exactly what every heroine should be – strong, hopeful, smart and calculating. I love it when female characters are deserving of their voice as the main character, and Cassie fit the part perfectly!

When I met Evan Walker, I immediately fell for him, but not without a fair share of skepticism. I can’t wait to learn more about him and how his journey continues with the next book.

Overall, The 5th Wave was absolute perfection. It’s not often that I fall into a SciFi book, but Rick Yancey has managed to remind me how amazing the adventures can be. Loved it!

We’re here, and then we’re gone, and it’s not about the time we’re here, but what we do with the time.

Now that I’ve finished the book, I can’t express how much I’m looking forward to the movie! Not only that, but I have the second installment in my hot hands ready for me to dive in! Bring it on!! 

In the end it wouldn’t be the lucky ones left standing…

5 Snowflakes

Movie Tie-in Edition Book Cover of The 5th Wave

The 5th Wave Movie Trailer

For fans of Evan and Cassie… here's another movie clip to enjoy!

The 5th Wave Movie Release Date: Friday, January 22, 2016

Be sure to let me know if you plan to see this movie! :)

Movie Release & Book Review: The Scorch Trials (The Maze Runner #2) by James Dashner

Here's another series that I'm a huge fan of and has an upcoming movie release!! Seeing so many amazing books hit the big screen is always a HUGE treat for any book nerd!
For those of you following The Maze Runner movie releases, the second installment is about to hit movie theaters everywhere!  Enjoy this post to get an overview of the second book, my review, the movie details and trailer. 

The Scorch Trials movie release is coming Friday, September 18, 2015.

Original Book Cover

The Scorch Trials (The Maze Runner #2) by James Dashner 

Published: October 12, 2010

Publisher: Delacorte Press 

Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end.

Thomas was sure that escape from the Maze would mean freedom for him and the Gladers. But WICKED isn’t done yet. Phase Two has just begun. The Scorch.

There are no rules. There is no help. You either make it or you die.

The Gladers have two weeks to cross through the Scorch—the most burned-out section of the world. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.

Friendships will be tested. Loyalties will be broken. All bets are off.

There are others now. Their survival depends on the Gladers’ destruction—and they’re determined to survive.

My Thoughts

Original Review Date: November 2011

Post-apocalyptic Nightmare!

Wow, The Scorch Trials was definitely a bizarre mind trip, and after everything that was revealed and unfolded, I can’t wait to see how this series ends.

This next installment to The Maze Runner picks up right where the first book left off. The Gladers have been rescued from The Maze, but their trials are far from over. They are immediately launched into a human nightmare where WICKEDuses mental, physical, psychological and emotional experiments to test mind patterns and reactions… for what purpose?? I have no clue yet, but they keep saying their findings will determine the fate of humanity. For pretty much the entire novel you have no idea why The Gladers are being put through these trials as they fight biotech armies, harsh weather conditions, and constant mental games. Thomas and his crew are injected with “The Flare” and promised a cure if they make it through the Trials. Along the way, they come across crazy, infected Cranks and several twists that leaves you wondering who the “wicked” ones really are.

James Dashner is a creative genius. I can’t tell you how amazed I am with his ability to come up with the most bizarre of elements that keep me, the reader, constantly wondering where he intends to take the story and what other crazy twists he can come up with. This story felt like a perfect blend between dystopic and scifi, which have recently become a favorite genre of mine.

There were some harsh lessons in this story and all I have to say is betrayal is a tough pill to swallow. It was hard to see some of the decisions and actions certain characters had to take, but it was well balanced with some interesting new additions to the cast. The entire time, I kept thinking how utterly scary it is that someone of power can easily manipulate and swipe someone’s memory, influence their thinking and determine their fate. This series really pushes the boundaries of possibilities and power. Two elements that when combined with ill intent can have the gravest of outcomes.

I’m looking forward to diving into the last book in the series The Death Cure to see how this all plays out. Well done!

4 Snowflakes

Movie Tie-in Edition Book Cover of Scorch Trials

Scorch Trials Movie Trailer

Scorch Trials Movie Release Date: Friday September 18, 2015

Be sure to let me know if you plan to see this movie! :)

Movie Release and Book Review: Paper Towns by John Green

I'm a huge fan of John Green, and when I saw his book The Fault in our Stars hit the big screen I thought the movie adaptation was amazing. So when it was announced that he has another novel being made into a movie, I immediately locked the date on my calendar!

Well, Paper Towns movie release is tomorrow - Friday, July 24, 2015, so I thought I'd share a bit about the book, my review, and the movie trailer. Enjoy!

Original Book Cover

Paper Towns by John Green

Published: October 1, 2008

Publisher: Bloomsbury Childrens

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows.

After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they’re for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees of the girl he thought he knew.

My Thoughts

Original Review Date: November 2010

thiS reView desErves A moMent oF ranDom capitaliZation

joHn greeN, i'M convinCed thiS stoRy Is abOut yoU. thEre Is nO wAy You cAn naiL tHe emoTions aNd thouGhts Of tHese Characters withoUt hAving experIenced somE Of thE aWesomeness fouNd In thIs boOk!!

Okay, back to normal...
Quentin's two best friends are Ben, a tragically confident first clarinet band geek that is trying to live down a kidney infection rumor, and Radar, a nerdtastic computer genius that spends most of his time editing Omnictionary posts and hiding the fact that his parents own the largest collection of black Santas. But, Quentin Jacobsen, aka Q, is just a regular high school guy that happens to fall for Margo Roth Spiegelman, an amazing, but complex girl, who crawls into his window one night dressed as a ninja and takes him on the adventure of his life. After that amazing night, he spends the rest of the school year trying to find this girl and figure out who she really is, but just ends up discovering that no matter how hard you try, you can’t make your fantasy into reality.

This story is heartwarming, humorous and an instant hit for me. Not to mention the extra wow factor found in Part III that included a road trip. That's right baaaayyyyybbbbeeee a road trip! The characters are loveable in that John Green magic sorta way, and the dialog is hilariously funny and engaging. There is no doubt this book deserves its accolades, and I can’t wait to see it translated to film.

Lastly, Green makes me terribly happy that I was born a girl because if his books are any indication of what goes through a teenage boy’s mind, I’d be in serious need of therapy. Great book that’s signature of Green’s ability to make you laugh out loud, cringe with chagrin and ponder things you never considered. Loved it!

Quotes that made me think
Isn't it also that on some fundamental level we find it difficult to understand that other people are human beings in the same way that we are? We idealize them as gods or dismiss them as animals.

What a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person.

I'm starting to realize that people lack good mirrors. It's so hard for anyone to show us how we look, and so hard for us to show anyone how we feel.

As much as life can suck, it always beats the alternative.

If you don't imagine, nothing ever happens at all.

Quotes that made me laugh and/or sigh
Tonight, darling, we are going to right a lot of wrongs. And we are going to wrong some rights. The first shall be last; the last shall be first; the meek shall do some earth-inheriting. But before we can radically reshape the world, we need to shop.

Peeing is like a good book in that it is very, very hard to stop once you start.

I stand in this parking lot, realizing that I’ve never been this far from home, and here is this girl I love and cannot follow. I hope this is the hero’s errand, because not following her is the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

Poetry is just so emo,' he said. 'Oh, the pain. The pain. It always rains. In my soul.

Dude, I don’t want to talk about Lacey’s prom shoes. And I’ll tell you why: I have this thing that makes me really uninterested in prom shoes. It’s called a pen!$.

4 Snowflakes

Movie Tie-in Edition Book Cover of Paper Towns

Paper Towns Movie Trailer
Paper Towns Movie Release Date: Friday July 24, 2015

Be sure to let me know if you plan to see this movie! :)

Movie Tie-In and Trailer: If I Stay by Gayle Forman

Be sure to get your copy of the movie tie-in edition of If I Stay by Gayle Forman, which comes out July 1, 2014! This is one of my favorite YA Contemporary novels and I can't wait to catch the movie on August 22, 2014.

If I Stay Movie Tie-In (If I Stay #1) by Gayle Forman

Expected publication: July 1st 2014 by Speak (first published January 1st 2009)

The critically acclaimed, bestselling novel from Gayle Forman, author of Where She Went, Just One Day, and Just One Year.

Soon to be a major motion picture, starring Chloe Moretz!

In the blink of an eye everything changes. Seventeen -year-old Mia has no memory of the accident; she can only recall what happened afterwards, watching her own damaged body being taken from the wreck. Little by little she struggles to put together the pieces- to figure out what she has lost, what she has left, and the very difficult choice she must make. Heartwrenchingly beautiful, this will change the way you look at life, love, and family. Now a major motion picture starring Chloe Grace Moretz, Mia's story will stay with you for a long, long time.

US Movie Release Date

August 22, 2014