Skip to main content

Book Review: The Fifth Wave

THE FIFTH WAVE by Rick Yancey
5 Stars
Verdict: Utterly immersive.


I picked up this book knowing it will be a rough ride, and so the opening didn’t disappoint. The concept isn’t actually original, but it pulled me in and kept my heart racing. I felt the setting immediately, and became immersed within a page.

The blurb is melodramatic, vague , and utterly gimmicky. This book is actually about a girl who has survived waves and waves of unnatural disasters, who needs to survive just that little bit longer to fulfil a promise to her brother, and a boy, who is being trained as a soldier to fight for humanity - a battle that already feels lost.

The characters are what make this novel exceptional. They’re broken, fighting for survival, and struggling with trust in a world ruined by the previous waves. Their whole lives are gutted out for us to see, mixing past and present to make us feel the weight of their personal baggage.

It’s the questions they asked which really kept me engaged throughout. I wasn’t really expecting the story to split off at different characters in different situations, but once I could figure out who was taking – which got easier throughout the book – it gave a rich sense of world building. This is one of those novels where I wasn’t counting the pages, but enjoying the ride, and disappearing inside the world and enjoying it from start to finish.

I haven’t seen the film yet, but I’ve seen the reviews and I’m not really too surprised they’re a little low. It’s not the story than makes this book epic, it’s the characters and the emotion embedded in the writing. It’s the reader’s imagination too, as a lot is left for pondering, wondering, imaging what would happen to you in this situation. That’s not always an easy thing to convey in a film. What is easy is the generic alien invasion action, and that’s not really the beauty of this book.

Source: Bought it myself!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

I took my book for a walk

I know what you're thinking...or actually, I don't.  It's easy to picture that anyone who reads your work will only see the negatives. They have every right to, after all, and I'm a big critic myself. I find things to improve in most books, even when I give them five star reviews. This is why solidifying one of my novels into print was a big step for me, and because of Sod's Law, it coincided with one of the hardest times of my life to date. When my book published, I struggled to market it. Besides being crippled with morning sickness, followed by a decent into depression and anxiety (coupled with friends not really liking my book - only softened slightly by the fact they don't like YA/reading), I didn't have the energy - emotionally or physically - to give my book the launch it deserved.  It deserved better.  Because no matter what, I put a lot of work into The Clearing. Over several years and iterations, too. I'm proud of the twists, and I enjoy hearin

Book Review: Threads That Bind

THREADS THAT BIND by Kika Hatzopolou Disclaimer time: As always, the following is just my opinion. Other opinions are available.  THREADS THAT BIND is an epic fantasy with an urban feel. It has a fascinating magic system inspired by Greek mythology, and a story that explores the bonds of sibling relationships. Overall, it's a fast-paced book about fate, choices, and forgiving yourself, so prepare for morally grey moments and difficult sibling relationships.  Io and her sisters are descendants of the Fates, which means they're able to see and manipulate the threads that connect people to the things they love. Io is the third sister, and therefore she is able to cut threads. The story kicks off when Io is hired by the 'mobqueen' to investigate murders linked to vengeful wraiths. To top it off, she has to work with the very person she's been avoiding for years, a boy she's fated to love - except he already has a girlfriend. If you think that the above sounds like t

Indie Book Review: The City of Snow and Stars

THE CITY OF SNOW AND STARS by S.D. Howard 4 Stars Verdict: A dark fantasy with a wholesome cast.  Trigger warning for rape/abuse.  'I'm not wanted for me, only what I can give, and there is nothing left.' I don't usually quote books, but this is a very quotable story! The dialogue was powerful in places, and the way the characters bonded together was the strength of this Christian fantasy adventure.   It's written in third person with a narrative that I personally found a little distant at times. That said, the characters are easy to root for. Runaways Trinia and Jayden team up with a wizard to take down Trinia's abusive father before he can take over the kingdom. They're joined by a talking wolf and a shapeshifter called Batanny, who in many ways seems like an older version of Trinia. Threads of pain run through this book and pull the characters together in a way that makes this dark read still feel wholesome at times.  It soon became an easy to enjoy fant