YA Apocalyptic and Dystopian Fiction discussion
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The 5th Wave
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The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey: June 2013
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Here's my review of The 5th Wave:Read in May, 2013
4.5 Stars! The Fifth Wave isn't my typical quick pick book...it's about an alien invasion after all, BUT it is YA dystopia/post-apocalyptic writing at its best. Huge kudos to Yancy for writing complex and oh so perfectly imperfect characters that I absolutely love! Cassie's lonely journey from violent distrust to falling for the enemy read seamlessly and every word had me hooked. Cassie's relationship with Sammy and her dedication to him was endearing and self-sacrificing, but her strange relationship with Evan was reminiscent of The Host or even Twilight (although WAY better). Of course, then there is Ben, Sammy's saviour, Cassie's crush and of course the tragic hero. All YA authors out there need to take notes from Yancy on how to weave the characters story lines, backgrounds and just plain how to create rich back stories that bring the reader in sync with each character's core. If I could, I would give a standing ovation and deep curtsy to Yancy for creating book escapism at its best.
Here's my review. I don't really think there are any spoilers, but check it it out if you like. Can't wait to see what everyone's thoughts are. I have very mixed emotions about this book. http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
@Kelly regarding: Here's my review. I don't really think there are any spoilers, but check it it out if you like. Can't wait to see what everyone's thoughts are. I have very mixed emotions about this book. http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Kelly,
I agree with you about the realism regarding 5 year olds, BUT there are so many sad stories of children being brainwashed and turned into soldiers...just think of the Khmer Rouge, so unfortunately it's not inconceivable. I just started Tent City, so I'm curious to uncover the parallelism between your book and Yancy's. Although The Fifth Wave has typical post-apocalyptic themes, I thought the introduction of aliens made it unique. I personally liked the love stories because they are complicated, but I would have liked more of a build up and of course some angst. I had to lean towards a 4+ rating for the complexity of the characters and relationships.
Kelly wrote: "Here's my review. I don't really think there are any spoilers, but check it it out if you like. Can't wait to see what everyone's thoughts are. I have very mixed emotions about this book. http://..."
I had similar thoughts to you. It was just an ok read for me. I didn't find the plot all that original (view spoiler)
I know what you mean about the plot not being all that original...most of these apocalyptic books follow a similar sequence of events, BUT I thought the characters were interesting. I'm 63% done with Tent City and it follows the same path as all of these other books. Not everyone can be as original as you David with The Dweller Series or my absolute favorite Fire Country.
Cheer wrote: "@Kelly regarding: Here's my review. I don't really think there are any spoilers, but check it it out if you like. Can't wait to see what everyone's thoughts are. I have very mixed emotions about th..."It's obvious Yancy is a great writer and I may end up modifying my rating. I think the problem a lot of us had was the HUGE build-up. I probably saw 20 banner ads before I went ahead and bought it. A lot of times when a book has a big impact on me, it's because something surprised me that I didn't see coming. Not a requirement, as I fell in love with
and was not surprised by any of it. It was just a very emotional and impactful ride. I'm not sure there was much that I didn't see coming in the 5th wave.
Kelly, I will check out Stolen. Falling head over heals for a book is a rare moment, so when it happens you have to share. My recent book crush would have to be Fire Country...loved it! Although I'm no where close to loving The Fifth Wave, it has many elements I appreciate. I know what you mean about the big build-up (can't begin to tell you what a major disappointment Twilight was for me). So far I'm enjoying Tent City.
Yes, I don't know if another book has ever captured me the way Stolen has. Another might be
or
and I guess
Can't wait to see what you think when you finish
Good or bad :)
Cheer wrote: "@Kelly regarding: Here's my review. I don't really think there are any spoilers, but check it it out if you like. Can't wait to see what everyone's thoughts are. I have very mixed emotions about th..."One of the things I was disturbed about was maybe when Sammy was holding the rifle out for an extended period of time. Is this what I'm thinking of? A five-year-old can barely lift it up, let alone hold it out for awhile. But again, book was good overall, so I don't want to nitpick.
Cheer wrote: "I know what you mean about the plot not being all that original...most of these apocalyptic books follow a similar sequence of events, BUT I thought the characters were interesting. I'm 63% done w..."Lol you are too kind, made me smile and blush :)
But I'd definitely say Yancey can write a lot better than me! I just wasn't that impressed with the plot line and found it predictable. I just expected more especially when the blurb starts comparing it to other books. I think I would have liked it more with less hype!!
I have mixed feeling with this book ... I loved it!!! But I know it's not that good ... it's on my "guilty pleasure" shelf :P
About to start this book and can't wait to read what others think and post my thoughts.Happy Reading.
Kelly wrote: "One of the things I was disturbed about was maybe when Sammy was holding the rifle out for an extended period of time. Is this what I'm thinking of? A five-year-old can barely lift it up, let alone hold it out for awhile. But again, book was good overall, so I don't want to nitpick." I guess I can see that. Tho I thought Sams didn't really do much with the guns cause he was too small?
Originally, I sort of LIKED Sammy's narration...you almost never get a little kids point of view in an apocalypse. Things like the "Pesky Ants"
But the more I thought about it...my daughter is 4 1/2. All I can picture her doing in this situation is crying. Or hiding. Certainly not training for war...
I also got annoyed that this book turned into a love story. WHY would Cassie fall for a creeper alien who "lurks" and read her diary?
WHY does Zombie spend so much time flirting with Ringer?
Overall I LIKED this book. But yeah, parts of it bothered me...
I agree with everything you said :)
FYI...I asked my kid. I explained the basic scenario, told her people took her from me and her daddy and were training her to fight. Asked what she would do...She said "I would find you. I wouldn't fight people"
lol. grant you, she's 4 and it's not as tho the situation isn't happening. But she says no, she wouldn't do it :)
Ha. I did this same thing with my five year old twins. They seem to think that they could fight all the bad guys and save all the good guys and that they would just "fight them." Five-year-old boys do tend to have over-inflated egos at this age. I asked them how and they showed me a series of karate chops and kick moves. Ummm....okay then.
I wish the whole idea of children being used as soldiers was as inconceivable as we all think, but do a little research outside of our own sweet children and you will find a shocking history. Check out www.thirdworldtraveler.com's article The Invisible Soldiers: Child Combatants. This article outlines the horror that DOES exist throughout the world where children are trained as soldiers. It talks about light weight guns that kids can easily assemble and disassemble and how 4-5 year olds are soldiers in Uganda. I totally agree that I hated the vision of Sams wielding a gun, but for all of us who love the post-apocalyptic genre...well, we know that humans do crazy things to survive.
Yep, sadly, it's true. And it makes sense (to the bad guys) to train children as soldiers, that way their loyalty is guaranteed... brainwash.Here is some info ...
http://www.child-soldiers.org/
I gave it a solid 3.5 stars. The writing was good; the storytelling was good, the pacing was good. The characters were believable for the most part, as were their interactions and relationships. Evan though I had trouble with. He didn't convince me on almost any level, although I didn't have a problem believing in Cassie's crush on him, unlike many of the reviews I've read. If you think of it in terms of a variation of Stockholm Syndrome it becomes quite plausible.And sure, it was dripping with so much teen angst I had to keep the book in a bucket for fear of staining the carpet.
Where I had the most problem though was with the basic premise. Sure, in the beginning you go along with it... mother ship... EMP, but each further revelation just made less and less sense, provoking another "Huh? They did what? Why? That makes no sense!" and ending in me yelling *at the author* "shut up, you're just making it worse!"
So ultimately, good story telling doesn't quite repair the broken premise.
Yes Tim! I totally agree with you on the writing, characters, etc. I'm glad you brought up Evan because for me he was one of the most intriguing characters. I thought it was interesting to see the transformation unfold in Evan from this cold alien assassin, to a confused and fascinated stalker, to opposing the aliens for humanity. With that being said, I felt a disconnect for why Cassie liked him in any way. I guess what sold me was the writing more than the plot and I like some angst, but not sappy meaningless frivolity.
I haven't read any of the comments because I haven't read the book yet. It's finally on the hold shelf at the library so I should be starting it within the next day or two. Better late than never!
For the whole book, and still now that I've finished it, I don't understand what the fourth wave is.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/86...This should break it down:
The first wave is an electromagnetic storm that leaves the Earth in darkness, followed next by a geological fault line releasing a tsunami destroying the world’s coastlines. The third wave, “The Red Death,” is a highly contagious avian plague. During the fourth wave, the “infected,” humans whose brains became hosts to aliens’ consciousness at birth, hunt and destroy anyone who survived the previous waves. In all, the waves “hit a 97 percent kill rate.”
Yay for Deseret News and Kelly for breaking it down....I thought it was pretty clear in the book although maybe not until the last third of the book.
Hi,I wrote a review of June's book The 5th Wave on my YA dystopian blog. Please let me know what you think of it: http://yadystopiafiction.wordpress.co...
I was pleasantly surprised with this book. I wasn't aware of any of the hype and I didn't read this thread or any reviews until after I finished the book. I really enjoyed it - gave it 5 stars. I connected with the characters and thought the writing was excellent.
YA Apocalyptic and Dystopian Fiction
Books mentioned in this topic
The Time Traveler's Wife (other topics)The Lovely Bones (other topics)
Looking for Alaska (other topics)
Tent City (other topics)
Stolen (other topics)
As always, these book discussion thread Will likely contain SPOILERS!!!
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