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Review

ABSOLUTELY SENSATIONAL, I LOVED IT!!!

5 huge stars

This book has been on my tbr forever, but I had never gotten around to it. I saw the trailer for the movie (AWESOME!) which put it back on my radar, but I wanted to read it first, and I’m SO glad that I did, because this is going straight to the favourites list. Exciting, emotional, terrifying, funny, profound, romantic, and completely gripping, I was enthralled from start to finish, and loved every moment of it.

There’s so much I want to say about this book, but I also don’t want to say anything. I want you to read it and experience it all without having any clue of what is going to happen because this is an EPIC story!!!

Set in the present day, an alien mother-ship has appeared in the sky and after a series of devastating waves of attacks, billions have died and those that remain are fighting for their survival in a decimated world under the threat of an unseen enemy. Cassie is one of those survivors whose life as she knew it ended when ‘Others’ arrived, and now she is doing what she must to stay alive while she searches for her younger brother. At the same time, another group of survivors (all kids) are put through rigorous training to become soldiers, trained killers under orders to take out the enemy.

But who is the enemy? Who can you trust? And how will anybody survive?… is it even worth it?

“How do you rid the Earth of humans? Rid the humans of their humanity.”

Written in multiple POV, this book contains a series of inter-connecting plotlines that had me completely engrossed and madly theorising at what is happening, where the story is going to go and how it all ties together. Some I guessed, some I didn’t, but it didn’t matter because there are lots of twists and turns, some great surprises, plenty of ‘holy shit’ moments and action that had me on the edge of my seat and my heart pumping. But more than that, there is a strong human element to the story that is both heartbreaking and uplifting, and makes this story something really special. It’s war, and whether facing it alone, or as part of a trained unit, we get to see it all through the eyes of these amazing characters.

There’s a lot of time spent inside the characters heads, and it was done so well. It allows you to really get to know them, and the narration of everything happening is sensational – terrifying, yet with a sense of reality, and always reminding you that these are real people, just kids, who are still the same as they always were, just in unimaginable circumstances.

“I don’t move. I wait behind my log, terrified. Over the past ten minutes, it’s become such a dear friend, I consider naming it: Howard, my pet log.”

“I would kill for a cheeseburger. Honestly. If I stumbled across someone eating a cheeseburger, I would kill them for it.”

The characters are all very real, the dynamics (good and bad) are fantastic, and there is even a bit of romance, and while it’s back seat to everything else going on, it’s gorgeous and blends in brilliantly with the other parts of the story.

“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 you’re willing to die for.”

Those last few chapters are kickass and had me madly flipping pages, and while the ending leaves you in a (mostly) good place, there are still with questions and a lot more to happen before it’s all over. I honestly can’t rave enough about this book . I absolutely loved it, and can’t wait to see where it’s all going to go from here.

5 stars.

 

The Fifth Wave series