There comes a time when a book piles up so many positive reviews from people whose opinions you trust, that, well, you just have to read it for yourself. In my case, this was one of those books.
And my verdict? It’s a five-star read!

The 5th Wave tells the story of Earth after aliens, which our protagonist, Cassie, named “The
Others”, invade and are attempting to wipe out the human race. It’s do-or-die in this world, but it more feels like die-or-die. We join Cassie as she attempts to keep a promise in a world where you can trust no one. I have to say; initially, I was a bit sceptical of the book, mostly because I thought I could predict what was going to happen. I was so wrong. There were enough plot twists in this book to make your mind believe it’s playing mental Twister.

The plot of The 5th Wave amazed me. I loved the different POV’s and how we viewed the alien invasion from different perspectives. I also enjoyed how the POV’s jumped from character to character as it heightened the disorientating and unsettling feeling of the whole narrative. Just like the characters we are left in the dark, not knowing what is really going on which I found a really fun and gripping experience.

I loved the characterisation in The 5th Wave. I attached myself to Cassie, the tough female protagonist from the first page. She was like a common, familiar link, a solid piece of ground in a world of uncertainty and distrust. I really enjoyed Cassie’s character. Determined and strong she lives day by day fighting to survive in a world where she has learns that she can no longer trust anyone. Alone, she sleeps with her brother’s teddy bear her only companion for most of the book. I just loved her story and how determined she was that she would one day find her brother Sammy and reunite with him. Despite everything, she has witnessed and been through she puts one foot in front of the other every day.

Zombie, our male protagonist is the ultimate killing machine, moulded into a deadly warrior in order to eliminate and annihilate the enemy. I was really shocked when his true identity was revealed but loved his whole transformation. His storyline just had me gripped and I loved trying to put all the pieces of the puzzle together.

I had my suspicions concerning Evan but in the next chapter they were overturned and then I was suspicious of him again and in the next minute, I wasn’t etc. This book will leave your brain throbbing whilst you try to figure out who exactly the characters are! The whole Cassie and Evan thing did have me a little frustrated at first but I did enjoy the dynamics between the two towards the end. I also thought, hey, the world is ending so why not have a little bit of fun and romance? Annoying to some I’m sure but I like it as love is essential to humanity, setting us apart from the aliens. It also becomes a form of transformation and redemption in their relationship.

One thing that I enjoyed about The 5th Wave was the aliens. They’re not stereotypical green blobs or beastly beings; in fact, we don’t really see an actual alien just the `individuals’ deployed by the mothership. The mothership hovering over Earth is the first signifier of the end of the world, the destruction of humanity. I found the portrayals of the aliens eerier than if they were monstrous beings running around the planet savagely killing people. They seem cold and calculating treating the invasion like a game, slowly picking off the population in waves then one by one watching from afar. Then, even more, eerie and frightening is the fact that you can’t tell if someone is human or alien. That freaked me out just a little. The book is a lot more emotionally and psychologically terrifying than I ever expected it to be.

Read it. Read it now.