5th Wave by Rick Yancey; Pub date May 7, 2013; 978-0399162411.

Cover Image for 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

I was glad to see that the suggested age group listed in the Product Details section for Rick Yancey’s 5th Wave was “12 and up”, because I imagine there will be scads of adults who’ll love this epic science fiction tale as much as the intended teen audience does.

I like books/authors that place you in the middle of [well-written]gritty, graphic, breath-taking action from the get-go because then you just have to know the resolution given the intense intro (I just started another book that begins similarly by putting you into a dark situation: Blythe Woolston’s recently-published Black Helicopters, 9780763661465)…we see in the present a teen woman who handles herself like a seasoned war veteran, and there’s someone — or something — in the convenience store where she’s stocking up on supplies. And it just continues to get more and more interesting.

While some readers might become confused with the multiple POV’s and setting/time switching back and forth, a quick jotting down of who the characters are might help. I only suggest this because the book is worth the read and I’d hate to see the multi-POV be the reason people don’t finish it.

I don’t even know how much I want to disclose to entice you to read it simply because I don’t want to give any part of the story away – the series of events should be experienced firsthand. My only complaint is that the final sequence felt a bit overlong, and I would have preferred more retrospection/reflection/emotion from Cassie on the final page. However, I will not fault the entire great ride because there was a bump while parking the car.

Highly recommended for those who likes science fiction, dystopian novels, love-of-family-I’ll-do-anything-to-save-you scenarios, and the Ender series. It abounds with great action sequences, cool ideas for emerging [or old alien technology…lol] technology, and lots of evil aliens to root against (and some evil humans, too).

I can see why Mr. Yancey’s Monstrumologist series has been recognized so widely: Printz Honor Book, Yalsa Readers’ Choice List – Best Book for Young Adults,
Kirkus’ Best Teen Books, Booklist Editors’ Choice for Youth, Los Angeles Times
Book Award Finalist—Best Young Adult Literature, Tayshas Reading List (Texas
Library Association), NCTE’s Walden Book Award Finalist, Garden State Teen Book
Award Nominee, Teen Choice Book of the Year Nominee, Pacific Northwest Library
Association Young Readers Choice Award Nominee.

List of honors taken from the 5th Wave item page @ amazon.com