Review: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Title: The fifth wave
Author: Rick Yancey
Published May 7th 2013 by Putnam Juvenile
Goodreads / Amazon
_________________________________________

Definitely a rollercoaster ride. Not unpleasant but not particularly comfortable. It lasted longer than I probably would have wanted it too, but once it got me going, I couldn't complain that much.

While I did read the whole thing, I must confess it took me quite a long time. Even though it was good, and things were happening lighting fast and nothing was ever dull; somehow I found my concentration slipping away. There were moments when I was completely hooked and then at the next second I’d be enthralled with Undercover Boss instead (but to be fair, that show always gets to me). And since I’m a nerd and I don’t know how to express my emotions, I’ll draw a graph:

 

See where I’m coming from? It was literally a roller-coaster, some highs some lows, the usual. I hated to be dissapointed though, because I wanted to love this book but guess I’m not cut for this kind of reads.

Although Cassie’s love for his baby brother Sammy, Ben Parish’s fear of losing his mind, Evan Walker’s struggle to stay loyal to what he’s supposed to be and to what he’s always known, Sammy’s fight against a world where he isn’t allowed to be a kid anymore, even if he is five years old; everything felt pretty darn real to me. Each story tugged at my heartstrings and I really became these guys’ own personal cheerleader.

That’s why I’m confused as to why I’m not in love with this story. I think it’s because things felt a little too roboty for me, as in everyone was this ultra-fast-strong-cold-minded terminator despite being super young. I’ve never been in a situation anywhere near as the one these kids are in (armaggedon and all that) but I suspect you don’t exactly become ruthless and an expert in combat and a killing machine instantly, at least I don’t think I would. I have a feeling I’ll be the same clumsy, clueless girl I am now (and that’s probably why I won’t survive).

So yeah I skipped a few pages of fighting and bombing and shooting and killing and when straight to the heart-felt moments of emotional turmoil, where to me, the real heart of this story is, because the prose was beautiful and I loved quite a few quotes, while some other parts didn’t really make much sense to me and I didn’t completely agree with some of the choices of words but that’s just a personal complain, and y’all have to read it and see if you’re buged too :)