BY HANNAH VERMONT This quote from Rick Yancey’s “The 5th Wave” sums up the entire plot of the story. Young Cassie Sullivan, our heroine throughout the book, finds her world in the midst of an alien invasion and struggles to hold onto her humanity. Between the transition of rough teenage life to the battleground after the 4th wave, she has seen enough horror for a lifetime. Despite trying to overcome her inner conflict of shooting other humans in order to survive, she finds solace in her little brother, whom she calls Sams. But her hope is torn away when young Sams is taken away from his family. The rest of the book is devoted to her search for Sams in order to return to him his beloved Teddy Bear and to fulfill her promise to him that she would “be right back”.
On her many adventures, Cassie encounters Evan Walker when he saves her life and nurses her back to health. Of course, this wouldn’t be a young adult book without a budding romance, which occurs between Evan and Cassie after much skepticism on Cassie’s behalf as to how the mysteriously well-groomed teen has managed to stay alive on his own. In parallel to Cassie’s search, Ben Parish, aka. Zombie, finds himself on a surviving military base that trains kids to engage in a counterattack on the aliens, labeled as the Others. The mood shifts from humankind's last stand to utter betrayal as Zombie uncovers the secrets of the military base. Alongside his discovery, Zombie wrestles with his own guilt over the death of his sister. Maybe he can find solace in the new recruit, a small boy, labeled Nugget? Maybe Cassie will finally understand why Evan goes out hunting every night but never returns with a kill? And what will the 5th wave be? It is impossible to know without opening the book and reading furiously to the end. The 5th Wave, which was recently released in theaters, does not, as expected, portray the book. Throughout, Yancy intravenously weaves in impeccable character development and interaction on both sides of the plot. The movie, however, does not. Suspense builds throughout the book and captures the reader until you are left turning one page after the other to finally get to a satisfying ending. I would personally recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a rushing thriller with a little bit of every genre: action, sci-fi, mystery, comedy, and romance. Although, I do have to warn that the book does deal with some sensitive topics of the survivalist tendencies of human civilizations when they have lost all hope. But, if you're willing to read through it, I promise, the book will not disappoint :)
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