The 5th Wave

The 5th Waveby Rick Yancey

From the publisher:
"The Passage meets Ender’s Game in an epic new series from award-winning author Rick Yancey.

After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up."

There are a lot of people who love this book, so I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority here, but I didn't think it was that great. I really hated the hopeless feeling throughout the whole thing. There is no way the puny humans are going to be able to overcome the highly sophisticated aliens without some ridiculous plot twist, so why keep reading? I wasn't overly fond of the main character, Cassie, and the love story was kind of creepy since it involved someone she caught in lies over and over. I actually liked the Zombie parts best (character's name, not actual zombies or I wouldn't have finished the book), even though he was incredibly full of himself. I think Sammy was the only character I really liked. The story had moments of excitement and intensity, but it just wasn't for me.

Areas of concern:
Incredibly violent - mass killings; bodies, blood, guts and gore everywhere; children watching family members die...
Horrible language - I quit marking it because it was on either every page or every other page. It seemed to calm down a little past the middle, or else I was de-sensitized by then. Many uses of the "f" word and all the other bad words you can think of.

Suggested Ages:
Publisher's Weekly - Ages 14+
School Library Journal - Grades 9+
*I ordered this book for our library because of all the hype and before suggested ages were posted.  I'm not sure it is appropriate for middle school - definitely not below 8th grade.*