How do you rid the Earth of seven billion humans? Rid the humans of their humanity.
Surviving the first four waves was nearly impossible. Now Cassie Sullivan finds herself in a new world, a world in which the fundamental trust that binds us together is gone. As the 5th Wave rolls across the landscape, Cassie, Ben, and Ringer are forced to confront the Others’ ultimate goal: the extermination of the human race.
Cassie and her friends haven’t seen the depths to which the Others will sink, nor have the Others seen the heights to which humanity will rise, in the ultimate battle between life and death, hope and despair, love and hate.
Source | Format | Pages | Publisher | Genre | Publication Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Amazon | ebook | 306 | Penguin | SciFi / YA | September 16th, 2014 |
The 5th Wave (Book #1): Goodreads ¦ Amazon UK ¦ My review
You know… I am in search of those sequels that readers sometimes get grumpy over, the ‘sequel syndrome’ or something? I rated The 5th Wave with 5 ***** and now I am in a bit of a conundrum because The Infinite Sea was just so much better.. well, now… both books are good and I remember how much I enjoyed book #1, but this here? Holy wow! Anyway, the reason I like book #2 more is simple- it’s a lot deeper in its meaning, deeper in how it displays the state of human condition. The 5th Wave had a lot more action, which was great, but The Infinite Sea turned up the tragical to a whole new level… to a level off the charts, really.
Promises are the only currency left. They must be spent wisely.
I think the most impressive thing about this trilogy (this far) is how there is this small, tiny detail that remains throughout- the weight and importance of promises. Kept promises are such a rare commodity in modern day life, I think, that reading about the promises which without fault or a slip kept the characters grounded as they were facing the most difficult decisions of their lives- it was darned well written and balanced with the suspense, with the despair, with every little relationship dynamic. Just fantastic!
Ah… I have so many praises to sing for the book. I really do, so buckle up and take it!
At harvesttime, there was no farmer to pluck a head from the stalk, rub the head between his callused hands, and blow the chaff from the grain.
The atmosphere.. so, if you’ve read book #1, you’ll know that aliens have come, billions of humans have died and the 5th wave of elimination of population is in process. And that’s not a spoiler, by the way… it’s like the laziest sentence to sum up book #1. It goes without saying that the setting of this book is grim, it’s a non-stop survival course that promises nothing but death in the end. When you are but a human, you will have to be quite the confident exemplar to believe you can win over the extraterrestrials. And yet, to be human, to keep humanity, there is no other chance than to just suck it and try! And be bloody stubborn about it…
The Infinite Sea, without the enormous amount of detail at trying to paint the bleak picture, still somehow manages to deliver the air of post-apocalyptic setting. A picture where nature is still unchanged in its stillness and presence even though humanity has gone through a mass-extinction and now everything that’s manmade is just… useless, crumbling rubble… The streets and highways are empty of life and full of carcasses of bodies (man and vehicle) and dangerous, where there is nothing left for the few who have survived to sustain themselves any longer…
Concrete is the omnipresent human signature, our principal artistic medium on the world’s blank canvas. Wherever we went, the Earth slowly disappeared beneath it.
Take this setting of incredible, apocalyptic doom, drop some teenagers in it and you’ve either got a recipe for flat disaster or a story of incredible courage and youthful spirit. I really like that this series has not been from the viewpoint of one. The multiple POVs have enabled a true exploration of personalities and motives. What keeps someone ticking over and refusing to give up? How do they make the decisions in the most critical moments? It has been a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Yes, it’s YA and there is the element of love interest, but not once did it make me cringe. It fit and it made this particular part of story 100% complete.
Pining for things we lost is the same as hoping for things that can never be. Both roads dead-end in despair.
The Infinite Sea played out in front of my eyes like an action movie and yet… it felt incredibly tragic in parts, incredibly heartbreaking. In between all the flying bullets and feverish, infected flesh. My soul felt heavy as I found myself being betrayed by someone I trusted, the feeling of being stuck in between a rock and a hard place, the ‘yes, there’s still hope‘ to the ‘I can’t believe that bullet just took that life‘. What a bloody emotional ride!
Before I draw this review of my jumbled thoughts to a close… I need to mention two big elements from the story I enjoyed the most… This is NOT a spoiler alert. I am going to vaguely touch upon them…
If you are a human, there is no hope.
First- there was this eloquent and intelligent communications strategy in between a couple of characters for a little while at a certain point in the story. A simple game turned into a comms strategy that, ah, as a plot device, truly just captured me entirely. I kept trying to be one step ahead of the game, before the game was even played… I found it kept me on my toes, tested me to understand what was going on… Anyway, my point here is- a brilliant plot device!
Second- the motherload of all truths.. the answer… That answer we have been chasing for a long time and pondering over since book #1… it knocked me for six and I think it knocked me for six even more so because I should have figured it out on my own. This is an intelligent book, full of aids to help the light bulb over the reader’s head go off and mine didn’t… I am a bit disappointed in myself… but it all makes perfect bloody sense. And it’s shattering…
The second book in the trilogy works like the perfect bridge in between. The plot has been so perfectly developed, I feel a quote from the book itself is one that describes the sequel itself:
Something ends. Something new begins. This was the in between time. The pause.
And yet, there is no pause in this story. By the end, I felt completely and utterly schooled! I knew the mantra for trust and yet, like a human, I failed to follow that mantra. I failed and when the time came I did not expect that I could have my heart broken. And yes, I was sad and a bit weepy for not having seen certain events coming. All because I didn’t want to believe that the trust mantra was there for a reason. I went and got myself tangled all up in hope and nicer, normal things. How wrong was I?! I wouldn’t have survived in this world for a day… OK, I’ll give myself a bit of credit, I am, after all, quite the survival connoisseur, but yeah… mentally, I would have broken quite quick and for that reason, the main characters in this book are worthy of my admiration.
I love these books! And like you said, they get better as they go. It’s to find YA dystopian novels that are as deep as this, or explores the human condition so well (as you said). Great review!
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Ah, thanks a million! So glad to hear you liked this series as well.. it truly has been surprising how good these books are and I’m only now discovering them 😀 Can’t wait to dig into the third book now… pfft.. that is bound to be some ending to the trilogy.. can’t wait for the emotional torture 😀
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Rumor has it, this isn’t a trilogy but I’m not sure what a 4th book would be about. What I would like to see is a second movie. When are they going to get on that already? Lol.
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Oooh… interesting… Yes, to the second movie.. I’m a bit surprised that the first movie got such critics… I mean, I saw the movie first before I got the book and yes, the book is so much better but to have the sequel in a movie- whoaaa!
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I watched the movie first as well, and that’s probably why we liked it so much. I’m thinking because it didn’t well, we probably wont get another one.
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aye, and that’s a bummer if no sequel movie comes, because damn, that would be so good… I was just moaning to hubby today that they keep banging out Maze runner movies and no sequel for 5th wave? like whuuut! 😀 haha
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Right? And even those have taken forever.
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Hoping the books are better than the movie… Will be reading in not too distant future.
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I actually saw the movie before I read the first book and I liked book 1. Book 2 took a whole darker approach and I loved it… there were a few things I didn’t like in the movie that were done way better in the book, so here’s hoping you’ll enjoy the reading better 😉
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The books sound much better than the movie, which is pretty awful. Books are so much better at drawing characters and exploring internal conflict. Great review.
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Thank you… yes, there were a few things I didn’t like in the movie after I’d read the book… and the sequel definitely blows the YA element to a whole new, a bit darker level in the sequel so even if you don’t really dig book 1, book 2 I think is pretty darned good…:)
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Great review! I might have to get a copy of the 5th wave and check these out.
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I’ve been listening to a lot of alien-themed podcasts at the moment so an apocalypse at the hands of alien invaders has been at the forefront of my mind lately. I want to read these two books because your enthusiasm for them is infectious (I totally get the conundrum of rating a book 5 stars and then finding its sequel better, by the way 😛 Damn authors and their skills!), but I’m not sure if it would increase my paranoia 😛
‘My soul felt heavy as I found myself being betrayed by someone I trusted, the feeling of being stuck in between a rock and a hard place, the ‘yes, there’s still hope‘ to the ‘I can’t believe that bullet just took that life‘.’ I think that line sums up this book perfectly. When a book can engulf you like this – mind and soul – it shows just how well written it is. You become more than a reader; you become a part of the narrative and I think being that emotionally invested in a book is a beautiful thing.
Fantastic review as always!
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These are on my list! I skimmed through your review but was nervous to even read the blurb haha. I am funny like that about books on my list. Although I just cheated and read your Yarnswolrd review because I am weak. I skipped this movie because I did not want the negative reviews to impact my experience with the book. Thoughts on that?
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Ok confession time: I’ve never actually read any of this series- and wasn’t sure I was going to- but now I feel like I have to! I can really relate to rating a first book 5* and then feeling like the second one was better, but I can’t increase the rating anymore 😉 This does sound fun and I’m so so glad the romance didn’t ruin it (as it so often does in these books) And more importantly I’m delighted this had a logical reason for everything happening (again so often in YA dystopia it makes *literally no sense* and drives me mad) Brilliant review- you’ve totally convinced me that I need to read this!
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A sequel that is even better than the first novel, that’s rare! I can’t seem to enjoy sci-fi books normally but you do make it sound sooo good.. I like the fact that it totally caught you unawares ;-). Brilliant review that is sure to convince quite a few of us to give this one a go!
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The book sounds great, you make the first book sound great too! Alas, I saw the film, well, part of it, I got about halfway through and hated it and watched something else so it put me off ever trying the books but glad to know that they are good.
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I’m quite fascinated by how much you’re enjoying this series! I felt like there was mixed feelings for this series by a bunch of folks and that it simply had a lot of flaws or something. Maybe it was the movie that created that feeling… It’s nice to see that this was even better than the first and had you emotionally invested into characters and the events that unfolded. I do hope the finale turns out to be even more mind-blowing! Excellent review, as always! 🙂
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Why?!!!!!!! Why have you done this to me?!!!!!!! This was one series I had solidly on my don’t care to read list, keeping several books off my towering tbr. This was a series I wasn’t even feeling guilty about not wanting to read, but now… don’t mind me if I hate you with my little dark soul for awhile. Ha ha. I need to read this series now. Curses! *shakes fist at the sky*
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Hahaha, oops, sorry? 🙂 It’s OK, I’ve been in this situation as well so bring on the hate! I can totally relate… I have yet to read book 3 which I hope to do very very soon (just so I can say there’s a series I have actually finished!) but yes, the books have an unbelievable mount of substance… maybe you will dislike the books, who knows? If you do read them, I would be interested to see what you thought of them 🙂 Maybe you’ll get to dish out more hate for making you waste your time 😀 hahaha… but what made you put the series to the don’t care shelf? Did you see the movie and thought- nope! ?
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I have not see the movie, but it seemed like all the reviews I read kept talking about characters running away from things constantly. I don’t know, I was under the impression there was next to no character development and the books were basicalky one long action scene. Ha!
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Mmm… the movie is far from the book, as is usual and I got character development in heaps from the books… I didn;t like the 3rd book THAT much because there was a tn of action and less of that character study that happened in book 2, but… I guess for the final book it made sense to be like a big showdown of everything… even though things hardly got tied up, per se. Someone mentioned that there might be a further book in the series… or like a spinoff or some such… and it makes sense- it does need another book…
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