Saturday, June 8, 2013

The Fifth Wave - Rick Yancey

I confess:  I'm a huge fan of disaster/apocalyptic/dystopian teen novels.  You'd think I'd be tired of them by now, since nearly every other book published follows something along those lines, but so long as the author throws in some element that is new or different I'm generally totally in.  This means I've read quite a few really terrible books, but sometimes one really shines.

It's no secret that I'm a fan of Rick Yancey.  When I was on the Thumbs Up!  award committee, I lobbied hard for The Monstrumologist.  The committee felt it was a little too terrifying for the younger end of the age group that the award is for, so they went another direction, but I still think it was the best thing written that year.  I have made all of my book clubs read it, and I recommend it all the time, usually with the statement "DON'T TRY TO READ IT IF YOU'RE HOME ALONE!"

Obviously I have been anxiously waiting for The 5th Wave to come out.  It's possible I swiped it from the in-process cart...shhhhh don't tell.  It did not let me down.  I'd hate to spoil it for anyone, so I'll just say that the general premise is that aliens have come to earth and started wiping out the human race in a series of waves.  We have a tough but realistic female protagonist who is not perfect.  I love love love survival books, and the living in the woods and foraging for stuff elements of this one are great.  An offhand comment early on about how she is worried about her supply of tampons (I totally think about that when reading other books where the ladies are just tromping around happily) made me realize that the author really thought through what a woman alone and on the move might worry about.  There's a tough of romance but it's good and necessary, not just thrown over the top of a shaky plot like it is in so many cases. 

Read it!


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