Doni Kay told me this book would be a big deal, and I’m going to be honest, I was not on board. Doni, our apparently prophetic Penguin young readers rep, was convinced that not only would Rick Yancy’s newest young adult book be good, it would be an instant hit. Suffering from long-term YA apathy, I scoffed at this confident exclamation, and begrudgingly picked up an advanced reader copy of 5th Wave a few months later because GAH, I GUESS I have to read it if it’s going to be such a “Big Deal”. I had a bad attitude y’all, and that usually comes back to bite you in the bum. Mostly because this is an excellently written story, and I’m sure partially so that I’ll have to eat my own words, 5th Wave was as of this week number two on the New York Times young adult best sellers list- and it has only been three weeks since its release date.
So what’s the secret? Resilience (and general sass-pantsery). In the wake of an extra-terrestrial attack that has been wiping out the world’s population in several different waves, Cassie has lost everything. First her home, then her mother, her father, and now, most horribly of all, her little brother Sammy has gone missing. Her only friends, a rarely used M16 and her brother’s teddy bear are her companions as she follows Sammy’s trail alone- that is, until she realizes that she’s being followed. This new world is terrifying- the attackers hover silently just above the earth’s atmosphere in a gigantic ship and the humans are just waiting for the next wave of annihilation. First it was darkness, then tidal waves, then a plague, then aliens taking human form. Cassie has no idea who she can trust, so she doesn’t trust anyone.
Before you make any snap judgements about this book like I did, let me tell you that at the height of my frustration thinking that this was just another “Katniss book”, the point of view and narrator changed. Just when I thought that I was going to have to endure the tough-girl, kickass act for 450 pages, her chapters end and a male voice begins to tell his own post-apocalyptic tale. All in all there are four different narrators jumping in and out of the whole story, three of them are male. Hallelujah, you guys. Hallelujah. I’m glad that there are girls in these worlds that are tough and can defend themselves, but a little male perspective is more than welcome in a female-flooded YA market. I will gladly put this book into the hands of girls and guys. I will not, however, tell you who the male narrators are. That is the secret weapon that Yancey pulls out in the end, not only the what of the story, but the who. Cassie’s hard edges are softened by her fellow storytellers and the characters intersect beautifully at just the right time. The story finishes so differently than it began: with companionship in a world that has taught you that you cannot trust anyone.
Turns out I was wrong about this one. Hats off to you, Mr. Yancey.
The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey, Putnam, $18.99
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