The 5th Wave, published in 2013, transports readers on a Sci-Fi filled adventure. However, five years later, does it still keep book lovers coming for more aliens and action?

Written by Rick Yancey, The 5th Wave is a Science fiction novel set in a Dystopian America. Following a series of four “Waves” from an Alien race, America has reached a low point. Main Character Cassie has suffered through all of the waves including:  a blackout, a tsunami, disease, and posing as Humans on Earth.  The early chapters of the novel mainly serve to catch the reader up to speed, as Cassie recaps what has already happened.  Following the recap, Cassie, her father, and her brother Sammy have all made their way to a military base.

While the group finds safety at the base, things go wrong when the military takes Sammy away from his family.  With Brother gone, Cassie is left at the military base with her father in true devastation. As if things couldn’t get any worse, the military turns their guns on the survivors destroying the base and even killing Cassie’s father.  Escaping the fray, Cassie is left to fend for herself in a world where she can trust no one.  During several chapters of the book, the perspective changes from Cassie to other people. The perspective most often changes to Ben, another teenager and the crush of Cassie.

Ben’s story begins at a military base where an army of youth soldiers is being trained to fight the aliens. Sammy is brought to the military base and is quickly thrown into training with the other kids. Sammy is placed into the same group as Ben where the two meet. Cassie through her search for Sammy, gets badly injured when she is shot. The sniper takes over another perspective in the book making a total of three different character’s thoughts during the read.  Cassie is luckily saved by fellow survivor Evan Walker, who nurses her back to health. Evan agrees to help Cassie find her brother and the major conflict sets off to be resolved.

By switching between three perspectives, the novel takes a great risk. However, while to some readers this may be interesting others may find it rather confusing and unneeded. While not he most perfect novel out there, The 5th Wave shines where it has to. I recommend it to any reader who wishes to pick up a book that will take them on an adventure or for the avid Sci-Fi fan. While the book is a good read for most, it truly shines in the Young Adult demographic, especially based on its characters ages. The novel also received a film adaptation in 2016.