The 5th wave (The 5th Wave #1)
Richard Yancey, 2010
★ 4.00 from 486.5k ratings on Goodreads
Science fiction Young adultRomance
After an alien invasion radically changes Earth, one survivor must navigate a new world ruled by primal instinct, absolute distrust, and the ghosts of who she used to be. A tense, uneasy survival story with a witty voice, quick turns, and a constant sense that trust is dangerous.
Feels like dread and unease. About war, society and solitude.
Who it’s for
You may like it if you enjoy fast-paced alien-invasion thrillers with a sharp heroine and shifting viewpoints. Some readers found the romance and multiple viewpoints distracting, so expect a few slower, less convincing stretches.
Why read it
It puts you inside a shaken world where survival means reading people carefully, and its mix of dread and momentum makes for a gripping, uneasy read.
A page from the book
When the world shrinks, the memory of a face can feel like an orbit.
The stars seem a lot closer now. Closer than the three hundred trillion miles that separate us. Close enough to touch, for me to touch them, for them to touch me. They’re as close to me as his breath had been. What readers say
Readers found the alien-invasion survival story gripping, suspenseful, and full of twists, with a witty heroine and fast pacing. Others were bored or annoyed by the romance, multiple viewpoints, and hype, finding it predictable or disappointing.
Richard Yancey.The novel deals heavily with the trauma of mass displacement and the psychological toll of absolute isolation. Its blend of grounded survival and high-concept sci-fi was widely praised upon release.
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Questions readers ask
- Is The 5th wave (The 5th Wave #1) for me?
- You may like it if you enjoy fast-paced alien-invasion thrillers with a sharp heroine and shifting viewpoints. Some readers found the romance and multiple viewpoints distracting, so expect a few slower, less convincing stretches.
- What is The 5th wave (The 5th Wave #1) like?
- A tense, uneasy survival story with a witty voice, quick turns, and a constant sense that trust is dangerous. Feels like dread and unease. About war, society and solitude.
- What should I read after The 5th wave (The 5th Wave #1)?
- If you liked The 5th wave (The 5th Wave #1), try Cell (Stephen King), Seven Days in May (Fletcher Knebel) and The Maze Runner (James Dashner).
A taste of the feed
The speed with which ordinary life becomes archaeology.
Civilization slipped into its second dark age on an unsurprising track of blood, but with a speed that could not have been foreseen by even the most pessimistic futurist. It was as if it had been waiting to go. On October 1, God was in His heaven, the stock market stood at 10,140, and most of the planes were on time (except for those landing and taking off in Chicago, and that was to be expected). Two weeks later the skies belonged to the birds again and the stock market was a memory. By Halloween, every major city from New York to Moscow stank to the empty heavens and the world as it had been was a memory.
Cell · Stephen King
A handful of men can stop the government from falling off a monument.
All you’ve got to know is this: right now the government of the United States is sitting on top of the Washington Monument, right on the very point, tilting right and left and ready to fall off and break up on the pavement. There are just a handful of men that can prevent it. And you’re one of them.
Seven Days in May · Fletcher Knebel
The faces above him are only boys. His heart doesn't get the message.
And then, as if the lens of a camera had sharpened its focus, the faces cleared. They were boys, all of them—some young, some older. Thomas didn’t know what he’d expected, but seeing those faces puzzled him. They were just teenagers. Kids. Some of his fear melted away, but not enough to calm his racing heart.
The Maze Runner · James Dashner
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