The 5th Wave

By: Rick Yancey

Narrated by: Brandon Espinoza, Phoebe Strole

Length: 12 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

The Passage meets Ender's Game in an epic new series from award-winning author Rick Yancey.

After the first wave, only darkness remains. After the second, only the lucky escape. And after the third, only the unlucky survive. After the fourth wave, only one rule applies: Trust no one.

Now, it's the dawn of the fifth wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth's last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker.

Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie's only hope for rescuing her brother - or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

©2013 Rick Yancey (P)2013 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Gripping!" (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

"Nothing short of amazing!" (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)

"Yancey's heartfelt, violent, paranoid epic, filled with big heroics and bigger surprises, is part War of the Worlds, part Starship Troopers, part Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and part The Stand ... a sure thing for reviewers and readers alike." (Booklist, starred review)

Excellent!

I really like the narrators in this audiobook! I think she's one of my favorites so far. Phoebe captures the essence of a 16 yr old girl and the nuances of the writing. The story itself is really good too but for me a good book can be ruined by the wrong narrator. Not in this one though.

enjoyed it

I liked the audio and character voices. I will be buying the next edition, if available.

Great story!!!!!

Awesome story definitely appealed to the Sci-Fi geek in me … the narrators where okay they lack the emotions the characters feel or represent but nonetheless they got their point across

Great book

Story was great. Hated the narration. I would recommend this to adults as well. Great story!

Audible at it's best!

Great story, great performance. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to young adults and young-at-heart adults alike. Smart plot, surprising twists, strong characters. I found myself cheering them on. If you like The Hunger Games - this one is for you.

A great story

Having each character vocalized and narrated differently helped picture the story very well. This book kept me drawn in. Loved it and now can't wait for the movie.

A Good Story

This was a good book. I enjoyed the narrators especially. I actually thought some parts were disturbing, but I still very much wanted to know what was going to happen. I'll wait to listen to the second until the third is out.

Engaging and full of teenage angst

Fast moving, creative and laced with a few plot twists. Good listen, performed well.
Utilizes age old teen age angst themes over apocalyptic back drop.
I enjoyed the book and found a couple surprises.

Entertaining, thought provoking Alien Invasion

Cassie (for Cassiopeia NOT Cassandra) is a young teen struggling to survive her world after aliens appeared and wiped out a large portion of the population. First there was loss of electronics resulting in chaos and soon starvation. Then many, including Cassie’s mother, suffered a painful death from a bleeding virus. After the virus survivor’s fled the killing in the cities trying to hide. Cassie, with her father and her younger brother, Sammy, had joined a small community. They are living day to day as they try to hide from the flying drones and avoid the alien assassins whom Cassie calls the ‘Silencers’.

One day buses and military personnel arrive and everyone thinks they are saved. But the bus is only collecting children under 16. Cassie could go with her brother but she refuses to leave her father. They watch Sammy leave and then Cassie goes into the woods to find another friend. She stumbles upon a soldier killing the young boy. When she starts to return to camp she is devastated to see the soldiers killing all of the adult civilians. Now she knows she cannot trust the military or anyone at all. She is on the run, alone, wondering how she can rescue her brother. She is injured by a Silencer and lost in the snow when she is rescued by Evan.

Cassie knows to trust no one but Evan saved her from the snow and fed and clothed her. He is very gentle and tender. Yet he seems to know too much about her and she suspects that he is doing more than hunting as he goes out each night. Cassie slowly regains her strength and Evan reluctantly helps her plan how to get to Sam.

Meanwhile Sam and other young people have been taken to the military base to be trained as warriors to fight. That training includes how to kill the enemy who they are told look just like other humans but have an alien parasite on their brain. Only special tools and glasses help determine who is “green” to be killed or red to recruit. The new recruits are also ‘tagged’ so they cannot be lost or stranded. Or are they being tagged for control purposes? What is the truth and who can be trusted?

I enjoyed the survival elements and the relationship conflicts presented in the story. The premise is really interesting and there is good intensity of action that keeps the listener’s attention. I enjoyed some wonderful phrasing in the writing (with a print I could quote them but that is hard to capture in an audio). I liked Evan’s character even though part of his mind-set is left mysterious. I’m undecided about the ending as it was one that leaves some open issues. But at least there was hope! I recommend this to readers who enjoy a good alien/apocalypse story and the emotional dilemmas of feelings associated with an individual ‘them’ instead of a faceless enemy.

Audio Notes: I initially was annoyed by the “whininess” of Cassie. I wasn’t sure if it was her personality or the narration but I decided it was both and therefore fit the story. I think both narrators did a good job with the personalities they portrayed for the reading. The narration enhanced the story for my enjoyment although I think this would be a fine ‘read’ as well.

Absolutely Amazing!

Incredible author's voice that allows a reader to literally (almost) be there with the characters. The narration is amazing - especially Phoebe Strole's perfectly timed delivery! And then the writing! Reallllly happy someone convinced me that this book was wayyyyy better than the movie and that I should give it a try. They were right!