Movie Review: The 5th Wave

Title: The 5th Wave

Based on The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Director: J Blakeson

Screenplay: Susannah Grant, Akiva Goldsman, and Jeff Pinkner

Producers: Tobey Maguire, Graham King, Tim Headington, and Matthew Plouffe

Cast: Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson, Ron Livingston, Maggie Siff, Alex Roe, Maria Bello, Maika Monroe, and Liev Schreiber

Distributed By: Columbia Pictures

The human race stands on the brink of extinction as a series of alien attacks decimate the planet, causing earthquakes, tsunamis and disease. Separated from her family, Ohio teenager Cassie Sullivan (Chloë Grace Moretz) will do whatever it takes to reunite with her brother Sam. Fate leads her to form an alliance with Evan Walker (Alex Roe), a mysterious young man who may be her last hope. Forced to trust each other, Cassie and Evan fight for survival during the fifth assault from the invaders. 

Waiting on Wednesday (46)

Waiting on Wednesday is a bookish meme created and hosted by Jill from Breaking the Spine.

Each week, bloggers shine the spotlight on upcoming book titles that they are waiting on. This is one of my favorite memes, and you've probably noticed it as a frequent feature on my blog.

It's pretty simple to participate in Waiting on Wednesday:

• Create your own Waiting on Wednesday post that features an upcoming title (or titles) - I usually only go with one book a week because seeing all the titles can be a bit overwhelming for me.
• Be sure to credit Jill somewhere in your post (see how I credited her above?)
• Link up to the Linky on Jill's blog so that others can see your post

Review: The Infinite Sea

Title: The Infinite Sea (The 5th Wave #2)

Series: The 5th Wave

Author: Rick Yancey

Publication Date: September 16, 2014

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile

Synopsis:
How do you rid the Earth of seven billion humans? Rid the humans of their humanity.

Surviving the first four waves was nearly impossible. Now Cassie Sullivan finds herself in a new world, a world in which the fundamental trust that binds us together is gone. As the 5th Wave rolls across the landscape, Cassie, Ben, and Ringer are forced to confront the Others’ ultimate goal: the extermination of the human race.

Cassie and her friends haven’t seen the depths to which the Others will sink, nor have the Others seen the heights to which humanity will rise, in the ultimate battle between life and death, hope and despair, love and hate.

My Review:

I was quite stunned with the brilliant short story that worked as a prologue in this book. It sets the readers up to let them know what part of the year the characters are preparing for. Plus, it was just amazingly written. I felt ready to start the book after reading the little story, but unfortunately, I realized it would be a while before I found something else I liked about this book.

Obviously, the rest of the book wasn't as great for me. To be honest, I was expecting a lot better, especially because of how much I loved the first book in the series, but Yancey did not wow me this time. Don't get me wrong... there were some great things about the book, but overall, I felt like a lot of it was just filler material while we await the concluding novel in the series.

We start off with the narration of a character that I was not expecting to see narrate until later in the story, and to be honest, I was very much confused during this section of the book. Even though it was the beginning, it felt out of place, and it took me a while to recover.

Just like The 5th Wave, the book's narrators change in each section. I liked that. I love how I was able to experience what pretty much all of the characters are thinking and feeling at different times during the book.

There are some kick-ass moments in the book, but most of the time, I felt like Yancey was going for the shock effect. I kept thinking to myself, "Is this for real" or "WTF?" I certainly felt like he was trying a bit too hard this time around.

Again, there are some romantic scenes in the book, and there are little disputes amongst the members of the main group of teens, but I expected that. All because life as they know it is ending doesn't mean that all of the characters are going to get along, right? Right. I respect Yancey for that, and it definitely made the book feel more realistic. 

What I didn't understand is why the sudden shift? I don't want to spoil anything about the book, but I felt very confused when I finished the book. I felt like the leader of the group was almost set in stone at the end of The 5th Wave, but now I feel like that title is up for grabs yet again, and I don't like the direction that Yancey is taking this series.

I know I'll read the concluding novel. I want to see how everything ends, but right now, The Infinite Sea seems like a book I should have put off for a bit because it just made me rethink everything about the series.

The Friday 56 (7)

The Friday 56 is a weekly bookish meme hosted over at Freda's Voice. The rules are easy  to follow. All you need to do is open the book you're reading to page 56 (or 56% for e-readers) and give us a little bit of what you're reading without spoiling anything major. You want to give people a little preview that makes them want to read what you're reading.

I'm still slowly recovering from bronchitis and pneumonia, so I haven't really read much in a few weeks, but I'm trying.

This week, I'm slowly making my way through The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey, and while I'm finding some parts interesting, I am feeling undecided about the opening section. I'm hoping it gets better. I saw great reviews before the release, but I'm also starting to see some negative reviews, so I'm a little concerned about this one.

"I understood. In the safe room, a billion upraised faces populating the infinite, and the eyes that sought mine, and the question in those eyes too horrible to put into words, Will I live?  It's all connected. The Others understood that, understood it better than most of us. No hope without faith, no love without trust, no trust without love. Remove one and the entire human house of cards collapses."

So... what have you been reading this week? Feel free to let me know in the comments, or leave a link to your Friday 56 post. I'd love to check them out and possibly add more books to my infinite TBR list.

TBR Thursday (4)

 

TBR Thursday is a meme that was started by Sarah (Words with Sarah). What you need to do to participate is find a book that has been on your TBR list for three or more months, and make a conscious effort to read it. You'll then make a post and link back to Sarah's blog.

It's been a while since I've participated in TBR Thursday, but only because I've been reading a lot of newer releases. The book I'm focusing on this week is technically a brand new book, but I've been waiting for it for a while.

This week, I'm reading The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey. It is the highly anticipated sequel to The 5th Wave. 

I read The 5th Wave this past summer, and I immediately knew that I needed to read the sequel. I waited and waited. I pre-ordered the book. But... when it got to my house, I had a busy schedule full of ARCs and R2Rs. But I have some spare time right now, and I am reading this baby before anyone spoils it for me!

Synopsis:

How do you rid the Earth of seven billion humans? Rid the humans of their humanity.

Surviving the first four waves was nearly impossible. Now Cassie Sullivan finds herself in a new world, a world in which the fundamental trust that binds us together is gone. As the 5th Wave rolls across the landscape, Cassie, Ben, and Ringer are forced to confront the Others’ ultimate goal: the extermination of the human race.

Cassie and her friends haven’t seen the depths to which the Others will sink, nor have the Others seen the heights to which humanity will rise, in the ultimate battle between life and death, hope and despair, love and hate.

So what are you reading this week? As always, feel free to let me know in the comments! I'd love to see all the picks you've made.

Happy reading!

Waiting on Wednesday (2)

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine. Every Wednesday (well... not really every Wednesday), you have the chance to share a book that you are oh so patiently waiting to get your hands on with your readers.

For this week's installation of Waiting on Wednesday, I am focusing on the sequel to The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey. I recently read The 5th Wave, and I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed it. I was so captivated by the entire book. There are so many great characters and I loved reading about their experiences while dealing with the alien invasion. I just didn't want the book to end.

When I read The 5th Wave, I was aware that the release date of the sequel was not too far away. I honestly feel like I couldn't have planned reading it at a better time because of that. The book and its events will still be fresh in my memory when I open The Infinite Sea for the first time.

The Infinite Sea (The 5th Wave #2) is due to hit stores on September 16, 2014. It's so close, but still so far away.

Synopsis of The Infinite Sea: 

The hugely anticipated follow-up to the New York Times bestselling The 5th Wave.

For Cassie Sullivan and the rest of Earth’s remaining human survivors, the situation was already desperate when the 5th Wave hit. It’s about to get worse.

No one yet knows the depths to which Earth’s conquerors—the Others—will sink in order to rid the Earth of the human infestation, nor have they guessed the heights to which the human spirit can reach. Characters introduced in Book One will come to the fore—and others will face the ultimate test.

Readers will watch in awe as the Others give their answer to Cassie’s defiance.

So what are you waiting on this week? Let me know in the comments, and as always, feel free to post a link to your "Waiting on Wednesday" post.