Good Morning, Booklovers! I hope this finds you doing well!
As I have mentioned in a previous post, Autumn initiates my busiest time of the year: Christmas planning (both personal and church related), annual fundraiser at work, more people requesting photo shoots (probably with Christmas Cards in mind), etc, etc, etc. BUT I still think it is important to take time to read! And I recently read a book that I ABSOLUTELY MUST tell you about! It's called The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey. Ever heard of it?
My cousins were the first ones to tell me about it. And frankly, I wasn't interested. Let me say this now: I AM NOT INTO ALIENS AND/OR ZOMBIES! I'm just not. Science fiction has never really been my thing...honestly, I think it's pretty dumb. So when my cuz starts gushing about how this book is all about aliens taking over the earth, I pretty much shut down and decided that my life would be just fine with out this book (if you have already read this book, feel free to gasp in abhorrence at my idiotic statement). But then, this book showed up as a possible Book of the Month for my Book Club. "Okay," I thought to myself. "That means there MUST be something to it!" Unfortunately, The Fifth Wave did NOT end up being the Book of the Month, but I decided to read it anyway.
And, OH MY WORD! I don't how I possibly got along before reading it! Needless to say, I am now the proud owner of my very own copy of this book!
The Fifth Wave opens with Cassie. Cassie is not short for Cassandra, but rather for Cassiopeia. Yeah, the constellation. Cassie is a 16 year old girl who is living in a nightmare. The unthinkable has happened: Real life aliens have invaded Earth. The Others have made the trek to Earth and are taking over the planet. This, however, is not the first intrusion. The Others have been here since 1995. Now, they have gained control of Earth using four horrific and terrifying waves. Cassie has sworn to survive...even though she is facing The Fifth Wave.
"In case you're an alien and you're reading this: BITE ME."
1st Wave: Lights Out. A huge electromagnetic pulse renders Earth completely technologically impaired. No cars, no cellphones, no computers. Oh, and this pulse also took out about half a million people as well.
"Then the door flew open and Mr. Faulks told us to head over to the gym. I thought that was really smart. Get all of us in one place so the aliens didn't have to waste a lot of ammunition."
2nd Wave: An actual wave. From space, the Others have dropped some form of an exceedingly large metal rod into one of Earth's fault lines causing a massive Tsunami that obliterated all coastal cities on all seven continents including large American metropolises such as New York and L.A.
"It's almost dawn. You can feel it coming. The world holds its breath, because there's really no guarantee that the sun will rise. That there was a yesterday doesn't mean there will be a tomorrow."
3rd Wave: The Red Tsunami. Not an actual tsunami like the previous one, rather a bloody plague that killed off 97% of Earth's remaining survivors. Also known as the Fourth Horseman, the Red Tsunami was genetically engineered by the Others (possibly some strange strand of Ebola). It begins as a common cold that the victim simply cannot shake. Then it turns lethal attacking the person's mind until they are overcome with seizures and blood runs from every orifice. For some reason though, the Red Tsunami does not always kill it's victim. Rather it seems to decide to let the person live and regain his/her strength. Cassie speculates that the virus simply did not like the "taste" of the person.
"It's an either/or world now."
4th Wave: Silencer.When the Others came to Earth in 1995, they embedded themselves in the brains of children still held in their mothers' wombs and lay dormant. Now, they are waking up and "silencing" the remaining members of the human race. Cold, trained killers, they are assigned to take out any human they come across giving no mercy. But some to have trouble doing that...
"'I am a shark, Cassie,' he says slowly, drawing the words out, as if he might be speaking to me for the last time. Looking into my eyes with tears in his, as if he's seeing me for the last time. 'A shark who dreamed he was a man.'"
5th Wave: To Give Up or Get Up. This is where it gets creepy (as if it hasn't been creepy enough). Believe it or not, there are still a few people alive on earth. Cassie, for one, her father, her little brother, her life-long crush (though she doesn't know it yet) and many others. The last few human government officials (or are they?) are creating an army to battle the Others and have enlisted all children (this is supposed to be all minors, but Cassie is refused admittance). They are taken on school buses (I will never see school buses the same again) to "a safe place" which turns out to be a military fort. But are the Others being killed really Others?
"How do you rid the Earth of humans? Rid the humans of their humanity."
See what I mean? This isn't your average aliens-taking-over-the-planet novel. This is MUST READ!
Seriously, do yourself a favor...Read it!
And, OH MY WORD! I don't how I possibly got along before reading it! Needless to say, I am now the proud owner of my very own copy of this book!
The Fifth Wave opens with Cassie. Cassie is not short for Cassandra, but rather for Cassiopeia. Yeah, the constellation. Cassie is a 16 year old girl who is living in a nightmare. The unthinkable has happened: Real life aliens have invaded Earth. The Others have made the trek to Earth and are taking over the planet. This, however, is not the first intrusion. The Others have been here since 1995. Now, they have gained control of Earth using four horrific and terrifying waves. Cassie has sworn to survive...even though she is facing The Fifth Wave.
"In case you're an alien and you're reading this: BITE ME."
1st Wave: Lights Out. A huge electromagnetic pulse renders Earth completely technologically impaired. No cars, no cellphones, no computers. Oh, and this pulse also took out about half a million people as well.
"Then the door flew open and Mr. Faulks told us to head over to the gym. I thought that was really smart. Get all of us in one place so the aliens didn't have to waste a lot of ammunition."
2nd Wave: An actual wave. From space, the Others have dropped some form of an exceedingly large metal rod into one of Earth's fault lines causing a massive Tsunami that obliterated all coastal cities on all seven continents including large American metropolises such as New York and L.A.
"It's almost dawn. You can feel it coming. The world holds its breath, because there's really no guarantee that the sun will rise. That there was a yesterday doesn't mean there will be a tomorrow."
3rd Wave: The Red Tsunami. Not an actual tsunami like the previous one, rather a bloody plague that killed off 97% of Earth's remaining survivors. Also known as the Fourth Horseman, the Red Tsunami was genetically engineered by the Others (possibly some strange strand of Ebola). It begins as a common cold that the victim simply cannot shake. Then it turns lethal attacking the person's mind until they are overcome with seizures and blood runs from every orifice. For some reason though, the Red Tsunami does not always kill it's victim. Rather it seems to decide to let the person live and regain his/her strength. Cassie speculates that the virus simply did not like the "taste" of the person.
"It's an either/or world now."
4th Wave: Silencer.When the Others came to Earth in 1995, they embedded themselves in the brains of children still held in their mothers' wombs and lay dormant. Now, they are waking up and "silencing" the remaining members of the human race. Cold, trained killers, they are assigned to take out any human they come across giving no mercy. But some to have trouble doing that...
"'I am a shark, Cassie,' he says slowly, drawing the words out, as if he might be speaking to me for the last time. Looking into my eyes with tears in his, as if he's seeing me for the last time. 'A shark who dreamed he was a man.'"
5th Wave: To Give Up or Get Up. This is where it gets creepy (as if it hasn't been creepy enough). Believe it or not, there are still a few people alive on earth. Cassie, for one, her father, her little brother, her life-long crush (though she doesn't know it yet) and many others. The last few human government officials (or are they?) are creating an army to battle the Others and have enlisted all children (this is supposed to be all minors, but Cassie is refused admittance). They are taken on school buses (I will never see school buses the same again) to "a safe place" which turns out to be a military fort. But are the Others being killed really Others?
"How do you rid the Earth of humans? Rid the humans of their humanity."
See what I mean? This isn't your average aliens-taking-over-the-planet novel. This is MUST READ!
Seriously, do yourself a favor...Read it!
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