As a fan of Rick Yancey, I was prepared to enjoy this book and he did not disappoint. The aliens are coming! The first wave: an EM pulse, the second: tidal waves, the third: pestilence, the fourth: silencers to pick off the few remaining humans. With over 7 billions humans dead, Cassie, our heroine, can only guess what the fifth wave will be. The narrative switches perspectives from Cassie to Ben, her high school crush, Sammy, her brother, and Evan, a mysterious stranger who saves her from a snow bank. Yancey’s major theme is how people lose or maintain their humanity in the face of terrible loss and the breakdown of society. He does a little too much explaining, almost as if he is afraid his teen readers won’t get it if he doesn’t spell it out. He would have been better off using a more subtle approach. Otherwise, the plot moves along fairly rapidly to the final reveal of the horrifying alien plans for the eradication of the human species. Along the way, there is a lot of soul searching, a little human/alien romance and a lot of consideration of the question of what makes us human. An entertaining and thought provoking read for fans of science fiction or dystopia.
June Cleaver’s Book Ratings: Language: R; Violence R; Nudity: PG13; Sexual Content: PG; GLBT Content: G; Substance Use and Abuse: G Over all: R
Robin’s Comments: I already told you I liked this book, but I would not recommend it under 9th grade. Booklist and SLJ both place it 9-12. There is quite a lot of foul language and more than a little graphic violence, including stabbing, shooting, bombs and a lot of mental anguish. There are graphic depictions of an Ebola type illness that causes victims to bleed out. Not for the squeamish...
No comments:
Post a Comment