Rick Yancey - The 5th Wave

Crazy : the new normal

Imagine our world is invaded by an anothet species. That the world's fallimg into chaos inch by inch. No order, only survival that matters. It's time of human extinction and occupation of Earth by a way more intelligent form of life. World's end sucks. According to Cassie Sullivan at least. Especially when attacks are arriving in waves. First the EMP—electromagnetic impulse that takes all the power. Second wave—the forces of nature outsmart the smartness of humanity. Third wave—the Fourth Horseman. Infection spread by birs becomes world wide. Fourth wave—humans are not what we believe them to be anymore. The Others are among us and take us down one by one. Rule one: do not trust anyone. Rule two: the only way to stay alive as long as possible is to stay alone.

Cassiopeia—she whose words excel

Cassie Sullivan (not Cassie for Cassandra or Cassie for Cassidy. Cassie for Cassiopeia, the constellation, the queen tied to her chair in the northern sky, who was beautiful but vain, placed in the heavens by the sea god Poseidon as a punishment for her boasting) the girl who lives an ordinary teenager's life in which a missed party, a bad mark or the state of uttet-invisibility to her crush feels the end of the world till it's the end of the world.

She's coping with lack of running water, the death of her cell phone and floks of pillaging bands amidst the splintered shatters our well-known world has become. She's facing the disintegration of her family and if it's not enough she's petrified by seclusion in the woods weeping herself to sleep every time while ruminating over her old life. Evidently you may start to appreciate what you've had the moment it fades into vacancy.

It made me thinking and I was taken aback by the plain truth that I would be helpless without electricity. How the hell would I survive in the nature anyway? Eating bugs and freezing at night because I have no idea how to light a fire without a friggin match are not my cup of tea. I'm not Katniss hunting for deers and going with a bow for heaven's sake! And even if I were, I'm still not sure wheter there are any of those furry creatures in my area...
To sum it up, I should probably apply to a girl scout adventure. In case there's a chance I make it.

Kick-ass girl

Her bestie are a M16 and a Luger both of which become quite handy in these somber days. How else would she pick up a fight against the Others? Not with the teddy bear she's clutching so tenaciously in her other hand for sure. I admire her audaciousness she tramples all the way just to find his baby brother who has been taken away from her. Nothing and no one stands in her way otherwise she brings down the obstacles without batting an eyelid. Irresolution is not on top of her wish list. She does her best to avoid tenuity tenuity which can easily cause her imminent death.

"This is what life on Earth has become since the Arrival. It’s an either/or world."

Trust issues

Having adjusted to the new bleak conditions where no one could be trusted otherwise you're a dead man, she restlessly strides toward the military base where she surmises Sammy would be. Then like a lightning struck she's shot by a Silencer. She's pretty sure she's wasted until she finds herself being taken care of by a chocolate-eyed farmboy, Evan Walker. She's between hell and high water. Can she afford the benefit of the doubt and rely on a complete stranger? She doesn't give credit to humans anymore. The enemy succeeded because they disguised themselves with human faces. That proved to be the downfall of humanity.It would refute every rule she's followed so far.

Betrayed

Albeit Evan seems to hold out on Cassie, she isn't ready to let him go after months of lack of interaction. Would she fall for him if they weren't the last representatives of a dying species? It seems so. Until she finds out he's her Silencer. He's human and one of them at the same time.

"This is what the Others have done to us. You can’t band together to fight without trust. And without trust, there was no hope.
How do you rid the Earth of humans? Rid the humans of their humanity."

He doesn't left her no choice but to kill him. Isn't it what he does to her kind? What he's the heart to do. It's nothing personal only survival and retrieval of Sammy. She's beset by doubts whether shoot him in the head or not. It’s an either/or world. On the other hand, he could've already killed her if he had wanted to. And why on earth does he tend her so carefully? Protect her? Feed her? Diabolic circle of swirling doubts.

Still. He follows her when she rams the highway alone. She's sick of being alone. She's sick of what the Others did to her. Self-pity is not an option whatsoever. There's no way left than she rams the highway alone. She's sick of being alone. She's sick of what the Others did to her. Concededly she's simply lost in this universe. Still, Evan watches her in the distance ready to take any Silencer down who comes to her five-mile-range. Because she's his mayfly for he betrayed his kind. Evan Walker. Silencer. Traitor.

"You know how sometimes you tell yourself that you have a choice, but really you don’t have a choice? Just because there are alternatives doesn’t mean they apply to you."

No-man’s-land

In the meantime children under eighteen are trained to pop out the 'infesteds' on Wright-Petterson millitary base just under the glinting light of the mothership. They couldn't be more luminous targets waving a billboard with orment cursive letters on it : Screw you, we're here. Shoot right at us!

Sam and the other kids are forced to endure a trial to their breaking point. Because those who went through with earthquakes, floods, plague, the loss of their entire family one by one, those who are the strongest. Because those who don't back down pose a threat to the enemy and mean a beacon of hope for humanity.

"An old saying about the truth setting you free. Don’t buy it. Sometimes the truth slams the cell door shut and throws a thousand bolts."

Ben Parish–once-upon-a-time superstar footballer of high school, leaving a bunch of coquettish girls in his wake, is lost in the deep sea of guilt and self-hatred—makes an excellent soldier who's willing to sacrifice his remaining humanity to wipe out every single extra-terrestrial. While leading his squad to battle whose youngest member is seven he starts to get the hang of reality. That they're screwed over here and they're in parctice of taking down humans. The whole military base is a set up crawled with infesteds. The children trained to eliminate the ubiquitous foe in fact are slaughtering one another. They're 5th wave.

"Who made a promise, and if he breaks that promise, the war is over—not the big war, but the war that matters, the one in the battlefield of his heart."

As soon as he finds out, he leaves his squad behind and rushes for Sam for whom he made a promise. Promises are the new currency of this dilapidated-apocalyptic world. Even if nothing else matters, even if he can't offer security but a reassurance of coming back for him. A promise that he once made for his baby sister and never was able to keep. The minute we decide one person doesn’t matter, the Others will win.

Love-struck

"I know Evan is here, and Evan will not give up until I am safe or he is dead."

Cassie intrudes in the death camp affirmed by the fact that her Silencer watches her from a safe distance. She fights her way through to Sammy in the midst of explosions and diversions concieved by Evan. I'm quite impressed by their star-crossed love story which contradicts common sense and passes the bounderies of this realm.

Storyline discribed in a few words

Action. Hand-to-hand combat. Guns. Family reunion. Hot guys. Betrayal. Trust. Promises. Hope.

"We’re here, and then we’re gone, and it’s not about the time we’re here, but what we do with the time."

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Rating

5 out of 5 (additional points for Evan Walker;)

Movie

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