Author: Rick Yancey
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
Publishing Date: September 16, 2014
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.
Book in One Word: WHAT.
This should be spoiler free, but be wary of spoilers for the first book, The 5th Wave.
I'd been wanting to read The Infinite Sea since the moment I finished reading The 5th Wave and that freaking ending (my review is here). And after Rick Yancey's cryptic tease about the fate of a certain character (found in this interview), I really needed this book, and just had to preorder it. And then I got the book, and, well...two months after its release, I have finally finished it.
Now, hold on a second. I didn't set The Infinite Sea aside for a couple months because I wasn't liking it (though I wasn't wowed). I was pissed and kind of irritated, if only for selfish reasons. This book--and series--is not told in one POV. It switches between several, depending on what part of the story needs to be told, and does for various amounts of time--just a few pages or dozens. And Rick Yancey just LOVES to switch POVs right when you really don't want it to, and that's what happened. I think I would prefer it if this was told just through Cassie's POV, at least for the majority, but no. For about a hundred pages I was going to be in a POV I did not care about, and I was irritated and not loving the book so I set it aside. But then I picked it back up and wondered what I was thinking, because I actually liked the POV.
The Infinite Sea picks up soon after The 5th Wave left off, with Evan Walker presumed dead, and Cassie, Zombie, Sam/Nugget, Ringer, Teacup, Dumbo, and Poundcake (I think that's everyone) in a group together and in hiding from mean, not-so-green aliens and their killer machines. But before this happens, the book starts off with a prologue that is eerie, creepy, and an interesting insight into what's happening around the fallen world. And from there...well, if you've read The 5th Wave, then you know it's basically all gone to hell.
Compared to the first book, this sequel was slower. I wouldn't say either books are super action-packed; they're more about slowly building up the story and telling us how it all happened and what the aliens are up to next. It's a slowness that mostly works, especially when you're hit as suddenly as an alien apocalypse by twists and turns and WTFs. Those are always painfully fun, aren't they? *glares at book*
One issue I have with this book--and possibly series--is that I don't really understand the schematics of it all. Things have been explained in both books, and The Infinite Sea has a lot of references to rats and something certain (and spoilery) happens to a character, and I just nod my head along but don't really comprehend what is being said. I don't get it.
All that said, there are some interesting turn of events in this anticipated sequel. There is, of course, death. And naughty, have-no-mercy aliens. I have a NEW SHIP, and it is a GREAT SHIP, and that's all I'll say about that because then I'll spoil the ending and WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ENDING? We meet new characters (some I liked, some I really freaking hated), and we learn about old characters and like them more than we did before. Really, there's a lot of WHAT WHAT WHAT'S GOING ON. But it's good.
I guess you could say The Infinite Sea was a bit of a disappointment. I didn't looove The 5th Wave, but I really liked it, and was looking forward to a sequel that was sure to kick some serious ass. Instead, there were some intense, crazy moments squished between slow build-up scenes that had me impatient for something to happen. Don't get me wrong--I definitely liked this book. I just think I expected more from it. And despite some issues story-wise, I'm an overall pretty big fan of Yancey's writing style. I will give the last hundred pages some props; I thought I'd be bored, but instead I decided I didn't hate a character, was engrossed, and HELLO, SHIP. But then things happened and I was just like WHAT THE HELL and now I need the third book, pronto, because I need to know that something didn't happen because NOPE NOPE NOPE. And that, my friends-who-hopefully-aren't-really-aliens-hellbent-on-taking-over-the-world, is how The Infinite Sea rolls on and on.
Did I like it? Yes.
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.
Book in One Word: WHAT.
This should be spoiler free, but be wary of spoilers for the first book, The 5th Wave.
I'd been wanting to read The Infinite Sea since the moment I finished reading The 5th Wave and that freaking ending (my review is here). And after Rick Yancey's cryptic tease about the fate of a certain character (found in this interview), I really needed this book, and just had to preorder it. And then I got the book, and, well...two months after its release, I have finally finished it.
Now, hold on a second. I didn't set The Infinite Sea aside for a couple months because I wasn't liking it (though I wasn't wowed). I was pissed and kind of irritated, if only for selfish reasons. This book--and series--is not told in one POV. It switches between several, depending on what part of the story needs to be told, and does for various amounts of time--just a few pages or dozens. And Rick Yancey just LOVES to switch POVs right when you really don't want it to, and that's what happened. I think I would prefer it if this was told just through Cassie's POV, at least for the majority, but no. For about a hundred pages I was going to be in a POV I did not care about, and I was irritated and not loving the book so I set it aside. But then I picked it back up and wondered what I was thinking, because I actually liked the POV.
The Infinite Sea picks up soon after The 5th Wave left off, with Evan Walker presumed dead, and Cassie, Zombie, Sam/Nugget, Ringer, Teacup, Dumbo, and Poundcake (I think that's everyone) in a group together and in hiding from mean, not-so-green aliens and their killer machines. But before this happens, the book starts off with a prologue that is eerie, creepy, and an interesting insight into what's happening around the fallen world. And from there...well, if you've read The 5th Wave, then you know it's basically all gone to hell.
Compared to the first book, this sequel was slower. I wouldn't say either books are super action-packed; they're more about slowly building up the story and telling us how it all happened and what the aliens are up to next. It's a slowness that mostly works, especially when you're hit as suddenly as an alien apocalypse by twists and turns and WTFs. Those are always painfully fun, aren't they? *glares at book*
One issue I have with this book--and possibly series--is that I don't really understand the schematics of it all. Things have been explained in both books, and The Infinite Sea has a lot of references to rats and something certain (and spoilery) happens to a character, and I just nod my head along but don't really comprehend what is being said. I don't get it.
All that said, there are some interesting turn of events in this anticipated sequel. There is, of course, death. And naughty, have-no-mercy aliens. I have a NEW SHIP, and it is a GREAT SHIP, and that's all I'll say about that because then I'll spoil the ending and WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ENDING? We meet new characters (some I liked, some I really freaking hated), and we learn about old characters and like them more than we did before. Really, there's a lot of WHAT WHAT WHAT'S GOING ON. But it's good.
I guess you could say The Infinite Sea was a bit of a disappointment. I didn't looove The 5th Wave, but I really liked it, and was looking forward to a sequel that was sure to kick some serious ass. Instead, there were some intense, crazy moments squished between slow build-up scenes that had me impatient for something to happen. Don't get me wrong--I definitely liked this book. I just think I expected more from it. And despite some issues story-wise, I'm an overall pretty big fan of Yancey's writing style. I will give the last hundred pages some props; I thought I'd be bored, but instead I decided I didn't hate a character, was engrossed, and HELLO, SHIP. But then things happened and I was just like WHAT THE HELL and now I need the third book, pronto, because I need to know that something didn't happen because NOPE NOPE NOPE. And that, my friends-who-hopefully-aren't-really-aliens-hellbent-on-taking-over-the-world, is how The Infinite Sea rolls on and on.
Did I like it? Yes.
Did I love it? No.
Would I reread it? I wouldn't say no.
Would I purchase it? Really, I preordered it.
Who would I recommend it to? People who have read The 5th Wave might want to check this out, and also those who like cray cray alien apocalypse stories and writing that gives the story a little something extra.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I've been having s-to-the-pam issues, and I wasn't thrilled with Disqus, so sorry about the CAPTCHA!