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faithtrustpixiedust's review against another edition
3.0
So, I binged this series while on a sleep-deprived road trip to attend the funeral of my great-uncle, so to be entirely honest with you, I don’t remember a whole lot about this series, at least not what happens in each book specifically. Hopefully this is cohesive and not a complete disaster. If I mention something that isn’t actually in this book but another, then lol who cares?
The Writing and Worldbuilding
I actually liked the writing on the whole! It sometimes tended to run on and ramble, but in a stream-of-consciousness way that I could follow and not in a way that made it evident that an editor never saw the manuscript. The prose had personality, and while that personality was sometimes a bit on the melodramatic side, it was better than no personality at all. The philosophical waxing gave the story some meaning, which I appreciated. I would definitely read something written by Rick Yancey again.
The story was fairly easy to follow if you ignore some plot holes or inconsistencies. Despite those, I found myself enjoying the bulk of the story. I still find myself scratching my head at some of the info about the aliens, though.
The Characters
Cassie: Our main protagonist, spends the bulk of the story laying on a bed eating nice food and realistically healing a devastating wound in a world with no access to professional healthcare. She doesn’t really show the anxiety to get her brother back that I would have expected, and in that regard, I feel the movie did a better job building her character to someone likeable and proactive. She also has a tendency to just simply ignore obviously horrible red flags, only to recall them when being mad suits her. It was pretty immature, but she is a teenager, and apocalypse or not, brains aren’t just gonna mature faster because life is hard. So, while a bit annoying, it wasn’t unrealistic.
Evan Walker: For some reason, he wasn’t often referred just as Evan, but full-on Evan Walker, so for the purposes of these reviews, we will call him Evan Walker exclusively.
Evan Walker spends the book being mysterious and kind of creepy. The full extent of his creepiness isn’t revealed until later books. The big spoiler reveal is pretty obvious and the fact that it takes Cassie so long to figure it out was a little annoying. Some changes to the structure of the story could have easily fixed that, since we the audience learn some info way before she does.
As it stands, their romance was a little weird.
Zombie aka Ben Parish: Ok, I just gotta say it! I hate military jargon stuff!! It drives me CRAZY! I literally COULD NOT CARE LESS ABOUT THE MILITARY JARGON! Just speak like NORMAL PEOPLE for ONCE my goodness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, I liked Ben for the most part! He’s fun and definitely has more personality than his movie counterpart. He has a weird love interest thing going on with Ringer that I didn’t really care for, but as friends, I liked them.
Sammy: I forgot sometimes that he was like, 5. I liked him on the whole, though.
The Dad: I really liked what we got of him!
Commander Vosch: He really shouldn’t have been as personally involved, especially with Ben, but I understand why, narratively speaking, Yancey choose to do that. It didn’t make any logical sense in a real-world setting, but it helped us see what was going on. As a villain, the big reveal was too obvious and didn’t hold any tension.
Conclusion
I liked it on the whole, and I don’t think it deserves a lot of the hate it’s gotten. It definitely isn’t the best book in the world, but I liked it for what it was.
The Writing and Worldbuilding
I actually liked the writing on the whole! It sometimes tended to run on and ramble, but in a stream-of-consciousness way that I could follow and not in a way that made it evident that an editor never saw the manuscript. The prose had personality, and while that personality was sometimes a bit on the melodramatic side, it was better than no personality at all. The philosophical waxing gave the story some meaning, which I appreciated. I would definitely read something written by Rick Yancey again.
The story was fairly easy to follow if you ignore some plot holes or inconsistencies. Despite those, I found myself enjoying the bulk of the story. I still find myself scratching my head at some of the info about the aliens, though.
He looked at me and smiled reassuringly and said, “Everything’s going to be okay,” because that’s what I wanted him to say and it’s what he wanted to say and that’s what you do when the curtain is falling—you give the line that the audience wants to hear.
The Characters
Cassie: Our main protagonist, spends the bulk of the story laying on a bed eating nice food and realistically healing a devastating wound in a world with no access to professional healthcare. She doesn’t really show the anxiety to get her brother back that I would have expected, and in that regard, I feel the movie did a better job building her character to someone likeable and proactive. She also has a tendency to just simply ignore obviously horrible red flags, only to recall them when being mad suits her. It was pretty immature, but she is a teenager, and apocalypse or not, brains aren’t just gonna mature faster because life is hard. So, while a bit annoying, it wasn’t unrealistic.
Evan Walker: For some reason, he wasn’t often referred just as Evan, but full-on Evan Walker, so for the purposes of these reviews, we will call him Evan Walker exclusively.
Evan Walker spends the book being mysterious and kind of creepy. The full extent of his creepiness isn’t revealed until later books. The big spoiler reveal is pretty obvious and the fact that it takes Cassie so long to figure it out was a little annoying. Some changes to the structure of the story could have easily fixed that, since we the audience learn some info way before she does.
As it stands, their romance was a little weird.
Zombie aka Ben Parish: Ok, I just gotta say it! I hate military jargon stuff!! It drives me CRAZY! I literally COULD NOT CARE LESS ABOUT THE MILITARY JARGON! Just speak like NORMAL PEOPLE for ONCE my goodness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, I liked Ben for the most part! He’s fun and definitely has more personality than his movie counterpart. He has a weird love interest thing going on with Ringer that I didn’t really care for, but as friends, I liked them.
Sammy: I forgot sometimes that he was like, 5. I liked him on the whole, though.
The Dad: I really liked what we got of him!
Commander Vosch: He really shouldn’t have been as personally involved, especially with Ben, but I understand why, narratively speaking, Yancey choose to do that. It didn’t make any logical sense in a real-world setting, but it helped us see what was going on. As a villain, the big reveal was too obvious and didn’t hold any tension.
Conclusion
I liked it on the whole, and I don’t think it deserves a lot of the hate it’s gotten. It definitely isn’t the best book in the world, but I liked it for what it was.
redingtonjm's review against another edition
4.0
Second time reading this book and gworl, it was just as juicy as the first time.
keipotato's review against another edition
2.0
My teenage self would have loved this so bad!
(I've the copy of 2013 yet now I'm reading it
(I've the copy of 2013 yet now I'm reading it
kimcheel's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
kim_j_dare's review against another edition
4.0
Rick Yancey does it again. Loved Alfred Kropp, loved the Monstrumologist, and this latest is a highly satisfying series opener. An alien race has been observing humans for 6000 years. When they finally strike, they do so in waves: the first wave is a power surge that takes out all the electricity; the second wave is a series of monster tsunamis; the third wave is a plague that kills off 97% of the folks remaining from the first two waves; and the fourth wave is the Silencers-- beings whose mission it is to kill the remaining humans. But not all of them-- the Visitors, disguised as kindly soldiers, gather up all of the children. Once they're separated from the adults, the children are turned into young soldiers whose focus is to kill the bad guys-- the ones that glow green in the special eye-pieces. But what if the green-glowing images aren't the aliens? What if the aliens have tricked these children into hunting down the last remaining humans for them? When it gets to the point that you don't know who is on your side and who is not, do you kill everybody? That's Cassie's dilemma-- who, if anyone, can she trust? Because her little brother Sammy is one of the children the Visitors are training to be a soldier... and Cassie is determined to get him back. Fresh and engaging... looking forward to book two.
whitneysederberg's review against another edition
3.0
Fun book! Some parts felt a bit tiresome or hard to relate to however. I enjoyed reading this but I’m not sure I will pick up the sequels.
slimjadie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
librarydoc's review against another edition
3.0
Book Talk: Imagine you are going about your day as usual, then you happen to look up in the sky, and instead of the usual non threatening clouds and birds, you see...the mother ship. And what follows for Cassie and the rest of humanity can only be described as horrifying. As the Others send wave after wave of brutal attacks, Cassie and her family must fight to survive.
My Thoughts: As a huge fan of dystopia and anything alien related, I was super excited about this book. The movie was in the theater when I started, so that also added to my anticipation. I was pretty disappointed. The story line is muddled, the dialogue is choppy, and I just didn't care about the characters. I will say that my 12 year old son loved it, but it just didn't work for me.
My Recommendation: 3/5 stars
Grades 9+ (language, adult situations)
My Thoughts: As a huge fan of dystopia and anything alien related, I was super excited about this book. The movie was in the theater when I started, so that also added to my anticipation. I was pretty disappointed. The story line is muddled, the dialogue is choppy, and I just didn't care about the characters. I will say that my 12 year old son loved it, but it just didn't work for me.
My Recommendation: 3/5 stars
Grades 9+ (language, adult situations)
kim_chi_25's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
paige87's review against another edition
5.0
This was an amazing book. I was hooked from beginning to end. The real test will be if the remainder of the series is just as good. I'm looking forward to seeing what the author does with this story!