Title: The Infinite SeaAuthor: Rick Yancey
Genre: Young Adult, Sci-fi, Dystopia, Apocalyptic
Publication: September 16th 2014, Penguin Books
Pages: 336 Pages, Paperback
Source: Thank you to Penguin Publishers for sending me this book in exchange for an honest review!
Rating: 5/5 CUPCAKES!
The riveting follow-up to the New York Times bestselling The 5th Wave, hailed by Justin Cronin as “wildly entertaining.”*There are spoilers in this review, but they are written in white. If you want to read them, you can highlight the section with your mouse*
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.
You know there's certain books you read, and when you close the book you just need ten minutes to think about the awesomeness you just read and you're also thinking about how on Earth you'll possibly be able to string together an understandable review? The Infinite Sea was one of those. This book was incredible and it quite frankly blew by mind and left me questioning if what had happened in the previous book was even the truth at all. I thought this book was fantastic and I loved it as much as the first one, maybe even more so. This entire series is turning into a paradox, an enigma that I, myself, cannot seem to solve. It's as if the book is a guessing game, letting the readers create conspiracies about what is happening in this apocalyptic, frightening world. I loved this book, every single minuscule second I spent reading it. Spectacular.
The 5th Wave continues shortly after where The 5th Wave ended, we are shown the aliens' new methods of destruction and it is sickening and wholly horrifying. In The Infinite Sea we are reunited with previous characters and introduced to new ones. We are given some more information about the aliens and given some mind-boggling things to think about. We go back to Vosch and learn more about what is happening in this brutal landscape the characters now find themselves in. I can't say much else, as it would spoil you. Just read it, seriously, it's amazing!
The plot was...well, words fail me. It was every possible synonym for shocking, unexpected and amazing. There's a lot of suspense in this book, more so than in the previous book, in my opinion. Our belief in everything we thought we knew is completely obliterated.
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| Literally me throughout the entirety that is The Infinite Sea. |
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| Me to all my friends after I'd finished The Infinite Sea. |
The characters in this series are some of my all-time favorites. They each have their own distinct characteristics and they're all so sassy and funny and sweet and I love them all! Cassie still remains my favorite character. I love her whole attitude and how she won't take no for an answer, she fights for what she believes in, she gives the aliens hell and let's them know that she's unstoppable. She's a fighter and she's courageous but she also gets scared and I appreciate that Rick Yancey has made her character wholly believable.
We also got to see the other characters' points of view who we've never heard of before. It made me feel incredibly connected to them all and understand their reasons for behaving the way they do. Poundcake's story broke my heart and shattered into a million pieces. The guilt, insecurity and self-hate he felt ripped apart my heart and I just wanted to hug him and tell him how brave he was. *Spoiler* His death was extremely sad, he was so admirable and he died such a heroic death but it felt like a punch to the gut when I read the last sentence of his chapter. It also made me incredibly sad that no one would know just what he had gone through and that he died without knowing what happened to his brother. Such a sad death, it really affected me! *Spoiler* It just proves how talented Yancey is, that I could feel so much for a character that hadn't uttered one word throughout the entire two books.
It was also extremely interesting reading from Ringer's point of view. When I finished The 5th Wave, I was left hoping that I would be able to read her POV and I'm glad that her story was additionally incorporated throughout The Infinite Sea. Her story was also very sad - it's tragic what the Red Plague made loved ones say to their families - and I finally understood her reaction when Teacup called her a synonym for a female dog, as that singular word connected her to a past she was trying to forget. Her character has always interested me and I have definitely grown to love her character throughout The Infinite Sea. She's also quite sassy, not as sassy as Cassie, and extremely logical and clever. I really admired her intelligence when she worked everything out because half of the time I was sitting there confused out of my mind. I really loved how she kept referring to chess, as I play chess myself, and I love all the metaphors concerning the game and all the comparisons between chess and life in general. I also found the rat metaphor very insightful and it made me see precisely how the aliens view us. I really adore Ringer and I think that if her and Cassie would stop hating each other, I think they could really have a chance of overthrowing the aliens.
It was also interesting seeing Evan's back story and his connection to Grace (a new character who I utterly detest) and learning more about his past. I wish we got to see more of him and Cassie, though, because I absolutely adore them.*Spoiler* The language in which Evan and Grace spoke and the way they referred to things makes me lean towards believing they are aliens, but their conversation alone doesn't provide much evidence. *Spoiler*
To me, Ben acted quite different to how he acted in the previous book. The strain was clearly getting to him and I honestly thought he was going to die or have a mental breakdown, or both. I wasn't particularly keen on his behavior in The Infinite Sea as he wasn't the comical, reassuring Ben he was in The 5th Wave. Although I didn't love Ben as much in this book, I appreciate that Yancey altered his character to appropraitely convey the dramatic effect the stress had on him. I hope I get to see Ben's POV in the following book as I loved reading from his view point!
Grace, another Silencer, was also one we were acquainted with. Grace is honestly a terrifying character and she seems to be stronger than the other Silencers, I really hope that she didn't escape the explosion because then the other characters are going to be in extreme danger. She's vicious and cruel and she scares me. A lot.
We are also introduced to a new character in this book: Razor. I absolutely adored him! He was compassionate, kind, funny caring and him and Ringer were one of my ultimate ships in the series. They got along so well, and I much preferred Razor and Ringer than Ben and Ringer, but perhaps that's just me. *Spoiler*The part where he betrayed her made me sure of nothing and had me completely shocked and downright upset. But then sacrificed himself to save her...I may just have died inside. I loved his character so much and I really hope he isn't truly dead. He can't be. Rick, you can't be that cruel.*Spoiler*
Like I previously said, the plot was fantastic. Admittedly, there wasn't that much action in the first part of the book, but Yancey made up for it in the second part. I appreciate that there wasn't that much action during the time when Cassie, Ben, Sam, Dumbo and Poundcake were sitting at the hotel planning their next move, as it made the book seem more realistic and it made me, as a reader, feel as if I myself were the characters, knowing time is ticking on but not being able to create a plan due to complications. It also allowed me to connect further with the characters and "listen" to their new theories and ideas and such. The pacing really picked up speed when Grace was introduced. We knew she was stronger than the other Silencers and quite deadly and we knew she was going to seek her revenge, which she did. *Spoiler* When she arrived at the hotel, I think I literally face-palmed because I knew what was coming was going to be very, very bad. She is such a nasty character and she really toyed with Cassie's emotions, resulting in toying with my emotions. When she said Sammy was dead, I thought my heart was going to stop, but luckily it was just a lie. I seriously hope she died in that explosion because if not, there's going to be a lot of trouble for the characters in the sequel. *Spoiler* The change that occurred with Ringer was also fully unexpected but it made the book get even more interesting and I am utterly ecstatic to see where Rick is going to go with her new transformation. *Spoiler*I think it's incredibly cool that Ringer now has these "super powers" in a way, I think it's going to severely affect what happens in the next book. It finally made me understand how the "aliens" are human but not human at the same time. Well, if they are even aliens, since the whole basis of the series might in actual fact be a lie.*Spoiler* Then came the ending, which involved a showdown between Ringer and Vosch and revelations that had me aghast and bewildered. I must say, one negative about this book, is that I did find Ringer's thought processes quite confusing at times and I wasn't always following what was going on between her and Vosch as she tried unraveling his master plan and not much was actually revealed, but I think Yancey constructed it in that manner to keep us guessing and asking questions and coming up with conspiracies. Knowing that the whole series might be based on a lie (I won't say exactly why that is) is something I would never have expected. At all.
We also got to see the other characters' points of view who we've never heard of before. It made me feel incredibly connected to them all and understand their reasons for behaving the way they do. Poundcake's story broke my heart and shattered into a million pieces. The guilt, insecurity and self-hate he felt ripped apart my heart and I just wanted to hug him and tell him how brave he was. *Spoiler* His death was extremely sad, he was so admirable and he died such a heroic death but it felt like a punch to the gut when I read the last sentence of his chapter. It also made me incredibly sad that no one would know just what he had gone through and that he died without knowing what happened to his brother. Such a sad death, it really affected me! *Spoiler* It just proves how talented Yancey is, that I could feel so much for a character that hadn't uttered one word throughout the entire two books.
Grace, another Silencer, was also one we were acquainted with. Grace is honestly a terrifying character and she seems to be stronger than the other Silencers, I really hope that she didn't escape the explosion because then the other characters are going to be in extreme danger. She's vicious and cruel and she scares me. A lot.
Like I previously said, the plot was fantastic. Admittedly, there wasn't that much action in the first part of the book, but Yancey made up for it in the second part. I appreciate that there wasn't that much action during the time when Cassie, Ben, Sam, Dumbo and Poundcake were sitting at the hotel planning their next move, as it made the book seem more realistic and it made me, as a reader, feel as if I myself were the characters, knowing time is ticking on but not being able to create a plan due to complications. It also allowed me to connect further with the characters and "listen" to their new theories and ideas and such. The pacing really picked up speed when Grace was introduced. We knew she was stronger than the other Silencers and quite deadly and we knew she was going to seek her revenge, which she did. *Spoiler* When she arrived at the hotel, I think I literally face-palmed because I knew what was coming was going to be very, very bad. She is such a nasty character and she really toyed with Cassie's emotions, resulting in toying with my emotions. When she said Sammy was dead, I thought my heart was going to stop, but luckily it was just a lie. I seriously hope she died in that explosion because if not, there's going to be a lot of trouble for the characters in the sequel. *Spoiler* The change that occurred with Ringer was also fully unexpected but it made the book get even more interesting and I am utterly ecstatic to see where Rick is going to go with her new transformation. *Spoiler*I think it's incredibly cool that Ringer now has these "super powers" in a way, I think it's going to severely affect what happens in the next book. It finally made me understand how the "aliens" are human but not human at the same time. Well, if they are even aliens, since the whole basis of the series might in actual fact be a lie.*Spoiler* Then came the ending, which involved a showdown between Ringer and Vosch and revelations that had me aghast and bewildered. I must say, one negative about this book, is that I did find Ringer's thought processes quite confusing at times and I wasn't always following what was going on between her and Vosch as she tried unraveling his master plan and not much was actually revealed, but I think Yancey constructed it in that manner to keep us guessing and asking questions and coming up with conspiracies. Knowing that the whole series might be based on a lie (I won't say exactly why that is) is something I would never have expected. At all.
Overall, I found The Infinite Sea absolutely incredible. The writing was absolutely gorgeous (just like it always is) and extremely thought-provoking. The characters were as sassy, funny and determined as ever and I love how we got to see the other characters' stories before the waves came - I really connected with them even more so than usual! The plot twists throughout this book were astonishing and are probably some of the most unexpected I've ever read about in a book! The Infinite Sea was truly amazing: a perfect combination of humor, sass, action, impeccable writing and heartbreak that resulted in a spectacular book. I can't wait for the follow-up!
I give it: 5/5 Cupcakes!
