Audio books can be works of art. Anyone who wants to argue with me will be pointed directly to Jim Dale’s reading of all seven Harry Potter books. Or John Ritter reading Jerry Spinnelli’s Stargirl. Or The True Meaning of Smekday read by Bahni Turpin or even Randy Travis’ reading of Click, Clack, Moo. Given the right material, the right hands and good talent, an audio book can transport you into a world all in your mind while you make your way through a rainy rush hour drive. I am happy to say, too, Rick Yancy’s The 5th Wave, read by Brandon Espinoza and Phoebe Strole, was an audio trip I’d take again.
The 5th Wave tells the tale of an alien invasion from the points of view of 16-year-old Cassie and her high school crush, Ben Parish. It’s a great story full of interesting characters, snappy writing, a love story and even a couple of cockroaches dropping out of the ceiling.
What I liked about it:
- Yes, the actors are excellent – and to be honest, I don’t want to see the movie because I’m afraid Cassie won’t sound like Cassie and Ben won’t sound like Ben.
- Written inside Cassie and Ben’s heads, told from their point of views, I really felt the urgency, the fear, the anger.
- That bear. That awesome talisman bear. I hope that bear makes it through all three books.
- The pop culture references were fun but some of them dated the author a bit. What 16-year-old would describe a guy as, “The Bounty paper towel man?”
- I liked Evan’s description of what the Others are. The Vulcan mind meld though, yeah, that had me rolling my eyes.
- Ohio? Why in the world did they pick Ohio?
- Knowing how many Others there were, gave a sense of hope to the human survivors – as in, you actually think they have a chance!
- The reveal, while predictable (for a middle-aged mom), was satisfying and believable.
- Those trackers – from the beginning I knew they weren’t good, and it took a while to get to the bottom of them.
- Dr. Pam and Cassie’s finale – that made me smile.
- I loved that both Ben and Cassie were pledged to go back to save Sammy.
- As the story went on, both Cassie and Ben were forced to change in order to survive. The kids they were are not the kids they are when they meet. It put them on equal footing and I liked that.
- Ben and Cassie’s meeting was well done – it kept them true to their characters from high school. Does Ben remember her? No, and he doesn’t pretend to and that rings true.
What got to me:
- 12 hours of teenage angst. ‘nuff said.
- I once had a writing partner who dinged me for using ‘chocolate’ to describe the color of a character’s eyes. I now DING YOU Rick Yancy!
- The hair washing scene, the wet nightgown, the borrowed shirt…it had me asking, “Seriously?”
- I’m not sure Cassie ever used, “You shot me!” as an arguing point as to why she shouldn’t trust Evan and I think that’s a big one.
- The chapter endings got a little predictable after a while from the line delivered.
- Seen through Cassie’s eyes, Evan was a bit predictable and sometimes too perfect.
What I’d like to know before I let my kid listen to this: 7 Billion people die via electrical outage, natural disaster, bird spread disease, drone assassination and ultimately by deception and brainwashing humans to kill other humans. Cassie’s mother dies from the pestilence, her father executed before her eyes, her brother abducted. Ben and Sam are tricked into killing other humans. Cassie is shot by someone she falls in love with. Children are trained to be killers, some liking it. Cassie and Evan sleep together (just sleep). Descriptions about washing hair and wet t-shirt clinging, general teenage level attraction, but nothing more than kissing occurs. Grade 7 on up.
Bottom line, this was a great book to listen to in audio book form. The teenage angst and the chocolate eye reference might have been a little easier to take had I read the paper version, but the story kept my attention to the point I’m considering checking out #2 from the library. Give it a listen – you’ll enjoy it!