Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I never write book reviews on Amazon, but I was compelled to comment on The 5th Wave. I was so looking forward to this book. I love sci-fi, and YA, and everyone was talking about The 5th Wave. Thank the lord I got it from the library instead of buying, because I was massively disappointed by this book. Here's why. (CONTAINS SPOILERS, if there's even enough to spoil here) - Unconvincing teenage female voice. It was obvious from reading this that the author is an adult male. He was trying too hard to sound feminine (for example, mentioning Cassie's focus on finding tampons), which made it hopelessly inauthentic. - Overly immature teenage voice. I enjoy reading YA where the characters seem mature for their age. I do not enjoy reading about actual whiny, stupid, clueless teenagers, whether male or female. This book was full of both. Cassie sounded like a fool; for example, she constantly commented on Evan's appearance rather than worrying about, I don't know, the END OF THE WORLD? She looted toothbrushes and toothpaste because she was determined to have clean teeth at all times? Instead of rooting for her, I wanted to punch her in the face. - Cassie's inexplicable survival. Simply saying that she's "immune" to the pestilence and showing her grabbing water bottles from a convenience store is not enough to explain why she's one of the last living humans. How did she learn survival skills? From her lack of any discernible common sense when it comes to Evan, I'm perplexed as to how she even lasted an hour after the 1st Wave hit. - Unrealistic fight scenes. The author never really explains how Cassie learns to shoot a gun. I know next to nothing about guns, but I do know that they're (1) very heavy (and thus, it would be difficult for a petite teenage girl to carry around a Luger and an M-16 at all times) and (2) very difficult to aim and shoot. At one point, Cassie spins around and shoots a soldier at point blank range. It's absurd. - Lazy descriptions. I roll my eyes every time an author uses a real-life celebrity or other recognizable name as a means of describing their fictional characters. Cassie describes Evan as "the Brawny paper towel man," and other laughably stupid comparisons. - No heartthrobs to be found. Evan had the potential to be hot, mysterious, protective, with a side of "I don't want to be evil but I have no choice." A potent combination. Unfortunately, he was utterly bland and displayed almost no personality. Ben Parish, aka Zombie, also brought nothing to the table for me. If I had to hear him describe the staggering power of his own smile one more time, I was going to rip the book to shreds. - No good love story. Although there were two boys and one girl in the book, there was nothing even approaching a compelling love story. Evan never explains what he sees in Cassie, or vice versa (except how his butt looks in jeans). Cassie practically stalked Ben in high school, and he doesn't know who she is. I could mention Ben and Ringer, but that fell so far short that I don't even care enough to discuss it. - UNORIGINAL. This is my biggest complaint about the book. Here's how it went. Aliens park their green mothership above our planet (pretty sure I saw this happen in Independence Day in 1996). Aliens proceed to attempt humanity's destruction through four "waves": cutting the electricity (unoriginal), creating a tsunami (unoriginal), and starting a plague (really unoriginal). The first four waves are barely discussed in the book. There was no larger story to make it interesting or unique--the book never explained who the aliens are, why they're here, why they chose to kill humans, and so on. Whoever called this book original must have been living in a hole for the past forty years. - Predictable plot twist. Was it supposed to be a surprise that Camp Haven was run by aliens disguised as soldiers? We saw the soldiers shoot all the adults at the Ashpit, and we know that the aliens are hiding in human bodies. Why is it treated as a huge revelation when Ben realizes their leaders aren't human? Just because he's a dunce, doesn't mean the author has to treat his readers as such. - The owl from the prologue has almost no relevance to the later story. It's only mentioned one other time. - Stereotypical characters. In particular, I found the drill sergeants and boot camp experience to be well-worn territory. The head alien was basically G.I. Joe. - No depth. The story was limited to a handful of characters, with no real discussion of the larger forces at work. For example, it's not clear whether there are other aliens like Evan, who want to help humans. He can't be the only one, but unfortunately, the reader never finds out, because we're really only introduced to three aliens in this entire "alien book." Long story short, I'm mystified as to why this book has received any critical acclaim. None of the characters were likable, the story was unoriginal, there was no good love story, and nothing happened. Hate.