Rating: 3.5 stars
In the second installment of Rick Yancey’s alien invasion trilogy, Cassie and the rest of their squad try to remain hidden and come up with a plan to defeat the Others. Ringer goes off to investigate the caverns, only to be captured. Zombie and Cassie fight over whether or not they can trust Evan (Cassie’s alien/human hybrid boyfriend). Evan ends up being extremely vital to their lives as he provides tips on the technology used by the aliens – particularly, the CO2 bombs implanted in children’s throats. At the same time, Ringer is captured by the Others and augmented. Her senses, strength and feelings are heightened and she becomes almost superhuman. Because of this, Ringer begins to question whether or not Evan, and the other Silencers, are actually aliens or if they are augmented humans implanted with fake memories of alien life.
This was definitely a filler book. Although I still enjoyed it, the only part that was truly vital to the plot was the discovery made by Ringer towards the end. The novel dove deeper into Ringer thoughts as a new point of view for the novel. I loved Cassie’s POV in The 5th Wave; I did not mind Ringer but I felt she was a bit too much. However in this novel, I really appreciated Ringer’s character. She was still bold and brash, but by getting her perspective, we were able to see her reasoning. With her, we are able to see a more overarching scheme put in place by the aliens – we can see just how crucial the humans are for the aliens. And alongside Ringer, we uncover some more questions surrounding who the Others really are, something we would not have learned were we still following Cassie or Zombie.
I am still confused by Yancey’s stylistic choices which carry on from the first book. Some of the characters’ voices sound similar so it was difficult to distinguish between their sections. Sometimes, especially in between Zombie and Cassie at certain moments. I can be reading several pages as one character before realizing my mistake and find myself having to rethink specific scenes. Yancey also added in another character voice, that of Poundcake, that I didn’t really find necessary? I mean, yes, it was heartbreaking to learn why he chooses not to speak but I just didn’t find any relevance.
This book was pretty average to me. The discovery at the end was very interesting and I really enjoyed Ringer as a narrator, but her thinking was so confusing, and I was left aghast at the end. I had to reread the lines several times before I understood what Yancey was alluding to. Overall, I do see this book as necessary for opening Ringer as a new narrator and explaining why Evan and the Others behave the way that they do. I just don’t think this book was very fun, I guess.
Thank you for reading ~
Next review: The Last Star by Rick Yancey (the conclusion!!)
the nerdiness is strong in this one 