I really enjoyed reading this new dystopian thriller/romance. This exciting new series will appeal to a broad range of fans...for those that love the dystopian genre, aliens, romance, and adventure. Rick Yancey takes the reader on an addictive wave (pun totally intended) that you never want to break free from. Mr. Yancey's words flow effortlessly off the page, and the entire book reads like a movie. I could easily picture myself sitting in a theater with my bucket of popcorn, watching the exciting drama unfold in front of me. The characters were fantastic and well-written. You could connect to them, and by the end, you were rooting for them to win. 
 Cassie was a great heroine in my opinion. She's sarcastic, witty, and brave, but also flawed. All of these things amount to a wonderful character that many people can easily connect with. One of the main things that I loved about her character was the fact that she added some much needed humor to an otherwise heavy story. Ben was an interesting character to read from. Alternating POV's is hard to pull off, but this in order for this novel to even work, I feel that it was essential for there to be multiple perspectives. By reading from mainly Cassie and Ben's POV, the reader understands the world so much more, and the story is more well-rounded. The alternating POV's allow the reader to start figuring things out and put 2-and-2 together. Evan was an intriguing love interest for Cassie, and I can't wait to read more about him. 
 As I said before, the story is extremely addictive. Rick Yancey sucks you into the story, and you never want to stop reading. The world is very well constructed, and you can tell how much time and effort went into figuring out all the little odds and ends of creating this new world that Cassie, Ben, and all the other characters live in. The writing is descriptive and this shows Mr. Yancey's writing at his finest. 
 So, why did I only give this 4 stars? Well...there were a couple things I had a problem with. First, I didn't like the other POV's. While most of the story is told from Cassie and Ben's perspective, there is a chapter from Sammy's POV as well as Evan's POV. Neither of these was that interesting, and Sammy's chapter was especially long. Both of these sections could have been cut out, and the story wouldn't have suffered at all. The romance was my second problem. In some ways I liked it, but at the same time, it was way too fast! And then as soon as that romance begins, it barely is mentioned (no more kissing, just talking). Basically, the romance was very lackluster. Hopefully in the sequel there is some more romance building. Finally, the aliens. I wanted MORE! They are constantly being mentioned, but we never see them. I figure that since there are 2 books after this (at least as of right now), we will see a bit more action with the aliens themselves, and if there's any hope of this series continuing, there needs to more. 
 Overall, I would give this 4.5 stars if I could. This is a fresh take on the dystopian/alien genre, and with alien themed books on the rise, this is a great way to start off reading about them. The 5th Wave is a thrilling story that is full of creepy twists and turns that you never see coming. I can't wait for the next in the series!