Waiting on Wednesday: The Last Star by Rick Yancey

   Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine in which we discuss our most anticipated upcoming releases.

   The book:

The Last Star by Rick Yancey
Expected Publication: May 24th 2016 by G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Number of Pages: 464 Pages (Hardcover)
Series: Yes, #3 in the The 5th Wave Trilogy

   We’re here, then we’re gone, and that was true before they came. That’s always been true. The Others didn’t invent death; they just perfected it. Gave death a face to put back in our face, because they knew that was the only way to crush us. It won’t end on any continent or ocean, no mountain or plain, jungle or desert. It will end where it began, where it had been from the beginning, on the battlefield of the last beating human heart.
   Master storyteller Rick Yancey invokes triumph, loss, and unrelenting action as the fate of the planet is decided in the conclusion to this epic series. (goodreads.com)

   My thoughts:

   As you guys know I LOVED The 5th Wave and couldn't shut up about it. I anxiously awaited The Infinite Sea, which wasn't really what I had expected, but I have lots of faith in Rick Yancey's abilities as writer and storyteller to wrap this trilogy up with a grand finale.
   One thing that makes me happy is that there have not been any unnecessary cover changes yet and I hope it'll stay that way because all three covers are perfect. I cannot wait to have all three standing on my shelf. Unfortunately for me, and lots of other people who are waiting for this book, it isn't coming out until May 2016. Let's hope it will be worth the waiting!

   Let me know in the comments below or via twitter (@Alice_Reeds) which books you're waiting for this Wednesday!

Review: The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey

The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey
Published: September 9th 2014 by Penguin Books Ltd (UK)
Number of Pages: 300 (Paperback)
Series: The 5th Wave, #2

   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. (goodreads.com)

“You never know when the truth will come home. You can’t choose the time. The time chooses you.”  

   I've waited so long for this book. It was one of the books I anticipated most this year, but unfortunately I didn't quite get the satisfaction out of it which I hoped for. 

“That’s the cost. That’s the price. Get ready, because when you crush the humanity out of humans, you’re left with humans with no humanity. In other words, you get what you pay for, motherfucker”  

    The first book, The 5th Wave was brilliant and different then all the other alien books out there. The Infinite Sea unfortunately didn't manage to catch up with that level of awesomeness. Maybe it's just me or maybe not, but I had bigger hopes for this book.
   Something that is very important, is that if you plan on reading The Infinite Sea you have to read, or re-read, The 5th Wave before doing so because otherwise you will be endlessly lost. Also, unfortunately the first 100 pages or so seemed to drag on for an eternity. All that happened, or rather did not happen, over those pages could easily have been summed up in a novella and be publishes as an extra to the story. There is a lot of jumping back and forth between was currently happening and things the characters remembered. This made me stop a lot of times and just ask myself "what the hell is actually happening right now?" because I was just really confused at time what was happening, to who it was happening and if that is a new even or something in the past.
   What really made this book interesting were the last chapters which picked up the pace, had action and things actually started to happen, whereas in the first 100 pages everything seemed to be in standby mode. 

“Maybe you reach a certain point in evolution where boredom is the greatest threat to your survival. Maybe this isn’t a planetary takeover at all, but a game. Like a kid pulling wings off flies.” 

     I was quite surprised by the choices Rick Yancey made in regards to the POV's. A big portion of this book was told from Ringers perspective, which at first I wasn't sure if I liked because I wasn't a huge fan of Ringer in general, and not from Cassie. Surprisingly enough the chapters written in Ringers POV were the most interesting and gripping parts of the book.
   When it comes to the characters in general, Cassie was just a tat weird, Ben somehow transformed into this really annoying character and Evan had a way too small of an appearance in this one.

     All in all, The Infinite Sea turned out not to be what I hoped it would be, which maybe was also caused by the fact that it was much shorter than The 5th Wave, about 160 pages shorter. This of course meant that fewer things could happen and that many things had to happen faster or in a different way. Unfortunately, what happened is that barely anything happened for the most part of this book.
   But, no matter how disappointing The Infinite Sea might have been, I'm still looking forward to the finally of this series. I'm excited to see how it will all end and if we will get answers for all the questions we might have.

I give The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey 3 out of 5 Stars.

Review: The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
Published: April 7th 2013
Number of pages: 457 Pages
Series: The 5th Wave, #1

  After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.
  Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up. (goodreads)

  “What were they thinking? 'It's an alien apocalypse! Quick, grab the beer!”

  When I first heard about this book I was really skeptical due to the fact that it involves aliens, because (thanks to Hollywood) aliens somehow are normally always presented in this certain way that’s always the same, they are always those weird creatures flying in saucers with the mission of destroying the US. BUT I still bought it and I did NOT regret it.
  The way Rick Yancey builds this story, the scenery and the events in this book are magnificent and very interesting. He changed the alien game; he changed the way they are portrayed, even though one thing stayed: they came to destroy the humans.

  “Why did they come billions of miles just to stare at us? It's rude.” 

  The way the story unfolds is very interesting and grabs you from the first page on and doesn't let you go till you read each and every page of it. The events were cleverly played and surprising, in a way. Surely, there were a few things which I was already quite sure that its X before I was told that yes, it is X but I'd say it's inevitable that a few things are predictable BUT that did do no harm to the story or to the greatness of this book.
  The characters are distinct and interesting. I really liked Cassie, even though I somehow really dislike that name. I liked the way she thought, the way she reacted and I always asked myself if I would be able to survive ALONE in a forest, and in most cases the answer I gave myself was no, but who knows? 

  “I would kill for a cheeseburger. Honestly. If I stumbled across someone eating a cheeseburger, I would kill them for it.”  

  The male characters, Ben and Evan, were also interesting even though Evan was a little bit creepy at times, but also really sweet. I liked them both and so will not choose which one I prefer, no teaming up on one side cause I know there are a few people out there who already started the whole team ben and team even thing but I think both are great so.
  I enjoyed the military chapters and also the chapters from Cassies brothers point of view. His voice was distinct and childlike which made it very authentic and simply funny to read and see how someone of his age deals with everything that happened around him.
  I very much liked the fact that even though this book deals with this problem of aliens coming to destroy humans and all, there is still humor in it which is very pleasant and builds this kind of contrast between this serious situation and humor which I really like especially in books like this.
 
  "Maybe they're spacefaring micemen from Planet Cheese and they've come for our provolone." 

  All in all, I really loved The 5th Wave, it took a different and very amazing turn on the whole alien apocalypse topic and therefore I can honestly recommend it to all the fans of apocalypse/post-apocalypse stories, as this one is amazing in so many ways.

 

  If you have read this book please comment below and let me know what you thought about it!

So wurde aus einem Kinobesuch vier Bücher.

   Hey Leute,
   gestern hatte ich ja eigentlich vor abends ins Kino zu gehen um mir "Das ist das Ende" anzusehen, aber davor wollte ich noch einen Abstecher ins Einkaufszentrum machen um mir ein paar Bücher anzusehen. Ursprünglich wollte ich mir die Bücher nur ansehen und höchstens eins kaufen, denn wie wir wissen sind Bücher gar nicht so billig (zumindest die Hardcover Versionen), aber irgendwie fand ich ganze vier die mich interessiert haben. somit hatte ich dann die Wahl: entweder ich kaufe mir vier Bücher oder ich gehe mir einen total holen Film ansehen, der wahrscheinlich gar nicht so lustig usw. ist wie er im Trailer dargestellt ist.
   Alle die meinen gestrigen Facebook-status gelesen haben wissen für was ich mich am Ende endschieden habe... Natürlich für die Bücher! Ich hab aber noch nicht verraten welche es eigentlich sind, denn das habe ich genau jetzt vor.

Nummer 1: Dust Lands - Die Entführung von Moira Young

   Saba wächst am einsamen Silverlake auf, in einer Welt, in der nichts mehr so ist, wie es mal war. Als bewaffnete Reiter ihren vater töten und ihren Zwilingsbruder Lugh entführen, schwört sie, ihn zu finden. Sie macht sich auf den weg durch wüste und berge nach Hopetown, wo nackter terror herrscht. Saba wird brutal gefangen genommen und muss in der Arena kämpfen, denn von ihrem überleben hängt alles ab.

   Dieses Buch hatte ich das erste Mal Anfang 2012 gesehen und fand es schon damals recht interessant, jedoch hatte ich damals nicht das Geld um es zu kaufen, da ich noch andere Bücher hatte die ich mehr lesen wollte. Einige Male im Laufe der Zeit hab ich mich wieder daran erinnert das ich es vielleicht doch mal lesen will aber irgendwie konnte ich es dann einige Zeit über nicht mehr finden, hatte den Titel vergessen und so weiter. Aber gestern sah ich es dann inmitten von anderen Büchern im Regal stehen und endschloss mich es endlich zu kaufen.
   Gestern hab ich vor dem schlafen angefangen es zu lesen und es scheint ganz interessant zu sein auch wenn mich der schreibstiel der Autorin ein kleines bisschen nervt, genauso wie die Tatsache das es keinen Anführungszeichen oder sonst irgendwas gibt die einem zeigen das jemand etwas sagt. Man gewöhnt sich zwar dran aber es stört mich dennoch ein kleines bisschen. Naja mal sehen.

Nummer 2: The 5th Wave von Rick Yancey

   After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

   Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth’s last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother—or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

Anfang August hab ich dieses Buch auf goodreads gefunden und fand die Beschreibung eigentlich recht interessant genauso wie die Idee das wohl Aliens in darin vorkommen. Bisher hab ich noch nie ein Buch gelesen in dem Aliens vorkommen, irgendwie bin ich nicht unbedingt der größte Fan der Alien Geschichten, aber ich hab gehört das das Buch wirklich gut sein soll also will ich es mal versuchen.
   Soweit ich weiß gibt es das Buch bisher in vielen Sprachen aber leider noch nicht auf Deutsch, wobei ich denke dass es bestimmt auch irgendwann auf Deutsch rauskommen wird, wie so viele andere Bücher auch.

Nummer 3: Die Schattenjäger - Das officielle Handbuch

 Die Schattenjäger. Das offizielle Handbuch ist eine handliche Einführung in die Welt der Schattenjäger, wie sie im Kinofilm City of Bones dargestellt wird. Hier findest du Kurzbiographien der Hauptcharaktere, einen kurzen Abriss der Geschichte der Schattenjäger und du erhältst Einblick in die wichtigsten Schauplätze, die bedeutendsten Runen sowie die Waffen der Kinder der Nephilim.
Das Ganze natürlich bebildert mit exklusivem Fotomaterial vom Set und vom Dreh. Ein absolutes Muss für alle Fans von Cassandra Clare! 

   Von diesem Buch hatte ich schon vor 1, 2 Wochen gehört und wollte es unbedingt haben, denn wie ihr ja alle wisst bin ich momentan extrem im Chroniken der Unterwelt-Fieber. Ich hab es auch schon durch, da ich es gestern sofort gelesen hab nachdem ich wieder zu Hause war. Daher wird es demnächst auch dazu eine Review geben. 

Nummer 4: Breathe - Gefangen unter Glas von Sarah Crossan

Eine Welt ohne Sauerstoff. Alles scheint tot.Unter einer Glaskuppel gibt es nur wenige Überlebende:
Alina, hat sich schon vor Langem den Rebellen angeschlossen, die gegen die Allmacht von »Breathe« kämpfen, und wurde nie gefasst. Bis jetzt...
Quinn, will als Sohn eines ranghohen »Breathe«-Direktors eigentlich nur einen harmlosen Ausflug ins Ödland machen. Bis er dort auf Alina trifft...
Bea, Tochter eines Bürgers zweiter Klasse, wollte den Trip raus aus der Kuppel nutzen, um Quinn endlich für sich zu gewinnen. Doch dann taucht Alina auf...
Die Begegnung mit Alina verändert für Bea und Quinn alles.

Auf dieses Buch hatte ich auch schon eine längere Zeit ein Auge. Als ich das erste Mal die Beschreibung las wusste ich das ich es irgendwann auf jeden Fall lesen muss, denn ich denke das es mir gefallen könnte, daher freue ich mich sehr das ich es endlich gekauft habe und auch bald endlich lesen können werde.

   So das sind sie also, die Bücher die ich mir gestern zugelegt habe. Es sind mal wieder Bücher aus meiner geliebten Dystopischen Ecke, naja ausgenommen das Buch über die Schattenjäger. Ich werde, wie auch schon oben angemerkt, mit Dust Lands anfangen und mich langsam durch die Bücher durchlesen, auch wenn es noch ein paar andere Bücher gibt die ich auch noch lesen möchte. 
   Warum hat der Tag nur so wenige Stunden die man fürs lesen nutzen kann?

                                                         Cheerio!