Name: The Infinite Sea
Rating: 3.776785714285714 (224 reviews)
ISBN: 9780399169915

Rick Yancey

The Second Book of the 5th Wave

The Infinite Sea

Colleen

2.5 Stars
This review contains spoilers.

When I started reading The 5th Wave, I initially had trouble engaging with the story. I had the same trouble becoming interested in The Infinite Sea. The difference was that while The 5th wave may not have captivated me from the first page, it did pull me in as the story progressed. I kept waiting for the same thing to happen with this book, but it never did. The main reason for this disconnect? Ringer.

I was not drawn to Ringer's character in the first book. She was flat and unoriginal. The author tried much too hard to make her badass. The result was completely uninspiring. In the first book, it seemed that she was only put in as a foil to Ben, another way of further complicating the love triangle. She had no standing on her own. So I was surprised to find that the second book suddenly started telling the story from her point of view. Imagine if Catching Fire had randomly been told from Effie's point of view. It was so incongruous! (view spoiler)[As the story went on, I could see why the story had to focus on Ringer. Almost nothing happens with the other characters. They mostly just hole up to recover. Still, that did not make Ringer's narration any more engaging. (hide spoiler)]

The whole time I was reading Ringer's chapters, I was impatient to get back to either Cassie or Ben or Evan telling the story. So I was increasingly frustrated as the story failed to focus on the main characters from the first book. Even the time when Ringer was with those characters was no help, because her view of those characters is completely different from what was portrayed originally. Basically she only looks at their worst flaws and does not see or think about them beyond that. In her eyes, Cassie is an emotionally unstable, delusional flake and Ben is a goofy, facetious flirt. She does not consider either of them reliable, and her thoughts towards them are less than courteous. 

The first ten chapters are told from Ringer's perspective. The story does eventually switch narrators, but then another problem arises. Having at least four different narrators all telling their story in first person. It was confusing and really messed with the flow of the story. Unfortunately, the only reprieve from the spasmodic jumps in narration was long stretches of story only told by Ringer. 

It was a strong indication of my lack of absorption that I barely even blinked when characters started dying. Frankly, I did not care that they were dead. BIG SPOILER (view spoiler)[I didn't care at all when Teacup died. I was not even upset when Ben was said to be dead. I was mainly perplexed that the author would ax off a main character with so little pomp. But worse than not being emotionally moved by those deaths was the exasperation when I found out what the author really had up his sleeve. As frustrating as it is when a character you like is killed off, it is far worse when the author keeps faking you out. Yancey has the annoying habit of presenting something out of context then slowly going back to explain it and often times undoing what he just told the reader. Teacup turning out not to be dead at least fit into the plot since she was used as leverage. Ben's "death" was dropped in with no explanation. But the story then goes on as if nothing happened only to casually drop in that Ben is not actually dead. So Teacup's death was fake, Ben's death was fake, and Evan has been pretend dead... what two, three times now? (hide spoiler)] It is getting really old, Yancey. Find a better way to build tension.

I don't think I mentioned this in my review of The 5th Wave, but both books have very short chapters and are segmented into sections or parts. It was something I noticed in the first book but felt mostly ambivalent towards. However, in the second book it was much more noticeable. Most of the chapters are very short, and Yancey has a habit of trying to make every single one of them end in overly dramatic cliffhangers. You can practically see someone holding up an action cue card that says "GASP DRAMATICALLY AND FRANTICALLY TURN THE PAGE!" So by thirty chapters in (and still many to go), I was already sick of the forced tension. Since I was not very invested in the story, the overly done drama was off-putting and rather laughable at times. It was like a fireworks show that never pauses to let you enjoy any moments or build any suspense. Rather, it just becomes a succession of loud noises and incomprehensible lights. You have to have lulls to build up to crescendos. None-stop twists get old very quickly! I also did not feel that segmenting the story into parts added anything. The parts were really not distinguishable from each other. Even less so than in the first book. Whatever the author was envisioning when he attempted to segment his story, that vision was clearly not fulfilled. Or not clearly fulfilled. Either way, it nosedived into Clichéd.

It was annoying that the characters could not make up their minds whether to refer to people by their real names or their nicknames. The dialogue even briefly addresses this conflict although nothing is resolved and the different characters continue to use whatever name fits their whims. 

The romance is much cheesier that in The 5th wave. Mostly like some of the reason I was more repelled by the romance was once again my irritation with Ringer. The other reason was that it was terribly written. The atmospheric writing of the first book morphed into tackiness and overdone attempts to be poetic. The result was affected, self-aware writing desperately trying to squeeze in deeper meaning and utterly failing. Between the gag-worthy teen ardor and the continuing rambling about rats and rocks (seriously enough with the rats and the rocks; you are not profound!), it was very hard for me to stay interested. Here are are couple of examples:
"Outside, the bitter harvest burns. Inside, he slips the sheets down, and these are the hands that held me, the hands that bathed and and lifted me when I could not lift myself. He brought me to death; he brings me to life. That's why he removed the dead from the upper tier. He banished them, consigned them to the fire, not to desecrate them but to sanctify us."

"His lips sliding over my neck and my fingers feeling his shattered cheek, the wound I gave him, and the wounds on his arm -VQP- that he gave himself, then my hands sliding down his back. Don't leave me. Please don't leave me. The smell of bubble gum and the smell of smoke and the smell of his blood, and the way his soul slices into mine: Razor. The beat of our hearts and the rhythm of our breath and the spinning stars we could not see."

"He entwines his fingers behind my back and pulls me tightly against him. No space between us anymore. No spot where he ends and I begin. The emptiness filled. The void filled." Apparently other people are not creeped out by a guy in his 50's writing terrible teenage sex scenes... 

Another failing of The Infinite Sea is that the story went from teenagers just trying to survive in the first book to the clichéd "teenage martyrs who are the only ones who can save the day!" in the second book. I also want to mention that there is a lot more swearing in this book than in the first one. A lot more. I am not bothered by swearing in and of itself, but it was odd that the amount of swearing exponentially exploded in the sequel. It is pretty bad when even the five-year-old cusses like a sailor. 

The phrase "Infinite Sea" is mentioned by multiple characters. In the first book there were some very similar thoughts expressed by both Cassie and Ben. It seemed odd that two people who were at the time operating completely autonomously would be thinking the same thing. Not just thinking about the same thing (that's understandable), but actually thinking the same specific phrases. That phenomenom becomes worse in The Infinite Sea. The first time a character thought the phrase "infinite sea" I thought it was nice that the title was tied into the story. By the time the third person used that phrase (only in their inner dialogue mind you; it's not like someone said it aloud and passed it on) it was getting ridiculous. When multiple characters wax on about the same overly poetic phrases while having no logical reason why they all arrived at the same exact turn of phrase, it really is absurd. I understand that certain things that Vosch said were to mock Ringer based on the memories that he extracted from her mind. But beyond that, it seemed more that Yancey sometimes forgot who was supposed to what.

Finally, the plot in this book was a mess. I won't give any more spoilers, but the plot is sadly muddled, redundant, and disorganized. At least it is shorter than the first book which means I wasted less time reading it. I will still read the third book because I do want to find out how it all ends. Although I am less optimistic now that it will be any good. Here is to hoping that Yancey can pull the story line back out of the dirt and wrap things up in a satisfactory way.

RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 4 Stars
Writing Style: 2 Stars
Characters: 2 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 2 Stars
Level of Captivation: 1 Star
Originality: 3 Stars

Emily Ann Guerreor 

** spoiler alert **
           Absolutely loved this book. The absolute shocker of them actually being humans is crazy to me. And I was so upset going back and forth and seeing if Evan died or not. But I liked how it ended and I can’t wait to read the last one. I enjoyed razors and ringers soft romance because for some reason I do not like ringer with Ben 😭 although I am team Evan all the way, I would have liked to see more moments for Cassie and Ben (to establish a more set love triangle).

Audrey Lord

I've been reading so many sequels this year but I will say that this one was very well written. I now understand more of why sequels have so many reminders from the first novel. It's so you really don't have to read them one after the other. 
I really liked how suspenseful this book was compaired to the first one in the series. I felt like more and more questions appeared and then they were answered. I also enjoyed the series plot twist.

Beatrix Haase

I am so dang proud of myself right now. I finally finished this book. I feel like I took forever on it and I probably did. I am just so glad that I finally finished it... IT IS A RELIEF!

xoxo,
Bebe

www.bebebookreviews.wordpress.com

How do you rid the earth of seven billion humans? Rid the humans of their humanity. Cassie Sullivan and her companions lived through the Others' four waves of destruction. Now, with the human race nearly exterminated and the 5th Wave rolling across the landscape, they face a choice: brace for winter and hope for Evan Walker's return, or set out in search of other survivors before the enemy closes in. Because the next attack is more than possible - it's inevitable. No one can anticipate the depths to which the Others will sink - nor the heights to which humanity will rise . . . 'Wildly entertaining . . . I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.' New York Times

Rachel Kanyid

I'm torn between 3 and 4 stars, so I'll give it a 3.5/5.
I thought it was a decent book, I just thought it moved way too fast in some parts. I found a couple parts at the beginning slightly confusing, as well, but I did still really like this book. I just didn't like it quite as much as the first one.

Giulia Giacometti

I liked this sequel less than the 5th wave. While book 1 had a goal (finding Sammy), this book lacked any form of plotline. It felt more like one big introduction to the third book. 

On the positive side: it did make me curious for book 3. Also, the characters are still great. What made me give it 3 stars instead of 2 was the ending, which I thought was very surprising. 

So in general an ok book.

Rachel Metzger

"The world is a clock winding down". 

So after finishing this book I'm extremely happy I read it/ sad it's over and I have to wait another forever for the next one! I know some people didn't love the pacing of this book or how it was laid out but I did. I completely loved it. So here's why. 

"It doesn't follow rules. Not even it's own rules. Love is the one thing in the universe that is unpredictable". 

The story: Although again not what people would expect of a second book in a trilogy, I thought it was seriously refreshing. I appreciated the way he chose to write the story. 

The perspectives: Sorry this could be kind of a spoiler warning you, but I really enjoyed that he changed up some of the points of view from the last book, it helped me to get to know characters and hear their stories while also sticking with the characters I already know and love. 

"Self centered, stubborn, sentimental, childish, vain. I am humanity. Cynical, naive, kind, cruel, soft as down, hard as tungsten steel. 
I am humanity,
He crawled.
I am humanity,
He fell. 
I am humanity,
He got up." 

The characters: These are seriously some of my favorite characters I've ever read. Cassie makes this book for me. I'm so tired of reading books with boring main characters who are always so serious and make decisions that are frustrating. Not that cassie doesn't, but Rick made me get to know her so even when I don't like her decisions, I understand them. Same with the other characters. I know them so well it's like they are my friends. 


"They made a major mistake", he blurted out, "the dumb bastards, when they didn't start by killing you first". 

The writing: If said nothing else about this book, the writing is spectacular. It's freaking fantastic. I love the way he writes. He has this way of making you think deeper than you ever have in one sentence, and then laugh at something riduculous in the next. 


“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”

This quote is my favorite because it's exactly what i mean. Inspiring, while being funny. 

This book is amazing. Literally one of my favorite books I've ever read. Rick doesn't care about ripping your heart out, making you feel as hopeless as the characters do, and that's what I love about it. I love feeling the way they feel and understanding a tiny bit of what life would be like in a world like that. He also isn't pulling any punches. Get ready, because it just got real. 

"That's because it's broken". Like my heart, kid. It's a set".

Nicole Dykeman

I am really loving this trilogy. All of the characters are beautifully crafted, my favorites being Cassie and Ringer. I am HERE for the strong female characters!!! Rick Yancey does a nice job of incorporating romance into the story without making it the main conflict or focus (just how I like it!). There is still a complex, larger conflict, but not one that is overly confusing. I especially love the writing style.

By far, the best part of this book in particular was the final half, written from Ringer's point of view. I loved the story and I loved Razor, the new character that was introduced. I want to see a whole lot more of him in the final book. 

My only complaint about this series is the excessive point of view changing. The only problem with the fact that half the book was in Ringer's point of view is that I still wondered and wanted to know what was going on with the other characters, especially Cassie, Ethan, and Ben.

Courtney ✿ @librarycutie

what a disappointment! i wanted to love the infinite sea, i really did! i just don't. i feel ask though rick yancey included way too many unnecessary swearing. what's he trying to prove? oh, look at these kids cursing, this is what they do when an alien invasion happens. ooh! it honestly made me mad how unnecessary it was. maybe a few of them would have made the story flow a lot better, but there was one or multiple in every few chapters. enough already!

this story was mostly told from the perspective of ringer, in which we get some background info on her. i'll be up front and say i was bored. i didn't like ringer, even after finding out her dad is a (view spoiler)[deadbeat drunken asshole (hide spoiler)], and the way he died, wtf?? (this isn't a spoiler btw)

i also didn't like the once again forced romance but this time between new characters… i would've suggested to try and build on the cassie and evan love story.

evan is an interesting character, i like him. i like zombie too, and cassie is eh.

i didn't understand why it took the whole book to tell this story, over half of it was boring and some of it was pointless. i thought it was going to be a lot more interesting and build off from where the fifth wave left off, instead it was just… meh.

+ would i recommend?
no! it's not terrible it just wasn't great or fun to listen to. maybe you would have to read it so you can read the last star… i'm still debating on if it's worth finishing the series.

+ actual rating?
maybe a 2.5…

+ how was the audible version?
the narration was really good, that's why i enjoyed the first book so much, it was equal narration of both in the 5th wave, but more so of phoebe strole in this one.

+ will you be reading the next book in the series?
yes, i just need to know how it ends…

Shenmi

Sophia Owen

at this point all i’m doing is screaming

Lulwa

Ok, I was so close to write about how disappointed I feel, I expected more. Although, THIS BOOK did a great job playing with my emotions. :(

However, I changed my mind, since the minute I finished The Infinite Sea my mind lost the ability to literally think about anything else but  WHAT DID I JUST READ??? 
And what really bugged me is that nothing really happened but more unanswerable questions than The 5th wave, and that did mess with my head even more. At first I thought I wasted my time the only thing kept me reading was the characters and  BEN PARISH COME ON  and Razor later! lol.

But maybe this was the purpose of the book is to keep us thinking and draw our analysis based on what we understand. It differs from each person, every reader got his/her own experience.
As Rick Yancey did not give a clear meaning to what does the title of the book means,  "I will defer to readers to draw their own conclusions."  he wants us to think isn't he?? 
like really I felt there are too many questions and I kept thinking about the answers, the metaphors (there were quite A LOT), and making my own theories. WHICH WAS SO FUN. 

I felt so like Ringer in the whole book! It is like we  "the readers"  been put as the same position as Ringer to answer the questions by Rick Yancey/Vosch. AND AGAIN THAT WAS AWESOME.

 AND  that was the reason to what made me change my mind, it was a fun experience.
I would write more but it would be long and boring to read.
So excited to read The Last Star, I would expect it to be the same level as this book tbh.

The Infinite Sea The Second Book of the 5th Wave

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