Author: Rick Yancey
Genre: Young Adult/Sci-Fi
Publication: Penguin (first by Putman Juvenille)
Release Date: September 16th, 2014
Pages: 320
Spoilers: Nope, probably spoiler free!
Rating: 
(4.5 / 5)
So… yeah. I literally started reading this book the minute I finished The 5th Wave because I was sooo excited. But to be honest, after a couple of pages, is started to feel the SBS: Second Book Syndrome. Will tell you more about this later. But you should understand I read this during my Christmas break and that I had to pause reading The Infinite Sea to play Monopoly and such. But… this book. I had to think about it for while. Here’s why:
“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]
The book actually picks up right after where The 5th Wave left us. I was craving for more and I think every other reader of this book experienced the same thing. I wanted to know what happened to Cassie, what happened to her brother and practically what happened to every other character still alive. Or not alive. Whatever. This book has a lot of deaths. The Infinite Sea… yeah. It has too.
I’ll let you in on the Second Book Syndrome first. This review will be shorter than my review about The 5th Wave because of this. Well, you all know how, when finishing the first book in a series, you are completely and utterly blown away by its awesomeness and you really really really want to know more. You want to get your hands on the second book as fast as possible. And what happens next: the second book isn’t quite as good as the first book and it will usually just disappoint you. Some books more than others, but usually, authors don’t really know how to keep up the awesomeness of the first book. It drags on, it’s unfocused and usually just building up to the next – last – book in the series. And yes, to some degree, this happened to The Infinite Sea.
The thing that bothered me the most, was that The Infinite Sea was very unfocused. The storyline was all over the place, going everywhere and going nowhere at the same time. It all gets very blurry and I really didn’t know what was happening and who it was happening to. But at the same time I was SO curious to what was going to happen. My feelings were mixed. Completely mixed. And at some point, I got stuck. SBS. I just didn’t know how to continue.
But I did! And the last, say 150 pages, were sooooo good. I thanked Rick Yancey mentally and continued on reading. The characters were still the same, but the plotline got better. Situations became clear. My mind was blown away (pun intended) several times and I got in that “can’t stop won’t stop” reading flow that I love so much.
The writing style was practically still the same, and honestly, that’s one of the reasons I love Yancey. This book had some start up problems. But when it was finally running, I couldn’t stop reading. Yancey knows how to describe a scene and make the reading actually believe he’s been there. I could see it all happening in my head. From the hotel, to the fighting base to the woods. All very clear in my head. So thumbs up.
You might wonder why I rated this book so high when it obviously has problems. I think I would have rated it even higher than “The 5th Wave” is it weren’t for the storyline that was all over the place. So that’s why I rated it 4.5 because I still loved it and I still couldn’t believe what happened at the end. Plus, I still want to know what will happen next.
The Infinite Sea has some Second Book Syndrome problems, but once you get through it, this book will blow your mind over and over again. Readers who love the Gone series my Michael Grant will sure love this book too!
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