As the story begins, Cassie Sullivan, a sixteen-year-old, is faced with the break up of her family and everything she holds dear. By the fifth wave, humanity is at its knees, crumpling underneath the heavy blows of an unknown enemy referred to as the Others (along with several names). Book cover of Rick Yancey’s 2013 novel, The 5th Wave.Įarly in the novel, the author sets up a cruel world where waves of destruction plague Earth. In particular, I want to talk about Yancey’s focus on the effects of the alien invasion on the characters within the story, especially: Cassie Sulivan, Ben Parrish, and Evan Walker. This post is a discussion of Rick Yancey’s The 5th Wave and its reflection on humanity’s anxiety around the future and the unknown.
