The best comparison I can make is to Ellie from the Tomorrow, When the War Began series by John Marsden. And yet, at certain moments Cassie lets her guard down, or is swept up in a moment and she's a bit of the teen she was before everything changed. She has to making decisions in which conventional morality would lead to her own death and it's changed her in this kill or be killed world. But Yancey has done such an adept job of creating the context for her character, a girl who's had to suck it up and grow up in order to stay alive.

She lost her mother to the third wave (the viral infection), her father in the fourth wave and her younger brother is now missing-Cassie is alone in the world, dodging snipers and making life and death decisions in order to survive.Ĭassie is an interesting narrator, because she's brave without being impulsive, which would normally make her a less believable teen character. She's one of the few who's managed to stay alive during the invasion, but not without a high, high cost. While The 5th Wave is written in multiple points-of-view, Cassie, the teen narrator of the largest chucks of the novel, is the character whose voice will likely receive the most attention. It's it's character-driven, it's complexly-plotted, it's frightening. I know what you're thinking: Another post-apocalyptic novel? The 5th Wave isn't just another post-apocalyptic novel. First, electricity was destroyed with an electromagnetic pulse then the coasts were enveloped by rising seas next, an Ebola-like plague wiped out much of the population then, what were effectively alien sleeper cells were activated, and the few remaining humans can't trust anyone. The 5th Wave opens after aliens have invaded and attacked Earth. However, my review copy of The 5th Wave went everywhere with me while I was reading it-it's simply that excellent.

Let's just say, I never bring print books with me, instead relying on my ereader or Kindle app to read on the go. Just a few days later, my curiosity got the best of me and I cracked open The 5th Wave.

The 5th wave series