Imagine if a stranger came to your house uninvited and ate all your food. Rick Yancey takes this concept and turns it into human extinction. The 5th Wave, published by Penguin Books on May 7, 2013, keeps readers begging for more as they delve into this science fiction novel. Themes in this read include manipulation and mortality, showing how successful an invasion by extraterrestrials is in their best case scenario. High school student Cassiopeia lives a normal life in Ohio until the Others, unknown life forms not from earth, began wiping out all of humanity. Cassiopeia faces many challenges after each wave, planned attacks by the extraterrestrials. After being separated from her family, Cassie has to survive with a complete stranger who saves her during a shooting. Cassiopeia becomes very unstable throughout the book, committing acts never thought possible to her. This novel is like The Hunger Games where only the strong survive. Yancey constantly bounces back from first to third person, making this style of writing confusing at first when unfamiliar with the characters. There is much mystery in this book, similar to his newer text, A Burning in Homeland, a story of love, lies, and deceit. As this takes place in present time, Yancey shows the advancements extraterrestrials make in technology and such. As Yancey is successful in this, readers become somewhat distracted from the entire situation due to Cassie’s love life. Overall, the first book of this trilogy is worth reading; however, if you are not into long reads, then this is not the book for you.