Promises are the only currency left. They must be spent wisely.
This quote illustrates how attached Ringer and Teacup are to each other. They are bound to each other. Teacup reveres Ringer - she has since the first day they met. On the other hand, Ringer feels deeply responsible for Teacup and tries to keep her safe.
When you look death in the eye and death blinks first, nothing seems impossible.
This quote is also said in the first book, The 5th Wave. It illustrates how Ringer sees Ben. It also demonstrates Ben's motivation by depicting what he went through and what shaped his character.
A virtual existence doesn't require a physical planet.
This quote becomes very important later on. It is the beginning of Ringer realizing the truth - that perhaps there are no Others, only humans doing this to one another. She has this sense of foreboding and voices it through this quote alone, unready to pursue the idea further. She returns to more mundane topics like rats. Nevertheless, this quote illustrates a very important storyline in the making.
"Chess is a stupid game for stupid people," she informed me.
"No, it's very democratic," I said. "Smart people play, too."
This quote demonstrates the characterization of Ringer. She loves chess and can still find humor in the darkest of situations. Here we see how she has taken on the role of mother for Teacup, teaching her as her father taught her. Ringer does this against her better judgement, as she realizes that having a soft spot for anyone can get her killed.
"It's the game of kings," I said to Teacup.
Ringer says this to Teacup as they hide out in the hotel, waiting for Evan to show up. It illustrates that even though the Others see the humans as rats and as a disease to be snuffed out of this world, there is still something noble and highly intelligent left in them. Chess, the game of kings, brings a kind of hope and nostalgia to the lives of the squad.
Winter: a wave they didn't have to engineer. The cold would kill off thousands more.
This quote demonstrates both the intelligence of the aliens and the fact that the greatest threat to humans is ultimately Mother Nature. Without the comforts of modern life and modern technology to protect them, humans are just as exposed and susceptible to the elements as they were thousands of years ago. By simply eliminating the products of knowledge and isolating people from each other, the Others have ensured that humans will perish without much assistance from them. The cold will do them in as easily as a battle would, and with far less casualties for the Others.
This isn't about ripping the planet away from us, Ben. This is about ripping us.
Cassie says this to Ben and reveals how important it seems that the aliens draw out the death of the humans. There is something immensely personal in their choice of waves and deaths, and this hints at the fact that the aliens aren't all that they seem.
He knew Grace would not hesitate to terminate his current body if she suspected that the "compromise" extended to him. They all understood the risk in donning the human mantle. Sharing a body with a human psyche carried with it the danger of adopting human vices- as well as human virtues. And far more dangerous than greed or lust or envy or any of those things - or anything - was love.
This quote illustrates the depth of Evan's distrust of Grace. It also shows the reader that the Others are not omnipotent. They are flawed and can be influenced by the human psyche within them as well. The Others are also not all of the same mind - they have disagreements with one another and distrust one another, something that was hinted at in the first book, and is now expanded upon in the second, especially through the relationship of Evan and Grace.
"That's been my worry from the beginning, Grace: The longer we play at being human, the more human we become."
She looked at him quizzically and said nothing for a very long, very uncomfortable moment. "Who's playing at being human?" she asked.
In this exchange, we see the Others as individuals capable of different perspectives. Evan believes that the Others are in danger of becoming more human, but Grace doesn't see this as a threat at all because she isn't playing at being human. She is completely Other and is surprised that Evan is even playing at being human. This hints that he isn't supposed to be doing that, and that Evan is in fact different from the Others and flawed in their eyes.
"They made a major mistake," he blurted out, "the dumb bastards, when they didn't start by killing you first."
"Benjamin Thomas Parish, that was the sweetest and most bizarre compliment anyone's ever given me." I kissed him on the cheek. He kissed me on the mouth. "You know," I whispered, "a year ago, I would have sold my soul for that."
This exchange between Ben and Cassie illustrates how far they have come. Ben previously didn't even remember who Cassie was, and now he is kissing her. Cassie would have previously given her soul to kiss her schoolgirl crush Ben, and now she is making cute remarks with him. Both of them have been changed into completely different people by the waves and the Others.
