Friday, July 22, 2016

#Friday Review - The Last Star by Rick Yancey (Young Adult, Science Fiction)

Series: The 5TH Wave, # 3
Format: Hardcover, 338 pages
Release Date: May 24, 2016
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons (BYR)
Source: Library
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction


The enemy is Other. The enemy is us. They’re down here, they’re up there, they’re nowhere. They want the Earth, they want us to have it. They came to wipe us out, they came to save us.
But beneath these riddles lies one truth: Cassie has been betrayed. So has Ringer. Zombie. Nugget. And all 7.5 billion people who used to live on our planet. Betrayed first by the Others, and now by ourselves. 
In these last days, Earth’s remaining survivors will need to decide what’s more important: saving themselves . . . or saving what makes us human.




The Last Star is the third and final installment in Rick Yancey's The 5th Wave Trilogy. It has been Six weeks since the end of The Infinite Sea. This is yet another installment where Yancey uses a variety of characters to tell his story. This can either keep a reader entertained, or off balance since you must adjust to each characters persona and the way they are dealing with the events at hand. You also MUST read the previous two installments in order to see where Yancey has chosen to go with this final installment.

We, as readers, now know who the Others are. We know that they've come to Earth to rid the planet of human beings who they believe are destroying mother Earth. They have used several different waves in order to get closer to their goal. The power has been forever cut off thanks to an EMP charge. The second wave, Tsunami, destroyed coastal cities across the planet. The third wave killed billions with a plague, then came the fourth wave where sleeper agents known as Silencer's awakened quickly killing any human they could find. 

The Fifth Wave is supposed to be the worst since the Others are using kids taken away from their families and trained as soldiers like Cassie's 6-year old brother Sam. If you really want to get a good look at what war does to children, please focus on Sam's story. He's no longer a baby who needs his teddy bear. He's a soldier who can build bombs. Unless Cassie and her rag tag team of misfits are able to find a way to stop them, then say good-bye to the human race. 

Ringer has perhaps gone through the most drastic change of any character, while Cass is the character that gets the most questions about her decisions, including her scenes with Evan. Ringer was forced by Vosch to undergo the 12th system which has left her barely human. Enhanced with alien technology, Vosch gives her one mission: bring back Evan Walker who he believes has gone off the reservation in consorting with humans. 

"She was the mayfly, here for a day, then gone. She was the last star, burning bright in a sea of limitless black."

Meanwhile, Cass and her rag tag crew have been holed up in Grace's former safe house. They have plenty to eat, but they haven't yet worked out how they are going to survive the days ahead. Especially after learning they have only FOUR days remaining until the mother ship unloads its cargo on the cities around the world. When Ringer gives Cassie a way to get into Vosch's secretive base, she jumps at it knowing that this is the only chance to end the Other's plans.

I won't even pretend that this was the best book of the trilogy. Even though there were pages and pages of violence and non-stop action including some really dark situations, it wasn't at all like The 5th Wave. I am disappointed with the author's choice regarding Cass, and at this point, I am betting you all know exactly what I am referring to. I will say that like me, I am betting a whole lot of people will also question Cass, and the series ending. I am betting you are feeling a bit of heartbreak and perhaps, maybe, that Yancey's choice will eventually make a whole lot of sense once enough time has passed. 







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