Review: The Last Star (The 5th Wave #3) by Rick Yancey

The Last Star (The 5th Wave #3) by Rick Yancey
Published: May 24, 2016

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers

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.

My Thoughts
I have mixed emotions about the final installment to The Fifth Wave series. I was absolutely captivated by the first and second book. For YA SciFi, which I rarely read, this series had me second-guessing why I don’t frequent this genre more often. The series had everything I enjoy… fast pacing, steady plot development, a cast of characters that know how to carry a story, and a world-building element that is believable and solid.

However, there is something about this final book, The Last Star, that has me somewhat disappointed. I’m not sure why it bothered me so much, and I can’t be the only one that noticed the heavy and negative religious undertones throughout the novel. I shouldn’t have been surprised seeing as the story starts off with a murderous priest, but that undertone continued throughout and in a way that is difficult to ignore. It had me wondering if Yancey was pushing a hidden agenda. Just curious...

I also missed the Cassie that I met in the first installment. Cassie went from being a main character that was strong, witty, and worthy of carrying a story - to a meager secondary decoration that was a shadow of what she was in The Fifth Wave. In the spirit of remaining spoiler free, I guess I’m glad we lost some of the original Cassie in the journey because that would have made the ending more difficult for me to process.

Lastly, I was a huge fan of Evan Walker so his fate in this book was tough for me to digest. I wanted more from him, as well as, for him. Granted, his appearances were scarce, I was still hoping to see more of the strong, conflicted, swoon-worthy human/alien that left an impression on me.

On a positive note, seeing Ringer, Zombie and Nugget take over the story was interesting to witness, and I enjoyed watching these characters create an unbreakable bond. However, there was another element I had a hard time digesting… let’s not forget that Nugget is 5 or 6 years old in this story, and it was hard to believe such a young child could create a bomb and orchestrate an attack. However, crazier things are happening in this world, so what do I know?

Overall, the series finale was not quite epic but not a complete failure either. The multiple POVs and voices were distinguishable and really helped see the story from different lenses. Despite it not being everything I hoped for, I still think it would make a great movie… but the jury is still out if that will happen.

3 Snowflakes