The 5th Wave: The Last Star (Book 3)

by Rick Yancey

Paperback, 2016

Status

Available

Call number

813.6

Series

The Fifth Wave (3)

Genres

Publication

Penguin (2016), 352 pages

Description

Science Fiction. Science Fiction & Fantasy. Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. HTML:The highly-anticipated finale to the New York Times bestselling 5th Wave series.Includes an exclusive diary entry from Cassie! 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. Praise for The Last Star �??Yancey�??s prose remains achingly precise, and this grows heavier, tighter, and more impossible to put down as the clock runs out�?�this blistering finale proves the truth of the first two volumes: it was never about the aliens.�?��??Booklist, starred review �??A haunting, unforgettable finale.�?��??Kirkus Reviews �??Yancey doesn�??t hit the breaks for one moment, and the action is intense, but the language always stays lyrical and lovely. It�??s a satisfying end to an impressive trilogy, true to the characters and the world Yancey created.�?��??Entertainment Weekly �??Yancey has capped off his riveting series with a perfect ending.�?��??TeenReads.com �??[T]he ending provides both satisfaction and heartbreak.�?��??Publishers Weekly �??Yancey's writing is just as solid and descriptive as in the first two books�?�.What Yancey does beautifully is reveal the human condition.�?��??Examiner.com "Rick Yancey sticks the (alien) landing in the action-packed finale to his The 5th Wave invasion saga . . . . And the author gives us a major dose of girl power as well, pairing Cassie and Ringer for an uneasy alliance that provides the best moments in this fantastic series�?? thought-provoking and satisfying conclusion.�?��??USA Today Praise for The 5th Wave Now a major motion picture starring Chloë Grace Moretz "Remarkable, not-to-be-missed-under-any-circumstances."�??Entertainment Weekly "A modern sci-fi masterpiece . . ."�??USAToday.com "Wildly entertaining . . . I couldn't turn the pages fast enough."�??Justin Cronin, The New York Times Book Review Praise for The Infinite Sea �??Heart-pounding pacing, lyrical prose and mind-bending twists . . .�?��??The New York Times Book Review �??Impressively improves on the excellent beginning of the trilogy.�?��??USA Today �??An epic sci-fi novel with all the romance, action, and suspense you could ever want.�?��??Seventeen.com Books in the series: The 5th Wave (The First Book of The 5th Wave)… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Narilka

"V: How do you conquer the unconquerable?
Q: Who can win when no one can endure?
P: What endures when all hope is gone?"

The Last Star is the final book in The 5th Wave series. Things pick up not long after where book two leaves off with Ringer believed to be missing and everyone else holed up in the

Silencer's bunker planning out their next steps. The entire story takes place over the last four days of Earth. Once all the teen-aged angst and arguing has gotten out of the way, it turns into an action packed, intense four days as our heroes finally decide they will go to any length to try and save humanity.

While the story is told from five points of view it is Cassie and Ringer who are the main stars. It is Ringer who discovers what is really happening and understands how the alien program works while it is Cassie who makes the ultimate sacrifice to save humanity purely for the love of her brother. And that right there is the overall theme that was started in book one and hinted more at in book two: Love conquers all. Aliens cannot understand human love, that love is humanity's most redeeming feature and there's no program they can devise to counter it.

I think Yancey learned from his the first two installments that multiple first person points of view are confusing. While this style is still followed, headers have been provided at the beginning of each chapter when the perspective switches so you know exactly who's point of view it is. I'm still not a fan of this format but this helps dramatically with the POV confusion.

My main disappointment with the book is the loss of atmosphere. The previous two books had a certain tension. Things were eerie, creepy, you didn't know who to trust and it gave the story a distinct edge. That feeling is gone and I miss it. Also be warned there is a god awful sex scene. The writing is simply terrible. I have spoiler tagged a quote. Click at your own risk. "My hands roamed his body, an undiscovered country, which henceforth I shall call Evanland. Hills and valleys, desert plains and forest glens, the landscape pockmarked with scars of battle, crisscrossed by fault lines and unexpected vistas. And I am Cassie the Conquistador: The more territory I conquer, the more I want."

It's not a bad ending to the series. In some ways it felt a lot like the ending to the Divergent series to me. I'm pretty sure this has left some fans angry. It feels authentic to the world setting so in that way I found it satisfying and somewhat moving. All questions are answered, lose ends tied up and there is a bit of hope for those who survive.

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LibraryThing member krau0098

This was the final book in The 5th Wave series. It was okay but in my opinion the weakest book of the series. It ends fairly open-ended and in general it’s confusing what is going on here. There are spoilers ahead for books 1 and 2, so proceed with caution if you haven’t read those ones.

At the

end of the last book you find out that there are no aliens just humans who have been brainwashed to fight each other. So in this book you have a combination of people who think they are aliens and then people who know everyone is a human. However, then things are twisted around again and there is talk that maybe some of the humans who think they are aliens are actually alien consciousnesses in human bodies. Are you confused? So am I.

While I love some of the imagery Yancey uses and love his unique writing style for different character voices...in general this story was just badly explained. The way it is presented is confusing and hard to follow; I even tried to stop re-reading parts and just “go with it” in hopes at some point I would have a clear understanding of what was happening here. That didn’t happen.

In addition to the confusing storyline I struggled with character names. A lot of the names are similar and every characters is called by multiple different names (their first name, their last name, their army name). This is probably my fault for reading these books too far apart. But keeping the characters straight was confusing.

This book jumps between many different characters as well, which I found to be a bit jarring. I know I am complaining a lot here. I loved the first book in this series soooo much and just found this one to be very disappointing.

Overall this was an okay book. There are parts that are beautifully written and I loved the imagery and writing style throughout. However the story was just plain confusing, the ending left a lot to be desired, and the characters were hard to keep track of and engage with. I feel like after the first book everything about this series went downhill.

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LibraryThing member tjsjohanna

I'm not sure if I've ever read an apocalyptic novel that succeeded as well at destroying hope for the future.There were many moments when I thought I didn't really want to get to the end of this book because Mr. Yancey had succeeded in making me feel like there was no way for there to be any good

thing at the end. I'm not sure what to think of the reasoning behind the "alien invasion" - maybe that is the beauty of it being alien - it doesn't have to really make sense to humanity. Overall a no holds barred imagining of the end of the world.

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LibraryThing member EmpressReece

The Last Letdown - 3.5 stars...

Uhh I've been sitting on this review, thinking that if I ponder over this book a little longer I'll have a better grip on my feelings but that hasn't happened. I still have mixed feelings about this book and the whole series actually. It had so much potential but I

feel like Yancey is his own worst enemy. Sometimes he can write so beautifully, then other times he gets on these tangents and the storyline and dialogue gets so convoluted you don't know what the hell he is going on about. I kept thinking well maybe I'll like it more if I can see it as a movie where I can actually see the story come to life but seeing as The 5th Wave movie didn't do a whole lot for me and The Infinite Sea isn't even greenlit yet I don't have much faith in that happening.

Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either. I just felt more of an indifference really. Honestly my last thought when I finished reading this was-

I'm glad I don't have to hear about that damn bear anymore!!

So if that tells you anything.... Don't have too high expectations and you won't be disappointed...

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LibraryThing member indygo88

In this third and last installment of the 5th Wave series, the remaining good guys (Cassie, Zombie, Ringer & a scant few others) gear up to face off with The Others in an attempt to avoid the destruction of the earth.

It took a little bit for me to reacquaint myself with the characters when

starting this book, but before long I was right back there and into it. Although I'm not aware of any plans for the 2nd & 3rd books to be adapted to the big screen, I could easily picture this action-packed book as a film. For the most part I enjoyed this one as I did the others, although Cassie's character began grating on my nerves after a while, trying to be tough but not really pulling it off convincingly. I'm not sure how I felt about the ending. I was okay with the climax near the end, but not sure the last section of the book really added to the story. I almost feel as though that part could've been left off entirely. With or without that section, there were still lots of questions left unanswered.

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LibraryThing member mountie9

Yeah its going to be hard to right this one without being insulting. I mean, seriously if you read my reviews you know I have absolutely no talent in telling a story. So me, judging an established and obviously gifted writer, is kinda not cool (See what I mean about my talent) But that being said

this one was a hot mess and honestly I was confused a lot of the time about what was going on. The first book was brilliant and I enjoyed the second installment, but I have a feeling the author stopped giving a shit about the characters in the series. Cassie became all wussy and her constant comments about Evan made me gag -- and for the love of god do not get me started on the sex scene - ick. I did enjoy Ringer and Zombie but even then not enough to care about them at the end. I think I just expected better from Yancey whose other books I have truly enjoyed. Umm maybe this is once situation in which the movie will hopefully be a lot better. Also Yancey, I love you but I have to be honest.

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LibraryThing member leahlo89

I can't even begin to process how this book made me feel. I am completely numb.

LibraryThing member aurorapaigem

I don't even want to write a review for this. I just really didn't care about the characters by the end of the story anymore and stopped reading it about halfway through. Then I felt bad and picked it up again and finished it. It was depressing and lame.

LibraryThing member SophieElaina

I know a lot of people have mixed thoughts on this series and especially this book but I though that it was really good! Even though I really didn't like the way some things were done throughout the book I still am glad that I read it, and I am really satisfied with how it ended. Better than

Infinite Sea in my opinion but not as good as The Fifth Wave.

3.5/5 Stars

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LibraryThing member MinDea

This series is a quick fun read. I quite liked the style of writing he chose for each individual character, especially Cassie. I was a little disappointed in the ending. Felt a little anti climatic.

LibraryThing member JillKenna

If I could give it more than five stars I would. Great ending to a trilogy!

LibraryThing member BingeReader87

what an ending?! The book was amazing from start to finish. Such a great conclusion to the trilogy.

LibraryThing member stevealtier

The Last Star, the last book in the 5th Wave series. This book much better than number two. Rick Yancy goes into a lot of depth to explain what his characters are thinking, I really liked that. The ending was a little predictable, but it was good. I gave this 4 out of 5 stars.

LibraryThing member Literature_Owl

I was excited about the release of this book. Initially Sci-fi was not my first choice when picking novels, but thanks to my fiancé I have fallen for this genre. I loved the first two books in the series, captivated by the twist and turns of the plot, while still focusing around humanity and the

fight to survive. This book did not fail in meeting my expectations. The story continued on with a great re-introduction back into the world of chaos. Within the first 10 pages, I was already gasping at the shock of the unpredictable characters and their actions.

Everything I loved about the first two books was continued, with the confused relationship of Cassie and Evan, Zombie always trying to get Ringer to let down her cold exterior, and of course Nugget and Megan the future of the world. I don't want to spoil too much of the story for anyone so I will leave out a deep review of the plot, but this book was a page turner and a great end to a series.

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LibraryThing member benuathanasia

What a yawn-tastic book with the most predictable ending (how can something this convoluted be predictable? Maybe it's a talent?).

LibraryThing member TiffanyAK

A compelling, and sad, finale to the trilogy. If you've read the previous books, I'd say it's pretty much essential to finish off the series. There's a lot that happens here in order to bring everything to an end.

LibraryThing member Jadedog13

It's been a long time since I read the first book of the 5th Wave series. So long in fact, that I had to re-read the second book. But it was sooo worth it. I thoroughly enjoyed this book; it was a fitting and heartbreaking conclusion to the series.

LibraryThing member MHanover10

This was a really good end to the trilogy. A little sad. From what I could gather things might not be over? Cassie was a strong and brave character who didn't give herself enough credit. I would hate to see what this world would look like if something like this situation were to really happen.

LibraryThing member HenriMoreaux

"The heart-stopping finale to the New York Times bestselling 5th Wave series"

I wouldn't say it was heart-stopping, more it left me confused as to where the author was wanting to go. It seems a lot the character development of the prior two books got tossed out the window. Perhaps someone had

writers block and was rushing for the publishers deadline? I don't know but for whatever reason things like the weight of Ben abandoning his sister which was a crucial part of his character in the earlier books now seems forgotten as he just has a conversation with Cassie about not going back for his sister like forgetting to pick up milk at the store.

Then there was the odd part where Ringer makes a big deal about how it's a waste of time for Ben to bury Dumbo, a person he's had a friendship with and faced advertised with. Yet, later in the book when she kills a team of people she literally has never met she goes and burys them all - what? I thought burying bodies was pointless?

Overall, it does a decent job of wrapping up the trilogy however I felt neither the second or third book lived up to the promise shown in the first, really it was a bit of unfolding disappointment with each book. Especially in the second, this at least improved off of that low point even if not reaching the level of the first.

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LibraryThing member ashooles

Like the other two books, I enjoyed this one. Looking at previous reviews, it seems a lot of people didn't enjoy this like the first two, and I can see why, but I still found it nice. I think at times, there was a lot of the same old, same old, but I found the characters engaging enough to still

find it all very endearing and enjoyable.

I do think that the ending might have been *too* happy. Don't get me wrong, I am all for a happy, fluffy ending, but it didn't feel suitable for this book. Despite it not being all hunky dory, the baby, the whole finding a house and living as a family just felt like an unusual ending to me.

What I did find unique was that essentially the main character died. It's difficult to find that in a lot of books, so kudos for that, Yancey.

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LibraryThing member TheYodamom

What an ending. It was perfect for the series, heartbreaking and believable. If you've read my reviews you know I don't care for sad books, but It had to end with a sad note. This world, these people could not have a HEA it would have made the story fail. It ended with a bow worthy finality. I am a

fan of Mr. Yancey and will look for more books from him.

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LibraryThing member ToniFGMAMTC

So I’m still trying to figure out what was real as far as the aliens and who was what. This is a decent ending to a good series. I liked it, but I’m still wondering about some things. I know it’s a good series because I’m thinking about what happened next for the characters. It didn’t end

in my mind.

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LibraryThing member ToniFGMAMTC

in my mind.

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LibraryThing member LibraryCin

This is the last book in a YA sci-fi trilogy where aliens have arrived to take over the planet and to destroy the majority of the humans (on a very broad level).

I should have reread my review for the 2nd book before grabbing the audio from the library. My review for the 2nd one specifically stated

that I should NOT do the audio for the last book. Oops! Once again, there was very little to no recap for the previous books (or if there was, I missed it). Most of the characters have two names – their real name and their nickname, so it’s hard to remember who is who sometimes, especially when not fully engaged/interested in what I’m listening to. There were two different narrators, one male and one female, but more than two different viewpoints. Each chapter did say whose viewpoint it was, but because I missed things, I still had trouble knowing between the male or female characters whose POV I was hearing (combined with the multiple names and not really remembering their background because I couldn’t recall who was who…).

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LibraryThing member thinktink93

"I thought they were gone, I thought I had lost them, but you never lose those who love you, because love is a constant; love endures."

This. Series.

I think it's safe to say YA Dystopia still has a hold on my heart. Which conveniently has a Poundcake, Teacup, Dumbo and Cassie size hole in it now.

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