The Last Star (A YA Book Review)

The Last Star by Rick Yancey

The Last star is the conclusion to The Fifth Wave Trilogy. In it we are approaching the fifth wave where the aliens are going to bomb the remains of the Earth’s cities. The story follows Cassie, Evan, Zombie, Ringer, and Sam.

I have to be honest, I didn’t care much for this book. I was really excited about The Fifth Wave, then liked The Infinite Sea a little less, and really didn’t care for The Last Star. Something was just lacking. I loved Cassie and Evan’s tragic love in book one and it kind of got lost somewhere. In the last book it seems Ringer and Zombie were the main characters. There’s a lot of talk about God and how could God let these aliens “cleanse” our planets. And there isn’t really much explaining why these aliens felt an insatiable desire to cleanse us of our problems. One thing is clear in this book, the aliens didn’t account for the human emotion love. And how could they because Yancey makes it clear they have no emotions. But if they have no emotions, why do they feel the need to fix our planet for us?

Throughout the series I never cared much for Ringer, maybe a little near the end of The Last Star. I cared a little bit more for Zombie because his issues were believable. My favorite character was Evan Walker, but he basically was pushed to the wayside. **Spoiler alert: Cassie and Evan experience a very Tris and Four kind of ending. I didn’t like it then, and I don’t like it now.** One of the things Yancey did well, was the human notion of: If you’re not with us, then you’re against us. Which is actually something perpetuated in the media daily these days and is simply not true, in my opinion. A flaw in the human fight or flight mentality instilled in us since Paleolithic times. But come on, we’ve evolved a little haven’t we? I wish, but I can’t be sure and Yancey’s apocalypse portrays human nature realistically.

Basically, I just finished this series to finish it. If it had been a longer series, it probably would have ended up on my DNF pile. If you’re a diehard Rick Yancey fan or don’t mind books where the character arc is inconsistent and where changing perspectives constantly jolt you out of the story (there’s five plus perspective in The Last Star), then you’d probably enjoy this book. For me, it was just okay. The Fifth Wave was definitely the best book of this trilogy.