REVIEW: The Last Star by Rick Yancey

The Last Star is the final book in Yancey's 5th Wave trilogy. Here's what readers know so far:

• The end of world came in waves as Others (let's call them aliens to simplify) sought to paralyze life on Earth.
• 1st wave - lights out (EMPs to knock out machinery and electricity)
• 2nd wave - surf's up - huge tidal waves knockout coastal cities
• 3rd wave - Pestilence - eliminate the bulk of the population through illness
• 4th wave - Silencers - the Others appear on Earth and plan to wipe out the remaining human population. Important lesson: not all 'humans' are human.
• 5th wave - The Fifth wave is where the Others plan to bomb every city on Earth via the mothership.
• Teenage Cassie Sullivan, Other with a Conscience, Evan Walker, and Squad 53 leader, Ben 'Zombie' Parish plus others including Cassie's little brother, Sam, and snarky and now Other enhanced Ringer have gone AWOL and are the only ones to know the End Game of the 5th wave.

This crew has to work together to thwart the Others and quite literally save the world and the human race. The primary theme is that of humanity and what traits make us human. Emotions run high and there is significant drama about making sacrifices and so on. 

Honestly, this was one of my most anticipated reads of 2016. I adored The 5th Wave and its sequel, The Infinite Sea. But the magic was snuffed out and I found myself underwhelmed and more than a little confused by how all this culminated to a conclusion.  I pretty much hated all the characters with the exception of Evan who was by far the most human but wasn't entirely human at all. The ending is downright depressing and left me feeling pretty blah.

Final rating: 2 out of 5 stars



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