30 May 2016

Review #447: The Last Star (The 5th Wave, #3) by Rick Yancey



My rating: 4 of 5 stars


“We need to be fit and ready for anything that might come our way.”


----Aaron B. Powell




Rick Yancey, an American author, pens the final book in The 5th Wave series called, The Last Star that unfolds the final battle of a high school teenager along with her companions to take down the criminal and manipulator who led the seven billion people on this planet to believe that the planet has been taken over by some aliens, but now the truth is out, these teenagers must fight to stop it where it all began.



Synopsis:

We’re here, then we’re gone, and that was true before they came. That’s always been true. The Others didn’t invent death; they just perfected it. Gave death a face to put back in our face, because they knew that was the only way to crush us. It won’t end on any continent or ocean, no mountain or plain, jungle or desert. It will end where it began, where it had been from the beginning, on the battlefield of the last beating human heart.

Master storyteller Rick Yancey invokes triumph, loss, and unrelenting action as the fate of the planet is decided in the conclusion to this epic series.



Cassie, Sam, Ben, Ringer, Evan and the rest of the survivors have escaped the military training camps where the young soldiers are being trained to fight off human beings under the villain leader Vosch, who led the people of this planet to believe that it has been undertaken by aliens, "The Others", but these group of young soldiers figured out the truth before it is too late and now before the final and the last wave comes striking the planet, in order to wipe off the existence of human beings, they need to fight it off with all their strength and determination to save the mankind.

Once again, this book did not meet my expectations unlike the very first book in the series, while the second book meeting my expectations marginally. This book falls short in every aspect, from the crappy romance to the strange dialogues to the rushed ending to the predictable climax.

The story telling of the author is expressive and really well-structured, but mid way through the book, the structure of the whole plot started to crumble. The narrative is laced with sarcasm and emotions and honesty but it fails to engaged the minds of readers. The pacing is way too fast, since this story is simply a race to the end of the world. There are quite a few twists and turns that will very likely shock the hell out of readers, yet the shocking turns of events mar the thrill of the story.

The characters, some turn out to be lousy and some turns out to be extraordinary, although often jumping logic or conclusion as to why some of the characters are acting in a strange way. Although the book keeps the curious minds glued to the pages of this book, as the author eventually wraps the unsolved mysteries and unanswered questions layer-by-layer. Yes yet once again, the author maintains that depth which once made the readers vividly visualize the events right before their eyes.

Yet once again, Cassie's funny comments and her never-give-up attitude kept me rooting for her till the very end thus making her one of my favorite YA heroines of all times. Ben became stupider in this installment with Ringer the determined and hard-to-bend girl. Evan is okay, he doesn't marvel much. Rest of the supporting cast are well-developed and will keep the readers interested.

I would rather not comment about the romance part, as it is bothersome with zero passion or deep feelings, and the readers might face difficulty while picturing the romance between Cassie and Evans or among other characters. In short, you must read this final installment, if you are left baffled with the questions and the twists introduced in the previous books, but I believe this book could have been much better with a proper ending.

Verdict: A compelling and promising finale.

Read the review of The 5th Wave

Read the review of The Infinite Wave
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Author Info:
Rick is a native Floridian and a graduate of Roosevelt University in Chicago. He earned a B.A. in English which he put to use as a field officer for the Internal Revenue Service. Inspired and encouraged by his wife, he decided his degree might also be useful in writing books and in 2004 he began writing full-time.
Since then he has launched two critically acclaimed series: The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp, for young readers, and The Highly Effective Detective, for adults. Both books are set in Knoxville, Tennessee, where Rick lived for ten years before returning to Florida.
Visit him here



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2 comments:

  1. I actually liked the second book better than the first. Not by much. I liked that it had a bit of turn in the story. This series is full of twists and turns and I like that. I hope to read this soon. Sorry it fell short for you, I am hoping I like it a bit more.

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  2. Fantastic review Aditi. I love the new blog layout. Keep informing us of your great reads!

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