“This is my body.”

From Rick Yancey’s The 5th Wave: The Last Star.

Cassie’s life has changed drastically since we first met her; an alien spaceship parked itself over earth, five waves of death were released on the world, her family was torn apart, she fell in love with an alien, and risked everything to save her brother. Much like the other books, all the characters are in trouble when the book opens. Ringer has been enhanced by top-bad-guy Vosch and she is fighting the monsters within herself, while the others are trying to figure out how to stop the destruction of the world (while fighting to stay alive). Things quickly go from bad to worse when Evan informs Cassie that he is going to go on a suicidal trip up to the mothership to blow it up before it can drop thousands of bombs on the world; at the same time, Ringer is sent back to the group to capture Evan for (Vosch’s) analysis and Ben decides that he is going to head off to find Ringer. All the characters come together, everything goes wrong, Evan is captured, Ben is injured, and it is up to Cassie and Ringer to rescue Evan so he can stop the bombs from falling. These children quickly become humanity’s final chance as each character must decide what is worth dying for and what they are going to do with their lives.

Yancey’s final book in the trilogy is frustrating, to say the least. The first book started the series so strongly, but the other books (primarily The Last Star) just couldn’t reach the same level. Reading this book causes the reader to question everything that has been learned about the characters (and earth’s alien invaders) in the other books. The plot of the trilogy is changed so drastically that it almost seems like too many fans guessed the planned ending and Yancey decided to make up a new ending. The cursing is greatly increased in the book, and it is unclear if it is meant to development of the characters or just more evidence of a lack of development on the author’s part. The chapters are split between several characters, which makes it difficult at times, because the characters all narrate with the same style and the interactions can get confusing. One positive aspect of the “new” plot is that the story keeps you guessing up to the last few pages, but while many readers were hoping for a satisfying conclusion to The 5th Wave series, they are left instead with just a solid ending of character lives, relationships, and dynamics. The Last Star tries to salvage the trilogy conclusion with the last few chapters, but it is just too little, too late.