The Last Star by Rick Yancey

"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."- Goodreads
The Final book in The 5th Wave Series

This ladies and gentlemen, is how you end a series. I'm freaking speechless.

I have a feeling a lot of people are going to be left feeling this way. This review is going to be hard to write... and seeing as it is the last in a trilogy I'm going to keep it spoiler free.. Going to warn you now, if you don't remember a lot from the first two books please take the time to go back and re-read them! You'll need the information you might have lost. The Last Star is everything I wanted out of a final book and then some. I got so many of the answers I was looking for. The mystery surrounding the 5th Wave is finally revealed.

"If they don't need bodies, they don't need a planet. and if they don't need a planet, why did they come for ours?"

The Last Star brings back all the characters you know and love. Giving everything we've been missing over the last year. Since this series is so character driven I was waiting on pin and needles to see how the finale would bring their development. We get a lot more Sammy in this book. Cassie's sweet, loveable, lost in a world of madness brother. We get to really see how being forced to grow up so young really shapes a person and their thoughts. Ringer is still this powerhouse. Still this tough egg that no one can see crack. Now that she's been enhanced she really gets to see what's on the line. That the world isn't just about her. I might have loved her in the first two books, but this one shows there is still so much of her we've never seen. Don't worry though she's still the expressionless genius she was before, but now she's fighting for more than just herself.

"I'm coming, you son of a bitch. You wanted to create a human without humanity. Now you're going to get one."

Then we have Evan Walker, the alien everyone loves to hate. All the mystery and guessing about him finally comes forth, perfectly groomed nails and all. He is still so sexy, forward, and so clear. He was my favorite character in the first two books (though he might have taken a step back in the last) everything about this book reminded me why I love him so much. We figured out why he is human, but not. Why he has been so torn, and now what he must do about it. There are some very yummy scenes with him that I've been dying for so that didn't hurt either. Now on to the last two characters, these were the two I was most worried about. Zombie and Cassie. Zombie and his charming smile doesn't disappoint in this series. This book made him. He is the glue that holds everything together. He is the kind of person the end of the world needs. He gives all his heart in this book. He becomes more than this ex jock girl crush he was before the attacks. And Lastly Cassie. Cassiopeia, the sassy, snarky, silver tongued, last human in humanity. She is everything I want out of my female protagonist. Her characters is so realistic. Her thoughts and actions mirror real life. I was scared with the weight of everything this book was going to bring that we weren't going to get the classic Cassie we were begging for, but we did. She still brings all her witty commentary...

"Whipped cream in a can. Those cinnamon rolls Mom made every Sunday morning. McDonald's French fries. Bacon. No, bacon was still a possibility. I would just have to find a hog, slaughter it, butcher it, cure the meat, then fry it up. Thinking about the bacon- the potential of bacon- gives me hope. Not all is lost if bacon isn't."

But she also brings so many emotions and heartache. She by far has the greatest character development in this series. She has come light years from the girl scared in her tent. From the girl who thought she was the last girl on earth. She is a fighter and will stop at nothing to take back the world. She continues to give everything she has in this final book. There is so much more I want to gush about these characters, but I refuse to go any further with them because of spoilers.

As for the plot of this book... God it had me worried. I'm not going to lie, it's a bit slow at first. It is very Rick Yancey like. It starts out slow, then has you completely baffled about what is going on and who will end up where, it'll twist your mind till it can't take anymore, then hit you dead on with a mind blowing surprise. This is a book that will make you work for the answers you've been seeking, and the battle is worth it. The Last Star just kept peeling back all these layers and everything comes together. This book perfectly ties every book together. It takes pieces from The 5th Wave, and sections of The Infinite Sea and molds them into The Last Star. Most of my time was spent scream WTF is going on... but the ending, Lord the ending. It is everything I wanted. The first three section might have been slower, but they are just setting the table for the last two. There's action, fighting, depth, loss, and love all beautifully crafted in less than 400 pages.

Rick Yancey has no problems taking bold stroke and this book proves it. He had me laughing, crying, on the edge of my seat, then crying all over again. He has proven that a final book in a series doesn't have to be perfectly neat that they can be messy. That they can be all the things you hate and love mushed together to make this crazy cluster F of a read. I had so many theories about how this would end, and they were all wrong and they were all right. Every little detail down to the title was perfectly woven together to make this masterpiece of a series complete.

An out of this world ending to my favorite alien trilogy.

10/10 Stars
-Angela

The 5th Wave Movie Review

"After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it's the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them."

We aren't even going to beat around the bush with this... We just saw The 5th Wave and WE LOVED IT! This was a movie that if you follow us you know we have been waiting for. Everything about this movie had us excited. We were glad when they decided to turn it into a movie, we were over the moon about the casting choices, and we loved all the publicity leading up to it.

Just gonna jump right into things. First, the cast... Chloe Grace Mortez was who us as fan choose from the get go, so when she was officially on board we knew right away she was going to crush it. She is a badass. She is someone on and off screen that we love. She is the perfect Cassie, and she nailed the roll (like we all knew she would). She is a girl that is tough in real life and is a very family based person. Those real life traits seeped into this film, in the best possible way. I'd like someone to tell me they saw KickAss, read this book, and didn't think this has to be our Cassie Sullivan... YOU CAN'T! We wanted to laugh with her and cry with her and we were sitting there rooting for her to get to Sammy (even though we have read the book a combined six times). She just did a fantastic job.

Next, Evan Walker (Alex Roe). He is someone we haven't really heard of in the past, and was probably the one we were most worried about. Never fear Alex Roe is the epitome of Evan Walker perfection.... Pretty sure the lady and her daughter in front of us said it perfectly when he appeared on screen.... I believe the exact statements were "Good God he is all man!" and "MEOW!". Oh it's not just his six pack and face that are nice-his acting and fighting are too. He has an amazing fight scene that we knew was coming but didn't know it would be so good! I think we both air fist pumped right after. We officially want to roll around in the wilderness fighting aliens with him... Like fighting aliens is a fantasy of ours, but doing it with Alex Roe would be a dream come true. I (Leah) was kind of skeptical about him when he was first cast, but I am 10000000% sold. He absolutely killed the part and made me fall in love with him just like he fell for Cassie. His fight scenes were so bad ass, but he also was able to show the tender part of the character that could have been easily missed. You go from bad ass to sex kitten to sweet guy all in a two hour span. Mortez and Roe's chemistry is on point.

Zombie (Nick Robinson) is an actor we've seen before and loved. So hearing he would be our zombie made us ridiculously happy. Both of us agree he perfectly captured who and what Ben Parish is. He has that boy next door-laid back-charming thing going on. Ringer (Maika Monroe) was a pleasant surprise! We really liked the casting choice for her. Monroe is tough and sassy and brought Ringer from the page to screen. She is a survivor and she really proved herself in the movie. We were hoping for a little more of that famous Ringer Cassie banter of the battle of the alpha females, but it's all good. Lastly Sammy (Zackary Arthur)... Good god, they couldn't have picked a cuter boy! He knocked it out of the park by being able to be this sweet little nugget (lol) and then also trying to be this soldier that is now expected of him. I think his part touched us the most because it really made us remember that these are KIDS that are out there fighting. And when he cries your heart will shatter!!! Such a great new young talent.

The movie plot wise sticks pretty close to the book. It's action packed and laid out very well. It is a little more rush then the book, but it seemed necessary. In the book it's over months and in the movie it seems as if it's more like a few weeks. We still get the ba fighting, plot twist, alien goodness, and romance we were hoping for. The series of events stay in order and are true to the book. There were things of course that were changed. We want to preface this by saying even if there were changes we were still completely happy with the outcome of everything. 

Here are a few things (avoiding spoilers) that were alerted or left out that we noticed/wanted/really liked: 

-Pound cake talks. 

-Where the book covers several characters and POVs the movie more focuses on Cassie and Zombie.

-Time spent of Evans house. 

-They go to a camp but there's no ashpit.

-Cassie doesn't stay under the car long and doesn't say "here I am come get me you son of a bitch!". I (Angela) love this scene in the book so much. I think it sets the tone on who Cassie really is. (This and ashpit are included but different from the book. Both were ones we were hoping would stay 100%  true but again still ok)

-Reason Cassie's not on the bus. 

-There are a lot of quotes from the book in the movie. A lot with Evan and Cassie were the same. 

-We were hoping the movie would include: Evan's shark speech, the flaw in their plan speech, the crucifix solider scene exactly as in the book, the mayfly moment, and the lousy Hunter scene. Some where include and just altered, but some where left out.

-Evan walkers fight scene is better in the movie. 

-How Cassie and Ben interact the first time again, better in the movie. 

-The ending plays out different, but stops the same. 

-There was one HUGE change that you will either love or hate involving Evan. This was my (Angela) biggest "disappointment". I didn't hate the change it was just something I didn't want altered. 

There could be tons more things we could highlight or say we're good or bad but overall we are sooo happy. We had fun watching it. The acting is great. We don't think fans of the series will be letdown. And we pray Infinite Sea will be announced soon! Because if you've read the books you know how it ends. And you know what will happen next but we still need visuals! This will be a movie we will see several times in theaters.

10/10 Stars

-L&A

Angela's Top Ten Book Boyfriends

Here I give you my top ten picks of my favorite fictional guys aka the hardest list I've ever had to make. Yall know we love any and everything to do with fictional book boyfriends. So we decided to comply a list of our favorites and then put them in order... Some people might have read that first sentence and thought I seemed a little nutty for saying this was difficult, but for true die hard book lovers you will completely understand why this task was so daunting.

10) Wren- A Wicked Saga 
9) Rowan Whitethorn- Throne of Glass Series 
8) Tamlin- A Court of Thorns and Roses 
7) Roth- The Dark Elements Trilogy 
6) Ridge- Maybe Some Day 
5) Noah Shaw- The Mara Dyer Trilogy 
4) Evan Walker- The 5th Wave Trilogy 
3) Daemon Black- The Lux Series 
2) Warner- The Shatter Me Trilogy 
1) Miles Archer- Ugly Love 

My list consist of a lot of Jennifer Armentrout, Sarah J. Maas, and Colleen Hoover men... what can I say those ladies sure know their guys. Complete shocker on who my number one was right?!?! Yeah, I'm just kidding. How could I not pick Miles Archer. Not only is Colleen Hoover one of my favorite authors, Ugly Love also happens to be my favorite book, so it's only fitting that it house my favorite man. All the fellas on this list have a lot of things in common. They're strong, supportive, witty, charming, and more. BUT none of them ever come close to giving me as characters what Miles Archer gave me, and that was shock. No character has ever surprised me quite like he has. He went from this mystery, handsome, non romantic too this super deep super touching character that I just didn't see coming. Yes Warner does come close, but Miles still manages to pull ahead because he also manages to be a very believable character. The moment you meet him you hate him. However, much like things go in the real world once you start getting a person's back-story you start to see them in a new light. The more we got into his story the more I started to fall for him. By the end of the book every heart string I had had been pulled because of his character. He goes from being just this pretty face (looks like he was sent down from the heavens might I add) to being someone you find yourself rooting for and heart breaking over. Though there might be other guys on this list I would have been completely fine with making Miles Archer my numbers 1-10. With 2016 slowly creeping up on us meaning the Ugly Love movie will be here before we know it! Which mean there will be a face to put the the Archer name... And I don't know if I've ever mention this but the face they've casted just happens to be my number one celebrity crush... So yeah basically once this movies over I can die happy.

 

 

Annnnnnnnd I just got pregnant! Whoosh... Ladies and gents I rest my case.

Since we had such a hard time narrowing everyone down I do wanna mention three that didn't quite crack the top ten and those are... Trey from The Kricket Series, Kaden from The Remnant Chronicles, and Ansel from Sweet Filthy Thing.