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

Perfectly Casted Characters Pt1

We've said it a million times, we love when books become movies. We also go gaga over when a casting director nails their choices. It's not just about finding someone who just happens to look like the character... because lets face it sometimes they end up not looking anything like them. It's about having the right attitude, about being able to capture the emotions we felt towards the book, and about having a certain presence that will capture our hearts. Here are our choices for actors we thought nailed or will nail their page to premiere roles.

Shall we start with the most obvious one??? The entire cast of The Harry Potter Series... DUH Right!? But of course the even more obvious ones are Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint. We don't think the movie franchise would have been nearly as successful with anyone else playing Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The added bonus was for us getting to see them grow not only in age but in their acting. I think we can all agree that The Harry Potter Series is the most successful and well done book to screen.

Our next pick is Ansel Elgort as Augustus Waters in The Fault in our Stars. Wow, just wow. I think we really got everything we wanted when they cast him to play the tear jerking Augustus. His boyish charm, sweet persona, and down to earth attitude pulled from his real life ways made him the perfect match. Ansel has such a way about him and we think this was the perfect movie character for him to play. Being no stranger too the Ya book to film world we've also been able to see him play Caleb Prior in the Divergent Trilogy. As much as we love him in that role we just can't get enough of him in TFIOS. This gripping and emotional role might have been hard for most to reach, but dang it if he didn't make us feel all the feels that the book left us with. Well done movie world! Well done!

Next up we have a newbie to the book to film thing, and that is Mae Whitman in The Duff. We loved her version of Bianca. So comical and confident. Bianca's no care attitude was nailed by Mae. Bianca in the book might not have been our favorite, but movie Bianca was someone we loved. I mean when she wears that outfit made up of crocs and pajama pants I about died! She really brought all the sarcastic mojo needed to nail this roll. Everyone's calling this the new version of Mean Girls, and I think they would definitely fall into the same genre.

Don't have too ask me twice

Theo James as Four in Divergent! What? You've never heard of him? Ha, yeah we were just kidding... We know you have. Theo is an amazing example of when not just the actors attitude fits the person but so does their looks. Besides the eyes Four sounds like he was written based off of Theo James himself. "Spare upper lip, full lower lip, deep-set dark blue eyes (so dark they are almost black) long lashes, deep voice, more than six feet tall, muscular, ears that stick out, short hair, and large nose"... So mmm yeah pretty sure that sums up both Four and Theo description well. Theo did an amazing job portraying the tough as nails Four as well. We loved that Theo makes us feel like were still reading the book while we're watching the movie. Think we can all agree this casting director deserves a raise! Thank you!

On to the next one... Robert Sheehan as Simon in The Mortal Instruments City of Bones. We know a lot of people don't think Lily Collins was the perfect Clary, or that Sexy Campbell Bower was the best pick for Jace, but we think we can all agree that Robert Sheehan is an amazing choice for Simon. He has the I've been friend zoned so many times- best friends forever- I'm the one you should be introducing to your mother because hey I'm not your brother thing down. We love seeing Robert do interviews, his overall attitude both on and off the screen are so captivating. He brought all the heart eye for Clary and nerdy friend charm we were hoping to get.

There are a few people we would like to "Pre-mention"... We say it like that because they haven't actually starred in the film yet. BUT, we still think that they are going to portray their soon to be Page to Premieres perfectly.

Thomas Mann as Greg Gaines and RJ Cyler as Earl in the film version of Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl. Even though psychically both Thomas and RJ don't fit the part, the scenes we have already seen lead us to think that maybe changing their appearance up a bit was a good idea. RJ seems to have the sarcastic and surprisingly good friend attitude down and Thomas seems to have the I'm to awkward for this world idea nailed. We are both so excited to see this movie hit theaters.

Chloe Grace Moretz as Cassie Sullivan in The 5th Wave. This is the movie I (Angela) am most looking forward to seeing in 2016. I remember reading the book even before the movie was opted and thinking how amazing she would be as Cassie. Just seeing her in KickAss 1&2 sealed that deal for me. She's sassy, strong willed, and always says what shes thinking both on and off scree. She's also no stranger to P2P, staring in both Carrie and If I Stay. We know that she can do emotional while still giving us all the "Cassie is a complete bad ass" feels we need. It doesn't hurt that she is so close in age and physical appearance. The main reason we think she's going to nail this?.. Is because the book is all about the unbreakable bonds of family, and we all know Chloe and her family are tighter than glue in real life. January 2016 can't come soon enough!

And to wrap this all up we leave you with this.... The steamy fine and the man designed to blow girls minds... Nick Bateman as Miles Archer in Ugly Love. This film might actually defy science and get us pregnant. But why do we really think that he will crush this role with high standards? That's easy to answer, because the fans chose him. We as readers asked for him to play Miles Archer. And having an author and film makers listen makes all us coho fans very happy campers! We haven't gotten to witness a lot of his acting skills (only seen him in Hobo with a Shotgun) but I'll be honest... this film could just be him standing drinking a Capri sun for two hours and I wouldn't complain. He has the look and were hoping he has the attitude to to knock this role out the park. Seriously, why is 2016 so far away???