DISCUSS ‘The Last Star’ by Rick Yancey! (SPOILERS!)

We’re hosting a fan discussion to talk about ‘The Last Star’ by Rick Yancey. Caution: spoilers ahead!

 

The following article and comments contain MAJOR SPOILERS of Rick Yancey’s The Last Star, including the ending of the story and fates of major characters. IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED THE SERIES, DO NOT SCROLL DOWN! THERE ARE LAST STAR SPOILERS IN THIS POST!

The ending has been revealed–and what an ending, right? Explosive, crazy and–let’s not beat around the bush–sad.

Ringer, Ben and Sam continue. Evan will lead a lonely mission. Cassie is dead–she’s watching over her realm.

So what do you think? This book is bound to brew a storm of emotions for fans invested in this book series. After all, it’s not every day a beloved character dies.

Leave your thoughts and feelings in the comment section to engage with other fans!

Not sure where to start? Here are some discussion points that you can address if you’d like:

  • Overall thoughts and feelings about the book.
  • Thoughts on Ben and Ringer.
  • Thoughts on Cassie and Evan.
  • Feelings about Cassie’s sacrifice.
  • Feelings about Sammy.
  • What was the most shocking part for you?
  • What was your favorite line?
  • Do you want more books?

In order for this to work, you have to share your thoughts below! Let’s create a nice space where everyone can come together and discuss the ending of this trilogy.

RICK YANCEY HAS ANNOUNCED A FOURTH BOOK IN THE 5TH WAVE SERIES. LEARN MORE HERE.

This article was brought to you by members of the Bookstacked Team.

Bookstacked Comment Policy

We welcome respectful comments. Our only rule is to be kind. Rude, hateful and generally mean-spirited comments will be removed.

61 Comments
  • SAULMARQ • 8 years ago

    The Last Star wasn’t too shabby. It wasn’t as good as the first book, imo, but it was alright. I thought the ending was sad but hopeful and I appreciate what Rick Yancey did with Cassie’s character.

    • Artimus Maximus • 8 years ago

      It was way more meaningful than Tris’s death in Alegent though

      • Raquel • 8 years ago

        Definitely. And for me that’s what made infinitely more tragic and heart wrenching

      • Holly Alba • 8 years ago

        couple of you just ruined the Divergent series for me thanks somebody should post at the top there’s more than just the fifth wave series spoilers

  • Terra Mist • 8 years ago

    i’m just so sad. i can’t believe it’s over. the Last Star has destroyed me. :,( we need another book!!!!!!

    • peaceandcourage • 8 years ago

      My new ending, Evan finds a way and unites his brain with Cassie and they share the deepest love and appreciation for each other, they express all of the hidden love that they kept from each other. The love is so great that humanity can only do what is right and that is to find a way to bring Cassie back. Evan uses his MIT engineering plus the extra Intel that was accidentally given to him by the others, to regenerate Cassie. He actual began this when Cassie was recuperating in his families home because he never expected that she would survive the gun shot in the first place. Now with his mind liked to hers he unlocks that secret and shares it with Cassie. her new body lays ready to inhabit in the basement of his family home. if it survived, he had created a chemical generator to incubate her body. He with the help of Cassie downloads her up to date last memories as he says, Cassie, I can only exist with the hope, yes humanities hope that you accept this life with me and all its’ frailties and faults, my faults. They are together, she remembers all, Sammy has been helping Evan with the last preparations. Cassie faints from the pain of re-entering her new body. when she re-opens her eyes she sees Sammy, he is with her, crying, sobbing, he demands that she never leave him again and forbids her to ever die. This tells us all that their relationship is solid, their bond repaired. There are no more ships, no more others except those that were sleepers like Evan that choose Humanity. Evan and Cassie get married, they have a child and because of all the past pain, they know how to appreciate life, they hold a bond that all can feel. Evan is holding her, they are wrapped in a blanket, holding their baby boy Devan as the stars come out one by one tears stream down Cassie face and she thanks Evan for her life. He thanks her for being the purpose in his life.

      • 21 crybabys panic!at the disco • 7 years ago

        Okay my ending was very similar to yours. I don’t believe Cassie has died in the ending. There’s a hundred ways it could go wrong that she didn’t go Kaboom. I mean the other characters could think Cassie is dead when really she’s basically with the others. She could be giving them intel of what she knows and where the last of the human race is hiding. OR she could meet the actual commander that wasn’t vosch. Cassie could be the second experiment after Ringer from putting the 12th system into her. I have way more better ideas but these are just one of the smaller ones.

  • dallas156 • 8 years ago

    SOOOOOO GOOD! I loved it. It was perfect. We need another book Mr. Yancey.

  • Lana • 8 years ago

    NOOOOOOOO I CANT WHY DOES RICH HATE ME?!?!?! I balled my eyes out at the end I cant handle my OTP being broken!!! ahhhhhhh. Although overall I think the book was amazing and answered all the questions the previous two books left us with, for me it just misses 5 stars because WHY CASSIE?!?

    • Lana • 8 years ago

      Rick*

  • Debbie • 8 years ago

    I am 65 years old and read these books so my granddaughter and I could enjoy them together. We started with The Hunger Games Seires and then the Divergent Series. The Hunger Games gave us the happily ever after ending and the Divergent Series ending was ridiculous! Tris goes through the impossible and is shot by a guy in a wheelchair? Really! In the 5th Wave Series, the first book, it seemed like Ringer and Ben had some sort of chemistry and then Razor came along in the second book. My first impression of Ben was Mr. Prep, but as we got to know him, he seemed sincere and likable. This ending was different and I am still not sure if I liked the ending or not. It might take sometime for me to process? The first movie was similar to the book except for Evan being the real shooter. Also Megan was missing, but even though she isn’t very vocal, she plays an important part.

  • Zombee • 8 years ago

    Am I the only one who wants a spin off series about Evan?

    • Bobdole • 8 years ago

      I want that too

  • Kira • 8 years ago

    The Ending: Tragic, Sad, Devastating, Depressing and Empty-Feeling.

    I didn’t cry once while reading the entire trilogy, but as soon as I read the last page and closed the book, I cried for 10 minutes straight… then off and on for two days. I’m still trying to recover. I didn’t expect Rick to kill of Cassie, and I certainly didn’t expect it in the tragic, cold way that she went. It was so emotionless on her part, I almost felt like it wasn’t her anymore. The main characters talked about them being the “bent but unbroken” and I almost felt like Wonderland broke her. The Others also talked about “ridding the humans of their humanity” and the main characters were fighting against that, but I almost felt like they succeeded with Cassie at the end–with ridding her of her humanity. How she killed Vosch without batting an eye or even hesitating when she got in the pod. It felt like she was barely there anymore, and that in itself felt kind of tragic to me.

    I felt like the book itself was pretty decent, but overall, I’m disappointed in the ending. I would have preferred that Evan sacrifice himself in the mothership (that’s what he does) and have Cassie reunite with Sammy. Just as they took Evan’s memories, they could take the 10k consciousnesses back out of Cassie’s head and she would have been fine. I feel like they should have found a refuge to live in with other survivors in the epilogue, where Ben had Ringer and Cassie had Sams, because if they’re okay, then maybe everything else would be, too.

    But the way it ended was just tragic for all of them and really hard for me to handle. After everything they’ve been through, it was like an emotional overload. The trilogy itself is sad and tragic in its own way, so it would have been nice for it to end on a slightly more optimistic note, though I guess I don’t know what I expected given it’s a trilogy essentially about the end of the world.

    Maybe once I’ve had more time to process the end and Cassie dying, I’ll feel differently about the end. But for now, I’m still trying to cope. R.I.P Cassie.

    • Cat • 8 years ago

      Hi! I just fi ished the book, and I was NOT ready for that ending at all, but I gotta be honest.. I sorta started speed reading through the last few pages cuz I was reading from a bookstore and they were closing for the day (ik, cheap af 😛 ), and im still kinda confused on why cassie sacrficed herself. Was there another reason other than she not being able to handle so many memories? Cuz she could have just waited with ringer. (Im still confused on where she went after she left ringer)

      • Kira • 8 years ago

        I’m not 100% sure what sparked Cassie’s decision, but I’m thinking that the 10k consciousnesses that she had downloaded into her brain sort of made her “know what she had to do”. I think the reason she couldn’t wait for Ringer was because the bombs were going to start dropping on all the cities at dawn, so if they waited too long, it would be too late. And she went into Vosch’s secret alien lair where he kept his own pod that was supposed to take him up to the mothership before the bombs dropped, which is why Cassie needed his thumb to gain access to it.

        • Rachel • 8 years ago

          This right here ^^. After Cassie underwent feeling what every human has felt, she became humanity, like she always thought of herself as. But this time she literally holds all of humanity in her, and she knew that it was up to her to end this war once and for all. Evan couldn’t do it, because she thought she killed him, and ringer was just too weak. I think she suddenly felt that it was her responsibility, and somehow I feel like she felt at peace with the decision. As sad as it is, I think it’s brilliant. Rick Yancey just completely brought this girl who at first thought she was humanity by being the last human on earth, to actually being every human on earth. She took all those people’s consciousnesses with her and together they defeated the others.

      • Genevieve Jones • 8 years ago

        The mothership was just about to drop bombs on the Earth and pretty much wipe out humanity. She blew up the mothership so it wouldn’t and everyone she loved would not die. It’s not that she couldn’t handle the memories. She didn’t want to commit suicide. She just knew someone had to get up there really fast to save the world.

      • malhun • 8 years ago

        did cassie truly love evan?

        • 21 crybabys panic!at the disco • 7 years ago

          Of course she loved Evan. At first she just believed he loved the “idea” of her and in the end when she’s up in the pod she finds out that that’s not the reason why Evan loved her. She had liked Ben Parish before the 5th wave and late to when all hope was lost at some point, she’d find Evan. Evan found her. Cassie was his mayfly.

    • Cat • 8 years ago

      Also, I dont quite get what vosch was explaining, ok, the aliwns were never on earth, why did they do so much destruction??

      • Kira • 8 years ago

        I’m still a little fuzzy on the too, but here’s my take on it:

        This race of aliens value “life” higher than anything else, and have saved several other civilizations on other planets from going extinct. When they got to earth, they observed us and decided that, with the way society is, that it wasn’t sustainable and that they would basically have to “burn down the village to save it.” They thought if society continued progressing forward and the population continued growing that it would eventually cause the end of the world, not only hurting their own kind, but other species as well. So they decided to get the population down to a sustainable level and “rid the humans of their humanity” because if the humans can’t trust each other, then they can cooperate, and if they can’t cooperate, then they can’t rebuild society and it would essentially bring humanity back to the stone age without the possibility of it ever progressing again.

        The aliens downloaded the “programs” of the alien knowledge into people like Evan Walker and Vosch. Evan Walker and all the other Silencers got the program that made them believe they were aliens trying to take over the world. Vosch and the 11 other leaders got programs that told them the truth and entrusted them with the saving of Earth, which they took on because they were “the chosen ones.”

        • Cat • 8 years ago

          Oooo tyty, so cassie went into the pod with the bomb toblow up the mothership, and the aliens did what they did try and help Earth

        • Kira • 8 years ago

          I think Evan basically died, but the 12 system brought him back by “restarting his heart”. Then Ben and Ringer put him back into the Wonderland chair and downloaded his memories back into him, so that in the end, he was basically the old Evan again.

    • Genevieve Jones • 8 years ago

      Like pretty much everyone who read the book and has soul, I was very sad. How could Cassie die— she was a survivor! Why kill off the main character? It didn’t sit right with me. BUT, I started thinking about the ‘why’s of it.

      The ultimate goal of the aliens was to take humanity out of the humans. Of course, this would bring an end to trust, then cooperation, then civilization, etc. ect.. Its basically the worst thing that could happen to humanity, and therefore the most important obstacle for humanity to defeat.

      Cassie is humanity– a microcosm for all /human/ stands for. It seems very suiting,then, that our heroine (who is, in a manner of speaking, humanity) should be the one to destroy this obstacle. It’s even more suiting that she’s doing it with love.

      Love is the one thing those crazy pseudo-savior alien bastards couldn’t expect. They could not grasp the totally illogical, unreasonably enduring power of love. It is humanity’s wild card–no, it’s humanity’s ace.

      Love is what gives Cassie the strength to endure all the pain throughout the books. Love is what allows Cassie to conquer her fear. Love is what Cassie pumps through her viens as she jams herself into a tin can and launches herself into oblivion. She is enhanced with the human equivalent of the twelfth system. Love. The last thing she tells anyone is to take care of her brother.

      Cassie is humanity. Humanity is thinking of your brother’s well being as you barrel toward your death. Love is what saves us.

      She didn’t go crying either. She did not go mourning her own tragic death. Cassie isn’t the tragic type. She was not broken by the Others. Maybe bent, but not broken. If they had wiped out her humanity, she would be driven by self preservation/fear and would view the lives of others as expendable/with indifference. She had a choice and she choose the /human/ option; love, compassion, sacrifice. She choose saving her brother and the world.

      Did she die too young? Of course. But she is humanity, and humanity will not flicker out staring down the barrel of a gun in a ditch somewhere North of nowhere, cowering unknowing and afraid in front of a Silencer. Humanity will not flicker out. Even when facing the apparent end, humanity’s flame will retain all its heat and luster.

      She died exemplifying humanity. Trust over doubt. Cooperation over isolation. Love over hate. Courage over fear. She died still being the perfectly human Cassie.

      In the end, her last wish was granted; Sammy was safe. He learned to read, loved legos, and got the best chance he could at normalcy. She was not forgotten, and she did not die in vain.

      Marika, Ben, Sams, Megs, and Cassie have a good shot at becoming something close to family. They love and care for one another. Things are getting better, not worse. It’s happening slowly, but happening none the less. They’re putting back the pieces.

      Humanity lives on, burning fiercely in the hearts of Sammy, Megs, Marika, Ben, Cassie(the baby, who might I add, has the same sort of spirit as her namesake), and other survivors. Cassie will always be around— affecting the lives of the people who she knew and peacefully watching over her domain.

      Humanity–angry, flawed, fighting, loving, sacrificing, enduring–burns on.

      That’s just my long, probably erroneous ramblings after having finished the book. Hope you like it and it gives you some closure:)

  • Kira • 8 years ago

    I submitted a long 3-4 paragraph post here yesterday. It seemed to go through because I made edits to it a couple times. It’s not here now. Was it deleted for some reason?

    • SAULMARQ • 8 years ago

      Hey Kira, it looks like Disqus flagged your comment as spam for some reason–no idea why, it obviously shouldn’t have done that! I went in and manually corrected it so it should be back! Thanks for letting us know and thanks for sharing your thoughts on the book! 🙂

      • Kira • 8 years ago

        Thanks a bunch!

  • Raquel • 8 years ago

    Well I recently finished the book but I am an emotional wreck and when I’m like this I can’t review or process the book “correctly” but I think this is my second favorite book in the series after The 5th Wave. But why my precious Cassieopeia?!?! Why?! My mayfly! I shall be in mourning these coming months…or the rest of my life

  • Segli • 8 years ago

    I thought the ending was good. Someone had to take out those alien motherfuckers. However, while I read the series I sometimes got the impression that the author didn’t know the direction his story was taking. They are aliens, they are not, they are, blah blah blah. Also, why exactly is it that violence and death can be described in great detail but not sex? I’m not saying young adult novels need to read like harelequin romances or anything but come on, all these round about descriptions are a bit silly.

    • Rachel • 8 years ago

      I think it brings out what’s significant. The violence and deaths are so much a part of this society now and how the world has come to be, of course it’ll need more in depth descriptions. As for the sex, I thought it was creative how he interpreted them. It’s as if sex doesn’t have the same meaning it did before. It’s not about passion or lust anymore, or even love. It’s something much greater/different than that.

      • Segli • 8 years ago

        That makes sense. I didn’t think of it that way. It is something that can still be beautiful amongst all the pain. I think the movie really steamed it up with the scene in the river and the kiss in the car. I usually dislike movies based on books but I enjoyed the movie. It can never be as great as the book but the casting for Evan didn’t hurt! Ha ha

        • Rachel • 8 years ago

          I agree, the Evan they chose was a very nice choice! I do think they overemphasized Cassie and Evans relationship though. A major point in the 5th wave was that cassie didn’t want to focus on loving him so fast, but finding her brother. I feel like they rushed the relationship between them and didn’t exemplify her personality of being independent enough, you know what i mean?

    • Segli • 8 years ago

      Perhaps all the back and forth was to simply highlight the confusion the characters were experiencing. In the end I think he wrapped it up nicely. There is a huge opening for spin off stories. Evan’s quest perhaps? 🙂

    • Ashby • 8 years ago

      I’m kind of confused a bit with Cassie and Evan. I know she stripped but did they actually do the deed? Sorry if I seem a little clueless, I was speed reading.

  • Kathleen • 8 years ago

    After finishing the Last Star the other night, my mind immediately acquired this numb feeling. A lot had happened, and I honestly don’t think my mind truly registered what the ending’s intentions were till I stumbled upon this discussion outlet.

    As Kira said, Vosch’s explanation was still a little fuzzy, but that has to be the most logical answer as to why the Aliens came in the first place. If you ask me, they are quite the hypocritical bunch. They prioritize “life” over all things yet willing to destroy almost all the human population so the end of earth won’t happen. I see why they picked this route, but at the same time I just feel like as intelligent of species as the aliens were they could’ve gone a better route to stop the progression.

    The one thing that still bothers me is why we never actually encountered the alien who ultimately got this whole ordeal started in the first place. Yes, we encountered the downloads in the chosen humans & their machinery like the wonderland, but I was secretly hoping there was going to be someone in charge of this whole operation on the mothership that meets Cassie when she gets up to the mothership & that’s when she becomes the hero by sacrificing herself. It didn’t exactly feel as if Vosch was that leader. I always saw him as second in commend, just carrying out the dirty work on earth for the aliens. It just makes me wonder if the aliens were actually defeated..

    With that being said, I had a feeling it was most likely going to be one of our favorites that was going to die at the end, I just wasn’t sure who. No matter who it was going to be, it was still going to be just as hard to endure, but it’s still sad to admit I didn’t really cry after I discovered Cassie’s fate. I think I built a mental block up after I read the divergent trilogy. Tris’ death hit me like a train, but those deaths are the most logical things to happen in order for the trilogy to end the way it rightfully should. I’m realizing Cassie was the absolute best choice, too. It makes the trilogy come full circle. She literally became humanity as she thought she already was the last of it back in that tent holding bear in the forest with a silencer watching from a far. What a noble death for such a courageous character as Cassie.

    Speaking of bear, what are your thoughts on what exactly he symbolized in the book? My own personal take is bears symbolize a number of things, but there are three words that stand out the most: Peace , Bravery , & Protection. The stuffed animal provided that silver lining of hope to possess all three of these when one needed it the most. It helped them not give up on their humanity.

    I also thought it was interesting that Ringer ended up with a child in the end. Of all characters, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading her thoughts, etc. I think this was Rick’s way of telling us humans will progress again, but with the hope of the future (aka the child), the progression will be a good route.

    Overall, I was appreciative of this trilogy. I still think the first book was my favorite!

    • Marie • 5 years ago

      The divergent trilogy hit me hard too. I actually cried when Tris died. I didn’t cry for Cassie, though I felt like it. I was more frustrated and angry. I thought that Cassie deserved to live and be happy and I thought that Evan deserved to finally be with Cassie. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad she destroyed the ship but I still wish that she had survived. I love that Ringer named her newborn daughter after Cassie and that she seemed to take after Cassie. I thought that was an amazing touch. But, I was disappointed in the ending. I was tired of reading books where main characters died. It was made me feel despaired. I do love the series.

  • Mikayla Bramblett • 8 years ago

    I don’t even know where to start with the ending of this book. I just finished reading the book about 5 minutes ago, and as soon as I was done, I had to look up why Cassie died. I am soooooo depressed right now, I am still crying while writing this. I still don’t really understand why she had to die, why couldn’t she have lived, she still had Sam to worry about too. Don’t get me wrong I really don’t like that Cassie had to die, but I loved that Ringer named her baby after Cassie. This is really all I can say in such a depressed state.

  • Angelina • 8 years ago

    Thoughts on Evan Walker’s role now? Is blowing up the training camps a good or bad thing? If he blows them up, is he going against or helping humanity?

    • haze amoyar • 8 years ago

      I need answers also 😉

  • Olivia • 8 years ago

    I pride myself in the fact that I don’t cry much.
    Hahaha.
    Haha.
    Ha!
    I practically bawled my eyes out, reading the end of The Last Star.
    Cassie!
    Evan!
    Noooooooo

  • Genevieve Jones • 8 years ago

    My Analysis of The Ending
    Like pretty much everyone who read the book and has soul, I was very sad. How could Cassie die— she was a survivor! Why kill off the main character? It didn’t sit right with me. BUT, I started thinking about the ‘why’s of it.
    The ultimate goal of the aliens was to take humanity out of the humans. Of course, this would bring an end to trust, then cooperation, then civilization, etc. ect.. Its basically the worst thing that could happen to humanity, and therefore the most important obstacle for humanity to defeat.
    Cassie is humanity– a microcosm for all /human/ stands for. It seems very suiting,then, that our heroine (who is, in a manner of speaking, humanity) should be the one to destroy this obstacle. It’s even more suiting that she’s doing it with love.
    Love is the one thing those crazy pseudo-savior alien bastards couldn’t expect. They could not grasp the totally illogical, unreasonably enduring power of love. It is humanity’s wild card–no, it’s humanity’s ace.
    Love is what gives Cassie the strength to endure all the pain throughout the books. Love is what allows Cassie to conquer her fear. Love is what Cassie pumps through her viens as she jams herself into a tin can and launches herself into oblivion. She is enhanced with the human equivalent of the twelfth system. Love. The last thing she tells anyone is to take care of her brother.
    Cassie is humanity. Humanity is thinking of your brother’s well being as you barrel toward your death. Love is what saves us.
    She didn’t go crying either. She did not go mourning her own tragic death. Cassie isn’t the tragic type. She was not broken by the Others. Maybe bent, but not broken. She had a choice and she choose the /human/ option; love, compassion, sacrifice. She choose saving her brother and the world.
    Did she die too young? Of course. But she is humanity, and humanity will not flicker out staring down the barrel of a gun in a ditch somewhere North of nowhere, cowering unknowing and afraid in front of a Silencer. Humanity will not flicker out. Even when facing the apparent end, humanity’s flame will retain all its heat and luster.
    She died exemplifying humanity. Trust over doubt. Cooperation over isolation. Love over hate. Courage over fear. She died still being the perfectly human Cassie.
    In the end, her last wish was granted; Sammy was safe. He learned to read, loved legos, and got the best chance he could at normalcy. She was not forgotten, and she did not die in vain.
    Humanity lives on, burning fiercely in the hearts of Sammy, Megan, Ringer, Ben, Cassie(the baby, who might I add, has the same sort of spirit as her namesake), and other survivors. Cassie will always be around— affecting the lives of the people who she knew and peacefully watching over her domain.
    Humanity–angry, flawed, fighting, loving, sacrificing, enduring–burns on.

    That’s just my long, probably erroneous ramblings after having finished the book. Hope you like it:)

  • Jay • 8 years ago

    Honestly I’m very confused. In the second book and In the beginning of the third we are told that there were never aliens in the first place and that the mothership was automated. And then In the end on the third we are told that the Aliens do exist! I’m so confused

    • ferretgal • 8 years ago

      Not sure where you are getting they do exist; yes, there’s a lot of confusing rhetoric, but my take is they were never at earth…what does puzzle me is the whole ten thousand years thing; how could anyone reasonably look at human history of that period and assume we would destroy the earth…unless they are judging WHO we are (emotional) and not WHAT we do… One could say that the Earth’s current condition could justify such an extreme response, but…

      I think that the ship was programmed to do what it did, there was no one “physical” on it (or even true individual consciousness); I think some of the confusion was regarding the validity of the “alien memories” of Evan, which I guess they were still a little unclear about: Did these really happen, to a specific alien, who was then downloaded into the human Evan Walker? I think they are saying no, those were meant to mislead and bring the affected persons to the “alien” side. The mothership had an artificial intelligence that had no “soul” as we understand it, and simply played out its programming; it had no ability to adjust or change course.

  • Jacob • 8 years ago

    Am I seriously the only one who didn’t cry or feel any strong feelings of sadness after finishing this book. Although that may be because I read this book 7 months after the infinite sea. (And the fact that the Mortal Engines series by Philip Reeve crushed my soul 🙂

  • ferretgal • 8 years ago

    I am posting this before reading any other comments, so my thoughts won’t be affected.

    I finished The Last Star last night; full disclosure, I’m a 60 year old woman who’s been an obsessive reader since childhood, and am partial to science fiction. Although of course it’s sad that Cassie dies, I’m glad the author didn’t wimp out for a “happy ending.” As it is, the ending is as positive as it could be, without completely negating the rest of the story.

    My feeling is that the downloading of all those other personalities allowed Cassie to transcend her own perspective, to enable her to do what needed to be done. Just a bit before, Ringer observes that Cassie’s courage exceeds her own. Added to the expanded consciousness, she clearly sees what needs to happen, and that she’s “it,” the only one who can do it. Destroy the mother ship; that’s the only way for the human race to potentially recover from the devastation wrought by aliens (who don’t even exist anymore!) who thought they “knew better” and were worthy of judging other planets and species according to their beliefs and standards. If you see each planet, dominant species, whatever, as a grand experiment, why would you insist that the conditions be the same for all? Wouldn’t it make more sense to have variable conditions, to get different results? One species, the Others, emotionless; another, humans–emotional…yes, leading to both good–love–and bad–hate and destruction.

    Of course, it was left open-ended enough that I’d like to hear more of the story, possibly once Sam is older, to see where they’ve gone and possible rebuilding. Perhaps the lessons thus learned would lead to a society more respectful of the earth. We can only hope…

  • Farrah Chapin Krovoza • 8 years ago

    Okay, so I wasn’t thrilled with the ending, but reading this discussion has helped me understand it better. However, there’s still one thing that I don’t get. So, Cassie sacrifices herself to take down the mother ship. Vosch is dead. But, that didn’t really seem to end anything. I guess it prevented the bombing of the cities, but the fifth wave is still out there, the surviving “family” is basically still in hiding mode, and I really didn’t get the whole Evan going off at the end to do what exactly? It just didn’t really seem like an ending to me. The war was not over, as long as others like Vosch existed, as well as other training camps. And the whole reason for the aliens doing what they did, just didn’t really make sense to me. I really enjoyed the series altogether, I thought it was better than Hunger Games, Maze Runner, and Divergent series at times, but the ending left me feeling ambiguous. I guess I’m just someone who likes everything tied up in a neat little bow, even if I don’t agree with it. Come to think of it I kind of disliked all the endings of those above series’ too.

    • 21 crybabys panic!at the disco • 7 years ago

      In the end Evan feels like it’s his job to blow up the training campsites. He told Ben ” Cassie didn’t die so I could live….” he believes Cassie didn’t die in Vain just so he can protect Ben, Ringer, Sams,Megan, and little newborn Cassie. He thinks he needs to stop this for good and end the camps by blowing it up including the inocent kids. This is the risk he’s willing to sacrifice.

  • Sasha Brown • 8 years ago

    I just finished this book! I just broke into tears as I read the last pages. I did not really understand if Cassie died or not until then. Also, I received closure for Evan and Cassie as I read the last page. I was hoping Cassie would somehow survive and come back to everyone. I mean, she is freaking Cassie Sullivan! I know this is basically impossible for the author to do but it was too sad seeing Evan without her. However, Cassie did fight for humanity the entire series and she saved it at the end. So I guess I am okay with it. I just feel like the Other’s should have done the whole “saving earth” thing the other way. All in all, I loved this series and hope the whole trilogy is made into a movie.

    • 21 crybabys panic!at the disco • 7 years ago

      I was confused about the ending too but I don’t believe Cassie dies. I believe Rick Yancey just leaves it at “I breathe” to keep us in suspense and keep us thinking “Did Cassie for Cassiopeia Sullivan really die?” Anything could’ve happened to her if the bomb didn’t detonate. Well, that’s my thought of it.

  • BLEH • 8 years ago

    I just finished the book and I have some questions.
    Are there any adults left other than the silencers?
    Whats gonna happen to all the kids in the camps now that the aliens are gone?
    Is humanity ever going to return to its old state again?
    How did the mothership just disappear like “poof”. Shouldnt have rained down on Earth?

    • 21 crybabys panic!at the disco • 7 years ago

      I don’t believe there are any more adults left on the earth but yes probably thereare adults somewhere. Evan is blowing up the training camps which means those kids are dying as well. Humanity will return to its old state again because life will keep going because the final characters are alive and therefore the population will grow again. Also I don’t know what happened to the mothership. Just how I believe Cassie didn’t die after all because the mothership didn’t land on earth so it got me thinking as well.

  • BLEH • 8 years ago

    Are the events of this book happening in all the countries around the world?

    • Yildizer • 6 years ago

      Yes i think so…at least Cassie mentioned in the first couple pages of the very first book that it is happening in the whole world.

  • Kaitlyn Riskedahl • 6 years ago

    The Last Star. VQP : He Conquers who Endures.

    I finished the book literally 15 minutes ago and i’m freaking out. 1st off…Evan to me was a great character and I really wish he had a better ending to his story. On the other hand I’m really glad that Ringer and Ben got to start a family in a way.

    The moment when Ringer says “My back is broken, I cant walk.” and Ben replies, “I’ll carry you.” I literally put the book down and squealed before reading again. Then Ringer had her child and named her Cassie! I was really confused when it hinted at Ringer being pregnant because you would think that the book would make a bigger deal about it, but nope! Then Ben calls Cassie ‘Mayfly’ and I was just like Evan. That name is reserved for the Cassie who saved everyone and her only.

    Off to the Evan and Cassie subject again…
    Oh my gosh!!!
    I can’t believe that Cassie died. I really wanted to cry when I heard that she was actually dead. I was really thinking that she’s a main character and that she would live somehow. But obviously that didn’t happen. At first I was like ‘okay, she’s with Evan now. It’ll be okay.’ But then Evan lived and my heart sunk.

  • RandomIncIsBored • 8 years ago

    To be honest, I had no idea what on Earth was going on in the end. Did Cassie die? Did Ringer just kill her? Those were just questions going through my head. And I had to look this up to figure it out. And honestly, even now I’m upset with the ending. I don’t know, the ending just seems kind of thrown together and lazy? Rick used that one troupe where the main character dies, and it was used in such a way that I can’t tell if it’s symbolism, or just that one thing that authors do when they want to jerk a few tears.

    Now, while I did have that sneaking suspicion that they were going to kill off a character, I was hoping it was Ringer. Her character just didn’t sit well with me. I am glad though that it wasn’t Sams, because the entire series was caused because his sister was trying to protect, and keep him safe (*cough cough* HUNGER GAMES). It couldn’t be Evan, because that would just be abusing the power of having a character sacrifice himself (seriously, how many times do we have to think this guy died?). I did feel indifferent towards Ben though, but it was clear he wasn’t going to be killed off. And I had THOUGHT that Rick wouldn’t use such an ending as killing the main FREAKING character off. Not only that, but Cassie ended up being portrayed as more of a brat. It just feels like Rick lost sight of her personality.

    AND SAMS! JUST SAMS! Cass goes through all the trouble of trying to save him, and he treats her like garbage! Then there’s that nonsense about him pulling away from Cassie just because she’s a civilian? You comfort your family you ingrate! And then he just blocks out Cassie’s existence after she dies? Screw you, Sam. Screw you. I mean, he was supposed to be lovable right? And then there was all this complaining about how prayers bring death? No Sam, dying, brings death. And why on Earth does everyone have a freaking God complex?

    Yeah, I had a lot of problems with this book. I seriously would have just rathered that they ended the series with the first book, as incomplete as it was, it was better than this.

    • 21 crybabys panic!at the disco • 7 years ago

      Okay well Ringer didn’t kill Cassie. The ending doesn’t say whether Cassie lives or not. It just says she steps out the pods into the ship and she breathes.BUT (and this is a big but) there’s many ways this book could’ve possibly ended given the ending to this. The bomb didn’t work. So, Cassie meets the actual commander. She could be given the 12th system. Memories are erased just how they did Evan. I mean there are way more better ideas but Right now I’ll make anything happen in order for Cassie to live. I also agree with you on the Ringer dying part. I didn’t really like her character as well. It just didn’t fit right. I was also a tinsy bit annoyed when Rick described Ringer(Marika) as the Jet-Black long straight haired girl which makes her seem very pretty compared to Cassie as the freckled light red headed girl. Just the ending for Cassie completely threw me off. I wasn’t happy about it. I just came back to these books and I finished the infinite sea in a day and a half almost. Then I remembered why I didn’t read these books again (though I love them) was because my favorite character died and everyone loved their happy life while Evan is a sad lonely man.

  • 21 crybabys panic!at the disco • 7 years ago

    Okay I love the book, it’s absolutely heartbreaking in the end though because my favorite character Cassie MIGHT have died. Technically the book didn’t say whether Cassie has died or not. Everyone’s believes casssie dies but what if the capsule didn’t detonate correctly at all? She could’ve been captured and wiped clean of memory and the others gave her the system they gave ringer. In the book The infinite sea Evan says “There’s a hundred ways this could wrong” when helping Cassie take out Megan’s little ticking CO2 bomb. What if the same happened to Cassie? I’m just thinking of different case scenarios that will let Cassie live. I believe that Rick Yancey personally wanted people thinking Cassie died after all by leaving us in suspense because it’s the ending the books.

  • Marie • 5 years ago

    I, for one, am upset with the ending. I think that Evan, after everything that he went through, deserved a happy ending, or at least a ending with Cassie. But instead, Cassie dies and Evan is left to wander (lonely, sad, and heartbroken) and destroy military bases. I just think it’s unfair. I also think that Cassie deserved her happy ending too. I mean, geez, give her a break! She lost everyone but her brother. Let her relax for a bit! Now, she finally understands that Evan loves her, not just the idea of her. And I think that she is definitely head-over-heels for him. It’s terrible. I think Cassie deserved to live. And I think that Evan and Cassie deserved a future. But now, they’ll never get one. I do love the series though. It was amazing, five-stars! I just though that the ending should have been different.

  • Estrella • 4 years ago

    please make cassie survive it would be sad if she didn’

  • Andrew cronin • 4 years ago

    Dumb like why would you kill off Cassie makes no since I get there needs to be death so I hope you get your head out your ass and change it like when you make the last 2 movies change it and leave Cassie alive kill off evan let him be the one to sacrifice himself killing off his peoples space ship like makes no since let’s make the books like everyother ending in the world come on yancey