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The Last Star (The 5th Wave #3) by Rick Yancey.

"The dark but necessary conclusion to Yancey's series. It brings everything to a close but the cost is always high. Yancey handles it all in gently heart breaking way. Post-apocalyptic YA Sci-Fi at its best."    Pros:  Yancey does wrap it up well with a pretty good bow, one of the times a rare ray of light shines through this overall very dark series.  Cons:  Not a con per se but reading this series through now as an adult, it is dark. Like, sure, the protagonists are mostly teenagers but, it can get heavy at times, so tread lightly/Though there were some truly deep parts, the ending did go on for a bit.   Full Review: This is one of those times where I feel obligated to say that if you haven't read the first two books in the series, then stop here. Go back and get a copy of The 5th Wave and then please, proceed...  ***SPOILER ALERT*** It's been 6 weeks since Cassie and company escaped Urbana, Ringer was captured, tormented and freed and the Alie...
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The Infinite Sea (The 5th Wave #2) by Rick Yaney

"A direct continuation of The 5th Wave  and Yancey goes even deeper, never pulling any punches and leaving the reader feeling shocked and horrified but at the same time, like the characters, somehow, still hopeful. I'm excited to see how the Series ends in The Last Star. " 5 Stars Pros:  Basically picking up right where The 5th Wave  left off, we follow Ben/Cassie in their attempts to lay low and survive after the cataclysmic events of the first books ending/The scene between Poundcake and Grace was absolute perfection.  Cons:  Some of the scene with Ringer were very surreal and a little hard to follow, a little repetitive but it didn't take away from the book too much, sometimes it went on for a little too long though.  Full Review: Cassie has found her little brother Sam, along with Ben (Zombie) who is Sam's commanding officer and the rest of Ben's unit. Once they realized what was happening, they went rogue and they know it's only a matter of time befor...

The 5th Wave (The 5th Wave #1) by Rick Yancey

"A dark, gritty, unflinching look at how the world descends into chaos when Aliens finally invade. Yancey pulls no punches and there were times that this book was so intense that I had to remind myself that it was fiction. It was a tough read but a powerful one, one that has stayed with me for a long time." 5 Stars Pros:  Though she has her moments of naivete, for the most part, Cassie is a relatable, strong protagonist and her loyalty and love are endless, the same with Ben Parish/Ringer is a mystery that I hope will be solved.  Cons:  This book is extremely dark and violent at times, so brace yourself. It's not a con precisely but it gets deep and depressing at times.  Full Review: It's finally happened.  Aliens have invaded the Earth.  But it wasn't with ray guns, or Death Stars or blowing up the White House, "Independence Day" style. Instead, the mother ship slips into our orbit, hovering above the Earth like a green, lidless eye and for ten days, no...

The Starless Crown (Moonfall #1) by James Rollins

"Epic fantasy in every sense but a bit too epic at times. Though I liked most of the characters and Rollins was good at pacing at the beginning, for some reason, once they all reached Havensfayre, everything got kind of complicated, cerebral and hard to follow. I think there was too much happening to too many people all at once. It was an interesting read but by the end, I just needed it to be done." 2 Stars Pros: I do always love the lax, underestimated underdog character like Kanthe/ Rollins didn’t pull any punches, he killed off characters left and right. Cons: I felt like I learned more about the world than the characters, there were brief glimpses but it was overwhelmed with Nyx and her ability to "sing" to creatures, to "feel" them and "bond" with them/There was a lot happening all at once, to a bunch of different people, so it got confusing as to who was where/when/It went on for far too long. Full Review Nyx was abandoned at birth in th...

A Wind in the Door (Time Quintet #2) by Madeleine L'Engle.

"Essentially, the war between Good and Evil is constant and its up to our intrepid heroes to once again, fight Fallen Angels to try and save the life of the ailing, Charles Wallace. This book was WAY out there and honestly, once the jaded and bitter principal of the grade school, Mr. Jenkins showed up in multiple forms, I just kind of gave up and finished it to see if it would make any more sense but it never really did."  1 Star.  Pros:  Proginoskes was a fun bit of snark at times. Cons:  L’Engles literalness, nothing was imaginary but at the same time it was hard to remember what was real and what wasn’t cause you have Proginoskes always transporting Meg five ways from Sunday to different places/I was so overwhelmed by everything going on that whole characters names were lost on me, like the teacher, Blajeny/Meg's CONSTANT questions and the lack of actual action/More than once I wanted to scream at the book that I didn't care if they were on a different plane of d...

A Wrinkle in Time (Time Quintet #1) by Madeleine L'Engle

"The tried and true story of "good versus evil", L'Engle's approach was a unique, peppering inter-dimensional travel into the mix. But in the end, the characters Meg and Charles Wallace were a bit much and the lack of explanation, especially about Mr. Murry and how he just happened to land on Camazotz and become a prisoner of IT, left me wanting more information and not getting it." 2 Stars Pros:  The idea of a Tesseract is an interesting one, though very complex based on the fact this is a young readers book.  Cons:  Meg was very shrill and also very opposite. When speaking with IT, she argued saying that the least he could do was give them some food and then when he gives them food she refuses to eat it, she was really kind of obnoxious/Also, the end, what saves everyone made sense but, it was a bit of a letdown.  Full Review It's a dark and stormy night and Meg can't sleep, so she goes downstairs to the kitchen to find her youngest brother, Charle...

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

"As Europe falls to the Nazis. Josef Kavalier is the only one of his family to manage to escape to New York City, where he stays with his cousin, Sammy Klay. An instant friendship is formed and soon that friendship is a team. Together they create one of the best selling comics of all time, The Escapist. This had so many different amazing moments and others that were just, soul crushing. It was a heavy, heavy book but a beautiful one as well. "  4 Stars Pros:  Sammy and Josef, you can just picture them, one short, the other tall, eager Sammy and quiet, contemplative Josef. They were a pair that just worked/The ending 💯. Cons:  The over and over heart break of Josef , like, dear Lord, Chabon, give the kid a break/It was sometimes so emotionally heavy that I'd have to put it down and take breaks.  Full Review: Josef manages to escape German occupied Prague with the help of his former teacher, Kornblum, who taught him the arts of sleight of hand, escapism and lock picki...