All the Stars in the Sky (Until the End of the World #3) by Sarah Lyons Fleming (2015)

NA Fiction | Zombies | Sci-Fi | (TV-14)

Blurb:

“Cassie Forrest has sworn she’ll never let the world get the best of her again.
She’s chosen to believe everything will be all right.

But on a journey filled with heartbreak and madness and zombies, Cassie and her friends must struggle to stay alive—and it’s hard to believe in a future when survival seems unlikely.” 
–Goodreads 

Book One: UNTIL THE END OF THE WORLD

pooled ink Review:

This is the third and final book in this zombie apocalypse series and it’s my favorite one so far. The first was great but let’s be real, Ana and Peter were so annoying that it drove me crazy for half the book. The second book was good but so many people died I wanted to burn it. This book, well, it wasn’t all roses and sunshine of course but I dunno, it just won me over completely. There was devastation throughout and yet I felt so much more connected to everyone, I felt more invested in their journey. Maybe I was just better prepared for the bad stuff and savored the good moments more. I don’t know, but I just really loved this book.

I really love all of the characters, their stories, their lives, and their distinct personalities. Cassie is awesome (I know in the first book I said I wasn’t sure about her but by book three she’s awesome). I also really love the author’s writing voice. It’s so comfortably realistic and familiar somehow. I’m able to read along as if I’m there myself. The dialogue doesn’t sound forced, superficial, or overdone. It’s easy, conversational, but real. I dunno, it just clicks for me.

At the end of the last book we find out that they’ve been forced to leave Vermont because the lexers have destroyed yet another home for them so they’ve decided to head to Alaska to one of the last known Safe Zones. It’s not really a spoiler when I say that they make it. I won’t give away the journey there or what happens when they arrive but I will say that they make it to Alaska and it’s not quite what they were expecting.

True to form we meet some new people but obviously most of my loyalty lies with the original few from the very first book. And while new friends (and enemies) are made, friends (and enemies) still die. Yep. People die in this book. I hate it. But it’s not as hard as it was to lose characters in the last book. But yes, the numbers by the end of this book have seriously dwindled.

That ending though! The epilogue on this book fills me with pure happiness and I am perfectly happy ending this series on that wonderful joyful positive uplifting hopeful note. Sure there are plenty more adventures for them to go on but I think the way Fleming ended it was perfect. It wasn’t magical with unicorns but it was real and happy and natural and hopeful, just like it needed to be.

No one is more surprised than me by how much I’ve enjoyed this series. It’s a zombie story, sure, but it’s also a story about survival and it’s filled with humor, relationships, mourning, adrenaline, catch-22s, and faith. These books show a real slice of life and humanity within a hypothetical plot. I’m glad Sarah plopped those books into my lap forcing me to read them and not just say I’d look into it.

All the Stars in the Sky reels from shock, weeps with loss, roars against enemies, and shakes with love, hope, and a faith that could move mountains. Gritty, witty, and exciting this series takes zombies and spins them into a story worth reading.

Cheers.

 Purchase here: All the Stars in the Sky

Check out the rest of the series: Until the End of the World (Book 1), And After (Book 2)