The Last Kids on Earth and the Midnight Blade (Last Kids on Earth #5)

Ruthie

Rating: really liked it
Battle royal? Need I say more?!

Mehsi

Rating: really liked it
The 5th book and this time bigger baddies, zombie radios/hive mind, and a blade that may change outcomes.


I am really back into this series, a big thank you again to my husband for giving me this one for my birthday! Now I could read on quite soon after reading book 4.

The book begins with an exciting scene immediately. Zombies, Evie, a tail, and oh yas I loved how the book immediately draws you into the story.

I loved that June came up with a brilliant idea since the radio wasn’t working. I loved that she and Quint made something that was able to show them if their families were still alive. That was definitely an emotional part, and I am delighted that so many people survived the apocalypse and that they are doing relatively OK. I do hope that in later books we get to see some new settlements because I would love to meet some new humans (and I am definitely not counting Evie as one of my want to meet new humans, I mean good guys).

There is also a training montage, or however you want to call that. I definitely liked seeing how that was formatted and I found myself rooting for Jack. Though he quickly learned that training isn’t as fun as they show it in action movies. Haha, oh Jack. But I loved that he kept going and that he was eager to find out what was going on.

I loved that we got to see plenty of the monsters that roam the town and that they were more than eager to help out and join the battles to save Earth.

I definitely hadn’t expected that the authors would go this far! I was so shocked and saddened when that happened. I guess I could have seen it coming given what happened to Dirk in the previous book, but again, normally kid’s books don’t go this far.

I loved what Dirk’s friends did for him in this book when they saw he wasn’t himself. He was isolating himself, sleeping a lot, trying to get away from it all and we learn later on what is happening. My heart broke for him. After all the events from the previous book he deserved some reprieve and he didn’t get it. So I loved that his friends tried to get him to talk, tried to make him smile, tried to help him forget things. From a fun and giant event that includes goo and loot crates to a special present to help him.

There were tons of twist and turns. Really, each time you think there is a moment of peace, of quiet, of silence, something happens. And I love it, though I would also not have minded some real peace. But I guess until everyone bad is defeated and the world is safe there is going to be barely any moments of silence and peace.

There were a few moments of laughing, and I especially loved when the baddie of last time was totally into nachos and didn’t particularly seem to care about destroying the world.

The ending, OH BOY, things were already getting heated these past books and this book was particularly heated with all the action and training, but the ending definitely promises that the next few books, leading to the finale, will be total sitting-on-the-edge-of-your-seat-and-gnawing-on-your-nails exciting. I cannot wait. Plus, Jack will need to learn how to handle the new updates on his glove and his sword (baseball bat, cough).

All in all, I will soon be buying the next book (along with the short story collection and June’s own story) because I need to know more and want to see what happens in the next one. Will Grull be back? Will he get to his promise? Will Jack learn to wield his new powers and weapon?

Review first posted at https://twirlingbookprincess.com/

Ms. Yingling

Rating: really liked it
Copy provided by the Publisher

There will be hot competition for this new title in my library! Have to admit, I'm a little curious to see how this would be adapted into a television series, but I don't have Netflix. Also, this is described as Diary of a Wimpy Kid meets The Walking Dead, which my students love. Neither is really my cup of brains.

Ismo

Rating: really liked it
Good book. Action. Its easy to read.

Jay

Rating: really liked it
this had 457 pages and it was so interesting every page you will love it so I hope you like it cause it had funny parts good cool and awesome parts in story.

Will

Rating: really liked it
Really good book I would read it again. It's fun and entertaining loved it 4.7 out of 5.

Christian Lenz

Rating: really liked it
So Good !! Alot of action. Thrull is back . I love Jack Sullvian. I can so realte to him !! Can't wait for my next book !!

Tamara

Rating: really liked it
Definitely the best book out of the series.

I felt bad for Dirk when they found out he could hear the chattering going on from the Zombies.

Also, in the end when Jack looks at his arm and realizes that the tentacle glove he was using to help control his Slicer was now permanently suction-cupped to his arm, he was impressed but also confused. He knew now with it being on his arm there was no turning back, but it made me wonder when he found this out, if this is over, will he be able to somehow try and get it off with maybe surgery?? That was a thought and question I kept thinking about reading that part.

I have to say I was also pretty excited when Quint and June found a way to still connect with the survivors in NY at the Statue of Liberty and found through the XBOX a way to see who checked in safe. I’m glad they both found their parents safe. I’m a little surprised Dirk didn’t check.

Dain

Rating: really liked it
cant wait for the next

Shaihak

Rating: really liked it
This is the best book of the whole series of ‘the last KIDS on earth’ (YET) .Snd I loved the Christmas theme for it and evil snarg how did she even know about the cosmic terrors ?

Ryhona

Rating: really liked it
i think this book is very good the fact that Max Brallier just writes it as Jack Sullivan really expresses the character plus the illustrations were awesome.

Germaine

Rating: really liked it
One of my favorite middle grade series. I just enjoy all the friendship and actual plot and character development that we get in these books. Each book takes on a new turn and intensifies the effects of the previous books, and this one is no exception. Plus, the art style is endearing as ever. I'm looking forward to the next installments in the series!

Joseph Sanchez

Rating: really liked it
Lots of action. Humorous dialogue. Pop-Culture references that include Star Wars, Ghostbusters, and Battle Royale. Kids will love the fifth book in the series The Last Kids on Earth. The hero Jack receives some upgrades. Dirk is weirdly connected to the zombies. A beloved character dies. Thrull returns. It is a fun read, and I guess we have to keep reading the series because we are hooked regardless if the story is good or not now. There will have to be a sixth book, although it is not out yet, because the last written words in the story were, "To be continued!"

Blake Stephens

Rating: really liked it
The last kids on earth and the Midnight Blade, by Max Brallier, illustrated by Douglas Holgate. The lexile of the book is 950 and a 5th-6th grade style book but suggested for kids that like games. The Last Kids on Earth series is about a boy named Jack Sullivan and his friends surviving a monster/zombie apocalypse that struck his town.
The main setting in The Last Kids on Earth is a city called Wakefield, in Jack and his friends tree house after a huge apocalypse happened and wiped out their town and they think they are the only ones left on earth. The story starts out with Jack and his friends finishing out the winter monster apocalypse. It was a very hard and miserable winter but they just managed to pull it off. They can’t rest yet though because spring was coming and it was going to bring loads of new and dangerous monsters. When Jack gets his Louisville Slicer back he discovers that the blade can do a lot more than just killing monsters and zombies. When spring came it was like the zombie population tripled and everything was out of control because the friends couldn't control all the zombies because it seemed like the more they got involved and tried to do stuff about the zombies it just made it worse. The friends made traps, new weapons, smoke bombs to make the zombies confused as the friends escaped if they were in trouble. All of Jack's friends had basically given up because of how long they spent trying to control the zombie situation, but Jack was determined to try everything he possibly could to stop this huge zombie outbreak. Jack took his Louisville Slicer out one day and started training and studying how the zombies react to what different things he would try and do. One zombie was in the way of a test he was doing with a trap and he waves his blade at it in a certain way and yells “Move zombie!” and then after the zombie just stopped what it was doing and just looked at Jack. “What is it doing?” Jack thought to himself’. After a little bit of time with the zombie just standing there Jack pointed with his blade and shouted “Leave!”, and just like that the zombie walked away in the direction that Jack had pointed with his Slicer. Jack then rushed back to the tree base and told his friends who were about ready to give up, what he had found out how to do, and they even did a few tests outside on other zombies and it turned great how lucky they got. The friends then lead as many as the zombies as possible out of town and they continue to if zombies cross the friends paths. I was wondering what would have happened if Jack didn’t get the Louisville Slicer back from the last story? Would Jack give up if he didn’t find what he could do while he was training? How bad would the zombies get if they couldn't control them? Would they eventually die if they didn't have the blade? Those are the main questions I ask myself after the book. The moral of the story being, don’t ever give up even if it seems impossible at the time if you keep working hard you can overcome almost anything. (Just like Jack did when finding out he could control the zombies)
I liked this book because the character and the series relates everything to a video game so I can pretty much relate. It was easy to read but that’s okay because reading isn’t very fun anyway. This is a series so it didn’t really end so I can’t say if the ending is good or not. My favorite part in the book was when after Jack told his friends about the blade and they did tests they just messed around with the zombies while leading them out of town, such as making them go to a strange spot and having one as a “pet” sort of thing for a while. This book reminds me of Zombies in Call of Duty just like the last few book in this series. This author tries to relate with kids with all the monsters and kid humor he puts into the book.

Caleb

Rating: really liked it
I have read the entire series and I have enjoyed them all the way through. I personally enjoy the midnight blade because of the comedy and action scenes. here is a little bit of a of insight on the midnight blade which is a baseball bat that holds a mystical power that jack the main character has and is trying to figure out and understand it so he can save the world with the help of his friends Dirk, Quint, and June from the villains named Rezzoch and Evie. Rezzoch is an evil conqueror and Max Brallier well represented this by the story of the friendly monsters that came from the world that was taken over by Rezzoch. Jack figures out about the great danger of Rezzoch when he is training with Bardle one the friendly monsters, Bardle uses some magic power to show jack the terror of what will happen if he gives up on training which has been planning on this so he can go hangout with his friends but he is flustered and confused by this which is perfect because if any kid was in this situation they would be confused and the book has a perfect example of this. Jack and his friends end up having to fight a so called friend named Thrull which turned out to be a villain working with Rezzoch and sadly Bardle was killed in the process this shows the drama and how nobody is safe in this situation and also this affects the characters in a sad way they all are heart broken of their beloved friend that has just passed away. Jack and his friends defeat Thrull in the ultimate battle to try to save earth in which they succeed. This book shows Drama, action, and very good storytelling and I personally recommend this series to kids as it is a true masterpiece to read.