Yeah, it's almost hard to remember sometimes that it is a YA series because the writing is so elegant and the themes generally so clear-eyed, and usually carried through to their natural conclusion, consequences and all -- just not quite all the way this time, I think.

But yeah, I had fun reading it, I was glad to be reading it, it didn't make me feel badly about the series overall! It's just also sort of easy to take a step back from and critique.