Quick takeaways:

Protagonist(s): Still loveable

Side Characters: Fine

Antagonist(s): Clowns. Scariest beings on earth.

Plot: Gripping

Writing: Good

Summary: 

What the hell was that ending?

The book was going at a steady pace. Things were tense. There were moments that everything felt hopeless yet our heroes were still persevering. There were creepy clowns! I was so curious how everything would resolve.

Then chapter 19 - BAM! Ends in the most anti-climatic way.

My guess is maybe since all the books were around 250 pages, the author had to cut it short to make a quota? Or maybe they didn’t know how else to end the story? I don’t know but to end a series on this whimper instead of a bang was not a good look.

However, the fact that I am upset about the ending does show how strongly I felt about the story and the characters and how otherwise Katherine Arden is a good writer. I love Ollie, Brian and Coco. I love their bond that grew over these books. I love to hate the smiling man and his scheming ways. I’m always happy when they get one up over him.

But this ending blows. So hard.

I still think it’s a great series for a middle schoolers and above.