Well, I'll give this to the author, he definitely knows how to wrap up a story. I've been concerned since almost page 1 about how he was going to do it - the scope of this trilogy, the loss, the midfuck 10 different ways - how do you put a realistic ending on that. But damn if he didn't manage to do it. Impressive. Honestly, this story was just so different from anything else YA that I've read (and I've read a lot recently) - futuristic dystopia in a way I've never seen. With that though was a small criticism - it was so twisty and turny, so many mind games were played and replayed, done and undone, that I got just a little lost at times. To that end, I think he really impressively put the readers directly into what the shoes of Cassie or Ringer would have felt like. At the same time, I feel like I didn't follow it all enough to really get what happened in the end. So the Others were never actually there? Even the Silencers were just normal humans? It was all computer re-programming of memories and physical ability? And if so, how does the Mothership blowing up really make a difference? Like, would razing Earth's cities matter if the reprograming of and demolition of it's citizens had already taken root, or not as the case may be? I feel like, in the end, Vosch was the real enemy. He mattered more than the Mothership. But maybe I also missed the whole point. Regardless, I think Cassie's sacrifice might have been the best "main character" death to end a series that I've ever read. It was pulled off smoothly, almost expectedly, and didn't seem forced at all (which is what Tris's death in Allegiant felt like to me). Ringer's child, birthed from a doomed love in a broken world from a "cold" human, was so spectacularly symbolic. Perhaps a touch too much, but I can see why it was there. I love that Sam and Megan and Ben are the ones that were left behind. The chain reattached - Ben's second chance, after his sister. Plus, it makes sense that, as Sam went through all this so young, and that Zombie was there with him for the tough parts to start, that his connection there would be strong. Even though he never gave up on his sister, they both changed while they were apart and Zombie was there for that - it's a bond you can't change and Cassie couldn't get between, even if that's what all parties involved would have wanted. That's the real tragedy in this story I think. And that Evan didn't die - I liked that too. It's realistic that his body would have survived and it allows the parallel deaths of him and Cassie to not be a cliched ending - though her belief in his death, and her role therein, allowing her to make the sacrifice she needed to was a great touch. All in all, this is a well crafted, if loftily conceptualized, YA series about the power of love (in many many forms) and it's role as the one thing in humans' arsenal that will always allow them to persevere and no matter what the odds.