I liked this one better than the last one; though there are still inconsistencies that irk me (for example,

Spoiler

Joy’s abrupt decision to stay with her expected son in his ancestral home, despite her American upbringing/values, which is completely forgotten by the time she’s plotting to and actually escapes the village

), the latter part has a fairly dynamic plot with ups and downs, and the characters finally seem to be showing some development. I think the focus and themes are a lot clearer here, which also helps.

Joy’s exploration of her own identity and values was a lot more relatable to me than Pearl’s was; we’re both Chinese-American college students trying to satisfy our adventurelust without losing sight of ourselves. The dual perspective between Joy and Pearl helps with the conceit and stubbornness that bugs me in both characters, by portraying each through the eyes of the other and showing how easily they misunderstand each other’s intentions and plans. And the constant back-and-forth works a lot better between a mother and daughter from different worlds — ie, both a generational and cultural gap — than it did between two codependent sisters who are alleged lifelong best friends.

I have a love/hate relationship with this series. On the one hand, I'm fascinated by the world-building; on the other, I'm nauseated by the romantic cliches and not all that fond of Nikki and the choices she makes. That said, I do have a history of being let down by the final installment in a trilogy, so there you have it.

As with previous books, my main issue is that — even with all its flaws — the show is so much better. The plot progression is ... awkward to say the least, and it feels like the characters (particularly Bellamy, whose behavior here reminds me of his onscreen counterpart's s3 "gone too far"/potentially OOC reckless, combative impulsiveness) have regressed. And for being endgame, Bellarke sure fight a lot: unnecessary drama, in my opinion, because it doesn't seem to make their relationship stronger.

I did like seeing Octavia get together with Anna, a soft pure wlw relationship that even her overprotective big brother approves of. However, it's a minor redeeming point in the face of all my disappointments with this book. As others have said, the majority of my enjoyment comes from show-based attachment to the characters and love for fluffy canon Bellarke.

A satisfying conclusion to an enjoyable series. Not really revolutionary (see what I did there? :P) but the world-building, plot, and especially the characters are all well-developed and I was certainly genuinely invested in the outcome of this adventure.

With each new book the cast expands and the characters we all know grow through some kind of shift; it's a little too deliberate to be organic but works pretty well on a literary level. Some of the plot developments were a bit much, but never so extreme that I wanted to give up.

Honestly, I never expected to see this series through to the conclusion; the first one was fun, sure, but it was far from joining my favorites shelf - probably in large part because I found it hard to relate to any of the characters. However, I think it does a great job skirting that fine line between comic-book style villains and black-and-white morality, and being too dark and gritty for what is probably a pre/teen target audience. A little outside my preferred reading range, but I did enjoy them.

For dystopian lit, it was at least somewhat imaginative and complex while still being easy enough to follow. Some cliches, but overall a tolerably good read.

The whole story was whimsical, maybe a little too much so; things in Cello sometimes made more sense than in the World, which seemed counterintuitive. Also, I didn't really like Madeleine.

A lot of the plot "twists" felt repetitive/predictable, almost like copouts. The characters and plot lacked dynamics, and my willing suspension of disbelief was stretched pretty thin.

The last few chapters? ALL THE FEELS. Even knowing ahead of time that

Spoiler

Tris dies

, I was shocked and delightfully infuriated by the details. Honestly, though, the ending was a bit weak.