Initial Impressions 4/6/14: 4 - 4.5 stars 
 And so I say anoshe to this series. 
 The ending to this book was just beautiful and a wonderful way to wrap things up. I loved the finality of everything and yet the openness to allow the characters to go off and pursue other things. The series was complete and yet there could totally be more books or a spin-off series with more things to come. 
 I will say, though, that the thing that struck me the most about this book was HOW MUCH happened. It's the last book in the series so of course things will escalate but there were so many things that could have been put in the second book -- like backstories, more world-building, explanations, etc -- that felt a little too crammed into the final book when this would have been more suited for the action and not building things up at the same time. I would have loved to have learned more about Holland in AGOS instead of ACOL, as a specific example, and some of the revelations could have been developed in AGOS with a final reveal in ACOL instead of it all happening at once. I didn't feel overwhelmed by the length of the book but it just did feel like a whole lot was flung at me at once, especially in the beginning. It's not that it was hard to follow but it was a lot to constantly take in. 
 Definite (mild) spoilers for the series in the rest of the review below so I'll put it all in a spoiler tag for those who don't wish to read it just yet. 
 (view spoiler)[I also still have some questions that weren't really answered... I understand the unspoken concept of the one black eye for Antari but I also wish that was more directly addressed. I wish we had known who Kell's parents were and what his name was before he came to the royal family but I understand leaving that one open because who he was is not who he is and he chooses to be present instead of dwelling in the past. I also wanted to know more about Lila's past, how she lost her eye (it was said to be an accident but I always wondered if it was more to cover up her true nature), and what led her to where she was. There were so many hints that Lila was so much MORE than basically everything but it was never said that she was more than an Antari... so was she more or was she just Antari? Or an exceptional Antari? Or am I just looking for too many answers that I should attain for myself? I figured out that she was Antari pretty much immediately once it was revealed that she was missing an eye but then the actual reveal wasn't even an event. It just kind of... happened. Like oh yeah, Lila is doing magic now and she's doing crazy stuff so I guess she's an Antari and everyone else was just like, okay, guess so. Maybe because Lila does whatever she wants so people weren't surprised when she broke all the rules anyway, but still. Again, I understand not wanting to go fully into each character's past and reveal every little thing but just a few words of wrap-up could have left things more final, I think. 
 Then there were the THINGS with the magic system. I'm a huuuuge magic-system geek and I love learning about all of the rules and what a magician/wizard/whoever can and cannot do. It felt a little inconsistent to me with new abilities popping up where they were convenient. I did like that average citizens of Red London were able to wield magic and how differently it was accessible to the "common" people and also how its accessibility was different from world to world. I did love that Antari were next-level magic users and the only ones who were able to use blood magic to perform extraordinary feats and that they could use every element and not just one or two or three. Does the black eye signify black magic? It seemed like it should due to the story line here but that really wasn't addressed. Was it a piece of black magic within them or was it just magic and the essence of Black London had just turned bad? Was it a coincidence that the three Antari were from the three different Londons? Was there a Black London Antari and there is only allowed one from each London? Was it a coincidence that the three Antari had three different colored eyes (Lila: brown, Kell: blue, Holland: green)? Was this all planned and the rules of magic or was it all just randomly coincidental? Maybe I'm just naturally too curious but it seemed like these things were rules but never talked about. Maybe the characters don't even know themselves. I'm just a total sucker for learning as much as I can about a magic system so that really felt incomplete to me. Maybe I'm just spoiled with Brandon Sanderson books that detail everything so much that I've eaten it all up and come to expect it in other books. (The Antari reminded me of Mistborn in a way, with their ability to use all types of magic so there was a minor association for me there.) 
 I also for some reason didn't totally love the Osaron concept... maybe because I didn't love the concept of magic taking a human form? I'm not sure. There was just something about it that I didn't love and something just felt "off" there for some reason. Maybe because it seemed like some sort of a turn in the concepts and I was expecting a different direction regarding the escalation of the black magic. I was also hoping for more time in Black London because I'm just TOO DARN CURIOUS. So I guess most of my disappointments were just hopes and my curious brain demanding more answers! (hide spoiler)] 
 Despite all of the thoughts I've just expressed, I did enjoy the series. I actually think the first book was the strongest in terms of plot and structure and it still remains my favorite. If things hadn't gotten derailed with the games in AGOS and had continued with strong plot development, I think the series could have been even stronger and more cohesive. All of the books were entertaining and the characters were really just wonderful. I really loved the character dynamics, the personalities, and the wonderful relationships. As a series, I think AGOS just really killed the plot momentum and while it was still highly entertaining, it could have pushed things so much further and more time could have been dedicated in ACOL to tying things up along with the action instead of jamming everything into a final book. I loved every character and the ways that they all interacted with each other and I did think that was so well done. I really connected with each one and just loved the feelings that I got from their relationships. The ending of the series was bittersweet and just the perfect way to say goodbye, or rather, anoshe.