Finally finished the series. I have to admit that I cheated a little by peeking at the other reviews for spoilers while I was reading. I think that this is one of those instances where spoilers helped a little, as I don't know that I'd have liked this as much if I'd not read them. In specific, I think that I would have been more disappointed by the ending, which another reader described as a little anticlimactic. I liked it, but I can see where they were coming from and I think that warning prepared me for it a little more. 
 Offhand this has a lot of what we've all come to love so far in the series: Sabina being her usual hard-headed self, Adam being sexy and kind of pouting in the corner occasionally, and Gighul providing the comic relief for all of this. And oh yes, Valva is back. I can usually either take or leave her, but I do like her interactions with Gighul and we all knew that it was inevitable that the two of them would end up in each other's paths again. 
 Now I haven't read any of the side stories, so I don't know if this has been addressed or not. The books are fairly good about giving you a small crash course in what the short stories cover, so I think I'm relatively up to date with the events leading up to book 5. What kind of bugged me a little was that Mac's life didn't really get straightened out. A little bit of a spoiler, I suppose, but while she does get a mention in this book she doesn't get an overwhelmingly big one. I know that not everyone in life gets a perfect happily ever after, but given that we have so many of those perfect HEA in this ending I suppose that part of me was hoping that Mac would get one as well. After all, she's essentially trapped in a loveless marriage where she's pretty much forced to have sex she doesn't really enjoy just for the sake of being a broodmare. She put herself there to a degree, but then we don't know how much of her choices were made by the natural urge to remain with the pack and be subservient to her family/pack leader. In any case, part of me just really wanted to see her get her own HEA that allowed her to be with Georgia or with anybody other than her pack-chosen mate. After all, there are other options out there for procreation: artificial insemination, anyone? 
 That gripe aside, this was a fun read and one I raced through rather quickly, all things considered. I liked the bit of lampshading on the whole "Chosen One" thing, as what ended up happening was a bit out of the ordinary. It's not like this type of ending hadn't been done before, but it's not the norm in a lot of UF books with Gritty Heroines that are out there right now. While I did find the final battle a little anti-climactic at times, it did remind me why I found this series so refreshing to begin with. After all, Wells tried hard to not only give us the typical UF reading experience but to also give us enough of a difference to where the series wouldn't fade too much into the background. I can see why people like her books so much. 
 Of course you can't read this without reading the previous 4 (short stories are optional, but not necessary), but I definitely recommend this series as a whole.