Hello! Hope you are doing well AND YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY READ THIS ENTIRE SERIES BECAUSE IT IS SO WORTH IT. Just saying. The writing isn't my favorite (which is the only reason it's not a five star rating) to be honest, and it can take me awhile to get back into the series, but once I do -- oh nelly. Mead does a great job with this world and with the characters involved. There is some definite character growth over the six books, even if the timeline is shorter than the actual time it took for me to read (and get my hands on) the series. Some of the timeline in this one didn't really connect with me either -- two weeks for the love of your life to break your heart and you're okay being around him as a friend? Yeah, okay... I know there were extreme circumstances involved, but I find it hard to believe that Rose is even close to being okay to live. 
 Okay, I do have ONE bone to pick with Mead and that's the part where a 17 year old girl falls in love with a 25 year old -- GROSS, first of all. Second of all, he reciprocates? No thank you, that's taking advantage!!! It's disgusting and it is a horrible example for the teen readers out there. I'm 23 and it's weird dating someone FIVE years older than me, not to mention the immaturity involved in dating ANY 18 year old. So I put Dmitri in a box and say he's 20 -- max 21 -- so that I'm okay with it because I needed to know what was going to happen throughout the series. Thank goodness Dmitri is actually a thoughtful, (mostly) level-headed, mature adult, which is the complete opposite of what their relationship sounds like when I write about it. Ugh. Let's be honest, in real life, Dmitri would be a predator. *shudder* 
 STILL, the action is there in every book and Mead keeps you on your toes. You won't regret getting to the end, even is there are some huge surprises in between.