Will anything go according to plan? Will anybody achieve the thing they said they would? 
 Of course not. GRR Martin once again allows beloved (and hated) characters to make life-altering, grandiose plans and then kills them or has them kidnapped or otherwise pushed off course before they can follow through. 
 This book is LOOONG. For ten days it was like I was carrying a brick and a half around with me. And the narrative is told from 16 POV characters. This makes it easy to reach a chapter narrated by a character you haven't heard from in a while and forget at which cliffhanger you last left them. 
 Also, this may just be that I'm used to this fantasy series serving up colourful scenes of death and gore but, the ending wasn't overly shocking. There were other more gut wrenching deaths. Although the impact of these was not as strong as I watched the series before reading this book. 
 In saying all that: I kept thinking about Jeyne Poole long after I finished the book! What she endures is horrific!