'm really sad that one of my favorite series ended by fizzling out so badly. I feel like after Deceptions, the 4th and 5th books were so thin on plot and introduced characters that I simply didn't care about. Whether it's because of the introduction of some random Huntsman (Effwee? something like that) and the lamiae, or because the author ran out of plot ideas, the adventure and mystery and suspense of the previous books just disappeared. The insane asylum was creepy and amazing the first few times we saw it, but by Rituals, it was almost enough to induce an eyeroll. 
 I also hated the copout of the choice-non-choice and yes, I agree with the other reviewers here that Olivia and Gabriel's relationship deserved better. There was so much buildup, so much about how Gabriel was struggling to change and develop, and then suddenly all this was resolved in the first couple hundred pages and all his previous trauma kind of disappeared. Not to mention sometimes it felt like a whole different character altogether, one that goes from being cold, distant, and afraid of personal relationships, to someone who made a compete 180 suddenly and is touching Olivia all the time, playing the part of her perfect boyfriend and everything. I liked the previous dynamic better, where Olivia acknowledges that he has been shaped by his past and might never change in some ways, that they might always have to work through those difficulties in their relationship. Instead, this sudden resolution of all that felt so forced and Gabriel became a caricature of himself. Gabriel 2.0 was like the best of Ricky (super supportive boyfriend) with only the best of Gabriel 1.0, with the result being some perfect boyfriend. 
 I admired Olivia and LOVED this series, but the ending made me feel like it was all just about Olivia having her cake and getting to eat it too.