Finally! Whew these books are so long! Once again, it goes without saying that the skill GRRM has put into weaving a story of this magnitude and in such exquisite detail is almost incomparable and commendable. Superlative, even. That said, I still do find his writing wildly inconsistent - beautiful and perfect at times, and hella boring other times. 
 A few things: 
 * I really like the theme GRRM has going on about wisdom vs honor For instance, there's the Starks, who, like Littlefinger once said, have very little sense. At all. Buckets and buckets of honor, and not enough sense to fill a thimble. Of course, die to this obtuseness, they end up dead and scattered. By contrast, those with little to no honor, but enough wisdom to be able to scheme/outmaneuver the schemers, at least, live to fight another day. Just look at Tywin Lannister and Littlefinger. Even Varys. All despicable, but quite cunning. And that is why they are alive and Ned and Robb Stark aren't. 
 ** GRRM is also doing a great job of coloring in his characters, adding some layers to them. For me, the best layering he did in this book was with Sansa. She's no longer just vapid and shallow and stupid. Now we get to see the truth of her mother's words - she is kind. I liked how kindly she thought of Willa's Tyrell when their marriage was proposed to her, even though he is crippled. She also would make a good hostess, as Tyrion saw. It was nice to see Sansa in a different light. 
 On a coupla characters 
 All in all, the plot is moving forward. The Red Wedding complete broke my heart, but I wasn't surprised. Robb was playing the fool and suffered the consequences. Shoulda listened to your mama. He took liberties he didn't have, playing at 'love', when he didn't have that luxury. I felt really sad for Catelyn. 
 As for Catelyn's dislike of Jon, and Jon's insecurities stemming from being a bastard, I place the blame squarely on Ned Stark and that empty head of his. Their problem is what happens when you have honor but no wisdom and make decisions that affect other people. Well, the next sentences aren't really a spoiler, more of a deduction 
 (view spoiler)[ The story of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, as discussed between Daenerys and Ser Barristan Selmy, coupled with this 'promise' Lyanna wrenched from Ned leads me to believe Jon is actually the kid of Lyanna an Rhaegar. It makes sense. And don't even get me started on how annoyed I am about the stupid decisions Lyanna and Rhaegar made that has landed Westeros into all this drama. If Ned had told Catelyn, se would've been reassured of his faithfulness and they could have kept the charade up together, but made Jon a part of the family. Voila - Catelyn's fears are vanquished, and so are Jon's insecurities, none of this pain and suffering. But no. Honor without sense. (hide spoiler)] 
 I'm excited to pick up book 4 in the series. I'm more excited that GoT Season 5 starts Sunday! My body is ready.