I'm wondering if these books are better listened to than read... I think the story is great, but the writing feels unnatural and a little juvenile to me. The pace of the dialogue is usually off, and I'm thinking that hearing it narrated might fix some of that--people add inflections and pauses that you don't get when you're just reading. It's too bad I didn't think of it before now, but maybe for book six I'll try it out. 
 Also, in re that huge cliffhanger at the end (for those who've read it)... I TOTALLY knew something like that was coming. :)