This is THE best middle grade series I have ever read. I am literally at a loss for words. I don't think I have ever read something so profound and thought-provoking and real in my entire life. I just need everyone to read this. Like I mean everyone. All of you reading this, this series better be on your tbr.

I don't even know where to start. This book is the darkest, saddest, most depressing book in the series. It takes the whole "main character is the hero of the story" and makes it realistic. I find a lot of books don't delve much into the emotional and mental aspect of a character's development. Considering everything Gregor has gone through, his thought process, his reactions, his anxiety, his PTSD...just everything, felt right, realistic, and true to not just his character but the situation as a whole. How many times have we read a book where a character goes through all these horrible things and then the book ends with "and they lived happily ever after"? This series doesn't do that. It not only shows the difficult decisions and choices that need to be made, but it also leaves the reader thinking at the end.

The last half of the book was a series of stabs to my chest. Everything was a mess, there were so many sad and precious moments, so many deaths. I'm still not over the words "I'm okay", not just because Gregor is only 13 years old and has had to go through so much, but also because they're the same words I find myself repeating sometimes when things are really ba. The last chapter itself was classics Suzanne Collins. I love perfectly resolved happy endings, but in reality, those don't happen so frequently. And just like in the Hunger Games, we're left wanting more closure, wanting to know what will happen next, how the characters are going to cope, etc. etc. That last chapter was worse than death. I swear if I had it in me, I would have been bawling my eyes out on the bus. I even contemplated writing fanfic. It affected me that much.

Besides everything that happens in the last chapter, we're given a lot of moments when Gregor reflects on what he's gone through and how that is going to affect him afterwards. He applies everything he's learned to the Overland, and we sort of get an idea where we might see his character in the future. That being said, there were so many questions I had. And while I can totally imagine what might have happened, I wish Suzanne would continue this series. It is better than anything I have ever read and I can't stress enough how important this book is.

I don't really want to go into the plot or the other characters too much. Luxa has grown a lot throughout the book and I'm really happy with how things ended. Ripred is my man. I love him so much. THE DEATHS. Will always pain me for the rest of my life. Except for one

Spoiler

aka Solovet can choke, I don't care what her intentions, and the couple good things she did in her life, I'm just glad she wasn't redeemed in the end and forgiven for everything and reinstated as the head of the military. Her death was deserved and a good end for her character

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Also, Suzanne has a way with poems and riddles. I don't know how she does it, but it's amazing. And the whole Code of Claw too.

The last couple sentences in the final chapter were so precious and pure and I absolutely love Boots and she can now say Gregor properly and I seriously just want to die cause it was too good