Đồng Ma Tiêu Điều

Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children #6

by Ransom Riggs, Đoàn Thị Thanh Mai (Translator)

PHẦN KẾT ĐẦY HÀO HÙNG CỦA BỘ SÁCH ĂN KHÁCH TRẠI TRẺ ĐẶC BIỆT CỦA CÔ PEREGRINE!!!

Điều cuối cùng Jacob Portman thấy trước khi thế giới trở nên tối đen là một gương mặt quen thuộc và đáng sợ.

Cậu và Noor đột nhiên lại trở về nơi tất cả mọi thứ bắt đầu: ngôi nhà của ông nội Jacob tại tiểu bang Florida. Jacob không biết làm cách nào mình đã thoát khỏi Vòng Thời Gian của bà V, nhưng cậu biết chắc chắn một điều: Caul đã trở lại!

Hơn thế nữa, Đồng Ma – nơi trú ẩn cuối cùng của người đặc biệt – đang chìm trong cảnh tiêu điều: từ trời đổ xuống những cơn mưa tro, xương và máu, còn hình bóng Caul lởn vởn khắp mọi nơi, kích động người đặc biệt đứng dậy chống lại các Chủ Vòng.

Họ chỉ còn duy nhất một hy vọng: Đưa Noor đến tụ họp cùng sáu người còn lại trong lời tiên tri. Nếu như họ có thể tìm ra địa điểm gặp mặt ở đâu.

Đối mặt với những kẻ thù hung tàn, vượt qua những Vòng Thời Gian nguy hiểm nhất trong lịch sử, Jacob Portman cùng cô Peregrine và nhóm trẻ đặc biệt sẽ tụ họp tại Đồng Ma trong trận chiến cuối cùng với Caul để đem lại hòa bình cho giới người đặc biệt, một lần và mãi mãi.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Horror, Audiobook, Historical Fiction, Paranormal

592 pages, Paperback

First published February 23, 2021

About the author

Hi, I'm Ransom, and I like to tell stories. Sometimes I tell them with words, sometimes with pictures, often with both. I grew up on a farm on the Eastern shore of Maryland and also in a little house by the beach in Englewood, Florida where I got very tan and swam every day until I became half fish. I started writing stories when I was young, on an old typewriter that jammed and longhand on legal pads. When I was a little older I got a camera for Christmas and became obsessed with photography, and when I was a little older still my friends and I came into possession of a half-broken video camera and began to make our own movies, starring ourselves, using our bedrooms and backyards for sets. I have loved writing stories and taking photographs and making movies ever since, and have endeavored to do all three.

Reviews

[Jesse (JesseTheReader)]

I'm sad to see these characters go, but I was ultimately satisfied with this ending. Catch me out hear tearing up reading the last chapter. I'm in mourning over this series. Plz send oreos my way to comfort me during this rough time.

[Kieron · Rating 1 out of 5]

This one HURTS. Let me start by saying that I LOVE this series. It's my favourite fantasy series of all time and I have a very strong sentimental attachment to it. I grew up with these characters and love them so much. But this, I'm sorry to say, was a major disappointment.

I think the main issue is there were just too many things going on. The character count got way too high for any author to control. I needed more character development, which, seeing the amount of characters, is pretty much impossible to do in depth. Jacob and his reckless self-victimisation I-want-to-be-a-hero vibe just doesn't develop past that, and his relationship with Noor wasn't explored properly at all. Especially in contrast to Emma and Jacob's relationship. With Emma and Jacob, we saw the whole journey of their relationship which was extremely complex with many layers (I mean... she dated his grandfather and when they met she was loop trapped). So I wasn't a fan of Jacob-Noor at all - they barely developed and it felt very forced. Although I do appreciate Noor's representation, I still think we needed more.

On the topic of characters... what happened to Horatio and Julius? Sharon? Miss Wren? Addison? Where was the closure? The characters just disappeared off the face of the earth. Fiona - did she get her tongue back? Maybe some mother dust? Enoch, is he okay? How does Emma really feel about Jacob and Noor and why was there no awkwardness? Horace and Julius? Millard was barely in the book... I mean what happened to his invisible army? Enoch's army of dead did barely anything. Surely Fiona would have been more useful in battle... And you're telling me there wasn't a single strong battle-ready peculiar left? Did the Americans all die? Did their war rage on? What about Leo?

It was just such an unsatisfying ending. It was so picturesque. Too perfect. You really expect me to believe all powerful Caul and his army couldn't kill a single main character? I honestly wanted someone to die in some kind of unpredictable plot twist. I liked the 'Jacob turning into a hollowgast' twist, but I needed more than that. The battle was so lacklustre - where were the peculiar powers? No where near as epic as Gravehill or library of souls. Also, Noor's power. You would think she'd be more powerful than that. Because yes they can steal light (which is such a cool power) but what does that really do in combat? Not much.

Sophie. What was up with her? What was her peculiarity? I wanted to know more. She just kinda made the call and had Penny. WHERE IS THE DEVELOPMENT??? And Sebbie. Where was the projections of light during the battle? Hughs bees? Bronwyn throwing people around? Where were the plot twists? It felt so dead and lacklustre and Jacob-centred. We get it, Jacob can control hollows. I expected more.

Onto the writing. It was so slow paced. The fight lasts what, 50 pages? The conclusion is literally about 30 pages long. We had 30 pages after the big fight. To resolve all of the above... which Riggs unsurprisingly failed to do. Also the descriptions of Murnau cracked me up. I mean to me he looked like Jabba the Hutt... The ending felt really rushed and the story felt tired. He had 500 pages to develop the characters, which just... didn't happen.

There are a few things I liked. I live for Addison. The plot twist with the prophecy was also clever. Bentham was a nice touch and so was Miss Avocet's death. But there were just so many other minor things that bugged me:
V’s ressurection for like 3 seconds... really?
Jacob self-obsessed self-pitying behaviour
The WWI scene was a bit much
Julius and Horace... queerbaiting?

I love this series and always will. The first 5 books have a very special place in my heart. But this, this was an astronomical disappointment.

[Whitney Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I will never not tear up at the end of a final book in a series!! for the conclusion to an added-on trilogy to the original, this was pretty solid. however, something about this book felt one peg down from ransom’s usual craft. some of the foreshadowing was done very obviously, jacob was making questionable decisions rather than informed ones, and it was quite insta-lovey. What made up for it was the added humor between all the peculiars and the one-liners that got some real chuckles out of me.

this series is great with lovable characters, but in the end I don't think we ended up in a very different place after adding three more books. I still recommend them because the cast and the world are so spectacular, but the series definitely hits its peak at book four in my opinion.

[Tucker Almengor]

Holy sh*t

it's a saga now

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[Emanuel Viziteu]

Someone's willing to dethrone Harry Potter🧐🤭🥴

[Catherine · Rating 2 out of 5]

1) Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children ★★★★☆
2) Hollow City ★★★★☆
3) Library of Souls ★★★★☆
4) A Map of Days ★★★★☆
5) The Conference of the Birds ★★☆☆☆

I didn't have high hopes after being disappointed by the fifth book, so I'm no that disappointed. It's not a one star, because I did like a few things. But I can confirm what I said in my review for The Conference of the Birds: I wish it would have stayed a trilogy. The ending of Library of Souls was great and satisfying, and while A Map of Days promised a great second trilogy, perhaps it just became too much.

The ending to the series isn't satisfying for me. There are so many characters, and many of them are left out, which means we don't get closure for them. The romance and the characters barely get any development. I wanted - needed - more to like this book.

[Grim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Better than the movie

[Shawna Finnigan]

I can’t believe this happening again but I have such mixed feelings on this book that I can’t settle on a star rating. I may update my review in the future if I decide on which star rating this book deserves, but for now I’m going to leave no rating. This book definitely isn’t bad. It’s just more of a question of whether this is a mediocre book or a great book. Here’s my overall thoughts on this book though:

The Desolation of Devil’s Acre is the final book in the Miss Peregrine’s series. It was one of my most anticipated 2021 releases, but I was somewhat disappointed in this book. It definitely was enjoyable, but it felt very underwhelming. It didn’t have those same shocking plot twists and interesting group dynamics that made me fall in love with the other books in this series. I found that I predicted most of the plot twists, so when big shock moments came up, I was mad at myself for having guessed what was going to happen. The group felt different than in the other books. They didn’t each stand as their own character anymore. For example, Claire and Olive now essentially had the same personality. Noor and Emma had the same personality in this book as well. There was even one scene where Emma wasn’t in the room during the scene and a piece of dialogue had “said Emma” attached to the end when it was clearly supposed to be Noor’s line. This was really frustrating to me because Noor was my favorite character from the previous books but she was just Emma with different powers in this book.

That being said, this book gave us the first gay representation in this series and I loved that. It was never explicitly stated but it was heavily hinted at and it made my heart so happy. The relationship sort of snuck up on me and it was super cute. I’ll definitely be trying to read some fanfiction for the couple if any fanfiction for them exists. I would totally be willing to read a spin off series for the couple.

I appreciated how this book blended modern day, fantasy, and historical times together really well. The other books in the series were heavy on either one or two of these elements but not all three at once. This one takes the reader through modern day United States, London, fantasy realms, and big historical events that made for a wild ride that kept me entertained throughout the whole book.

The element of this series that makes it stand out so much from other young adult fantasies is the incorporation of antique photos. However, with this book, the photos weren’t blended in with the story as well. The incorporation of the photos in this book felt very forced and sometimes it was even jarring to have some of the pictures in there because some completely didn’t match up with the description of a scene very well.

The final battle felt very rushed. With only 36 pages of the book left, the final villain wasn’t even close to being defeated. It did come together by the end, but I wish the final battle had taken up a longer portion of the book instead of having fifty mini battles before the final battle.

I can really see how people would either love or hate this book, but I honestly can’t figure out how I feel about it. This series has brought me so much joy during the past several years so I’ll never forget how much it means to me, but this book was a let down in some respects so I’m torn on how to feel about this book.

To anyone who has been reading this series but hasn’t read this book yet: I highly recommend rereading the previous books before picking this one up. There’s lots of side characters that come back to play a role in this book and it would be good to refresh your memory on the side characters before diving into this final book.

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile · Rating 2 out of 5]

I truly hope the author means it when he says that this is the last book of the series. They have become so similar that they blur together. There just simply isn’t any unique options left in this universe to write about. Honestly, if the series had ended a few books ago, I think they would maintain a much more epic status.

[Charlotte May · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have enjoyed this series as a whole. But I did find myself losing interest by this last instalment.

I love the characters though at times I found some a bit irritating. The plot is more or less the same for each book which gets tiring.

Ultimately glad I’ve finished, and as always the concept is great. But not a series I’d go back to.

[natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Riggs never fails to create amazing characters, fascinating settings, and plot lines that take so many twists that it's impossible to know anything for sure. One thing I do know, however, is that I'm going to age a thousand years stressing about all this. I've only been into this series for ONE WEEK and not only have I finished all 5 books, but I'm already dying of the wait for the 6th.

Someone, help me.

[Hadie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was just... I'm really at a loss for words. This was hands down the worst trilogy I have ever read. It "almost" reaches the star wars sequel level of bad. Yes, really. Not only does books 4,5 and 6 completely undo the original trilogy, it goes off on a completely irrelevant tangent, destroying figuratively all of the original characters one by one, except maybe Hugh, who remains as obsessed with Fiona as ever. I really appreciate Ransom Riggs written style, always, but this trilogy had an awful plot. I don't understand why these sequels that add nothing to the plot, and do nothing but detract from them are becoming ever more popular amongst authors. I cannot fairly rate this higher than I already have.

[Phrynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sixth and final episode of The Peculiar Children series. I have really enjoyed the whole series, especially the amazing photos and the way Riggs uses them in the text. He also invents intriguing titles for his books!

In The Desolations of Devil's Acre the dreaded Caul rises again and threatens the whole of Peculiardom. Luckily for our band of heroes he is mighty but has a few exploitable flaws. After much drama and some scary battles Jacob's peculiarity wins the day and the series is able to end to everyone's satisfaction.

The series comes full circle with a nice little twist at the end. Well worth reading.

[Matthew Mccounagh · Rating 1 out of 5]

So anyways... The ship has officially sunk. No Emma and Jacob in this book. Like we had the first trilogy with these couple, but the newest ones replace her with Noor. It is an unsettling feeling.

[Uhtred · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nil, I just can't get excited about these books full of strange creatures, imaginary worlds, inconsistent jumps in time. I respect everyone who has done great reviews of this book, but I just can't join the chorus. It seemed to me a mix of all that "literature" of this genre, a jumble of all the stereotypes of this type of book. If the author has come to write 6 episodes, it means that many people in the world have liked the series, so maybe it's me who just doesn't understand these themes. Anyway, 2 stars.

[NickReads]

I thought this series ended as a trilogy.

[Angeline Walsh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Riggs should have left well enough alone.

I actually liked Map of Days, thought The Conference of the Birds was pretty bad—but this is a whole new kind of awful.

The plot turns so ridiculous that it’s impossible to take seriously anymore.
The world doesn’t make any sense at all. For example, apparently now hollows can be born from egg sacs. Who’s laying them, and how were they fertilized? No idea. And doesn’t that redefine what a hollow is, fundamentally? Yes, but that doesn’t seem to matter.

I was also annoyed at how Riggs blatantly stole parts from Harry Potter. Caul’s voice echoing over Devil’s Acre to tell them to deliver Jacob to him? Basically Voldemort’s voice echoing over Hogwarts to tell everyone to bring Harry to him. Jacob having “pieces” of the hollows inside him? The same concept as the horcruxes. Jacob with his “hollowspeak?” Same cocept as parseltongue. Caul being “resurrected” is essentially the same plotline as Voldemort being resurrected in Harry Potter, except instead of death-eaters he just has wights, and instead of dementors in this story, we have hollows.

The awful romance between Jacob and Noor continues, despite the fact that it is completely unwarranted and they lack any spark of chemistry whatsoever. What was the point of making their relationship romantic? To add more filler?

And my God was it dull. Most of the book consists of endless, pointless conversations between characters where they discuss things they’ve already talked about ad nauseum. Even the action sequences were boring, and hard to follow.

It’s shameful that Riggs let his writing get lazy and sloppy due to a writing contract. The prose here, when compared to the original trilogy, is amateurish and contrived. Nothing feels natural. But to some writers, I suppose, money is more important than creativity and upholding the legacy of your work.

[maité · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4.5 / 5

it’s over y’all, can’t believe it. not going to lie, this was my least favorite of them all but i’m going to give it a 5 star rating because it’s the ending and i’m kinda emotional.

what a ride it’s been, wow, these characters are now part of me and i will forever remember them.

nothing more to say, but stay peculiar folks!!



————————————————————————


I'M ACTUALLY SO SO EXCITED EVEN THO WE DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS BOOK.
i'm calling it now, it will be a 5 star read as always, these books never disappoint!


*update*: Y’ALL WE FINALLY HAVE A COVER AND A DATE AAAAH IT’S COMING TO AN END SOON AND THERE WILL BE LOTS OF TEARS IM NOT READY

[Sara (A Gingerly Review) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding way to end a series.

[Erin Clemence · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final novel in the “Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children” novel by Ransom Riggs, is “The Desolations of Devil’s Acre”.

In this final novel, Jacob and Noor, and the rest of the Peculiar children, are reunited in Devil’s Acre, but nothing is as it once was. Desolations are now being rained down on the Acre, the evil Caul is resurrected, and his intention is to destroy Jacob, Noor, and the entire peculiar world. Faced with collapsing loops and enhanced hollowgasts, Jacob and his friends must once again battle to save their own lives, and the survival of the only home they have ever known.

The final book is upon us and I must say, I am sad that this series has come to an end. I really loved the ingenious writing of Riggs, with his creative characters and his action-packed plot. I loved some of these novels more than others, but the entire series together is a YA epic Phenom!

Like his other novels, “Desolations” is full of quirky characters, complete with pictures, which is what makes Riggs’ novels so unique. Jacob and Noor are beginning a relationship, but the focus of the novel remains on the fight for survival. Each character is likable in their own way, and I was so happy to see that most of them had returned for the final battle!

It is necessary that the other books be read, in order, before getting to this one, but it is definitely a journey that won’t be forgotten! The best thing about these novels is they appeal to readers of all ages and genders, which is something rarely seen in YA novels.

“Desolations” ended the only way it possibly could’ve, utterly and completely. All loose ends were wrapped up, and plot lines came together nicely. Unlike the other novels, there was no cliff-hanger ending, and it was evident that “Desolations” would be the last we will see of the Peculiar children. As bittersweet as this is, I am grateful that Riggs has decided to not take this story any farther, and has ended it before “going to the well too many times” and ruining it, like so many other novels in this genre.

An epic fantasy-adventure, “Desolations” is the ultimate read for fans of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone or Cassandra Clare, or anyone who is looking for a magical plot, with some highly eccentric characters.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

And so Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children concludes. Caul has been resurrected with some batshit crazy powers. It's the Jacob and Noor show as they try to figure out how to stop him and his amped up army with powers from the Library of Souls. I think this was the best written of the 2nd trilogy. It's packed with action and not bogged down by the focus on the American Peculiars like the previous two books.

[Dean Ryan Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Consider me a member of Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children because I am done reading THE DESOLATIONS OF DEVIL'S ACRE - the sixth and final book of the series.

"A real home was all I'd ever wanted (page 498)."

Author's Writing Style: 5 STARS. Yey - This is stupendous fiction writing with photographs. There are 25 chapters that are narrated in first-person perspective in past tenses. The dialogues are more intriguing, the sentences are done cleanly and the choice of vocabulary is excellent.

Nay - There are minor errors I've noticed in Chapter 6, page 105, third paragraph. Instead of by the way, it is written as by the by.

Characters' Development: 5 STARS. Yey - This is a 500+ page finale book. Surprisingly, there is a good balance for all characters in terms of page time. This seems to be a difficult technique to do considering the narration is limited to Jacob Portman's POV. Yet, all characters shine at the right pace.

Nay - My favorite from Books 2 and 3 makes a happy return but just wondering, what happened to this character in the end?

Plot: 5 STARS. Yey - The first chapter immediately continues how the Book 5 ends. Then, the revengeful brother of Miss Peregrine is resurrected to conquer peculiardom. He makes Devil's Acre a more miserable place.

Nay - Nothing. This is the first finale book for young adults that I am satisfied with. The flow is expected but the way it is told, it is a bittersweet full circle.

[Ashley Daviau · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was both excited and terrified to read this book. Excited because I’m invested in this series now and I couldn’t wait to see how it all ended. Terrified because I’ve become so invested in this series and these characters and I want nothing but good for my precious babies. I’m glad to say that it was everything I could have hoped for and more as an ending to what’s become a new favourite young adult series. It had it all; it made me laugh and sob and want to throw the book across the room and hug it to my chest and just hold it close. And it’s just such a visually stunning book, I’ll never get over how good looking it it! Between the chapter headings and the photos, it’s absolutely beautiful to take in. It was an absolutely brilliant and perfect conclusion to an amazing series and I couldn’t have loved it more!

[Laura ☾ · Rating 2 out of 5]

That was a very very disappointing finale honestly.

RTC

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ransom Riggs has pulled off one of the most satisfying conclusions to a series, that I have read in a long while. With this review there may be slight spoilers. I'm also not going to make it to long. I know going into finales we are all nervous about the outcome. Where will characters end up? Who will survive? Who won't?

Now going into this second trilogy conclusion, I have all those questions running through my head, but I also know with YA most, if not all the characters will survive. I like to see loss in my stories because it makes it more believable. Now was there loss, yes, but nothing that really hit the spot. This finale, for me, just suffered for being a tad to long. I feel like we could have cut some parts of this down just a tad and not lose the meaningful bits.

Desolations provided readers with great character moments, fantastic action, a conclusion worthy of fans who have been with the series since the beginning. Ransom Riggs journey with the peculiars has finally come to an end and I for one have enjoyed my time with these characters and this world.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - 4/5

Hollow City - 4/5

Library of Souls - 4/5

A Map of Days - 4/5

The Conference of the Birds - 3.5/5

The Desolations of Devil's Acre - 4/5

Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children - 21.5/30

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

3 stars (though Not for the right reasons) The desolation of devils acre is the sixth book in the miss peregrines home for peculiar children series, or as I like to think of it; the third book in the second trilogy of the miss peregrines universe.
If we look at the second trilogy (books 4-6) and compact it to the first than I must admit even though I very much liked map of days I found myself being underwhelmed by the last two instalments of the series.
The characters spend a lot of time sneaking away behind miss peregrines back, and, whilst as the series has gone on a can’t really stand any of the yembrenes,  she doesn’t deserve that so often. Everything during this point just became predictable. It was the same old, same old.  Sneak off, travel to loop, fight a baddie, come back to devils acre.
Even in the conference of the birds I found myself not particularly liking Noor. There’s nothing bad about her but I don’t feel like she’s a particularly useful character through it all, I don’t really like the “chose one for fills a prophesy” trope. she barley even uses her power in the last book apart from the end.
Though I understand why Emma and Jacob broke up (let’s act like we weren’t all rooting for that to happen), I don’t think he needed to have another love interest, not so quickly and definitely not with Noor who’s rather bland.
Also there has become such a huge cast that half the time I can’t keep track of who’s who and what power they had. On every excursion too many people tagged along when they had no reason to be there.
Throughout this book I found myself wishing it would end quicker. I give it three stars mainly for nostalgia because the the first trilogy was so good with setting up world building and though a map of days it had potential. I was disappointed.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's here!!! The moment the book was in my hands I started reading. I mean with a ending like the last one, what do you expect! Very, very worth it! If you haven't read the first five in a while, re-read them first. (The book makes perfect since if you don't. But Riggs makes a LOT of references to previous books.) (And re-reads are so much fun anyway.) This is the last book in the series (nooooo!) and it is so very worth the wait! New Hollows, old characters thought dead... loop jumps as well as action, so much action.

I really, really wish there was a novella or something where Jake and Abe Portman accidentally meet up in a loop hop. There were a lot of references to how Abe knew all about what Jake can do, but no real answers for HOW?!? And that's always a stories I've really wanted to read! ;)

[P · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me a whole week to finish this book. The Desolations of Devil's Acre is action-packed, full of heartwrenching moments, especially when the MCs are in despair. It's never been easy to overcome Caul, he's quite powerful and hard to beat. The ending is just perfect and suits the adventure from the last three books so fine.

Anyway, I found a trivial mistake in this book. When Jacob and his friends (except Horace) went to ask Miss Peregrine about the loop reset, they left Horace sleeping at the house but then the conversation took place, Horace joined it. At that moment, I thought I was mistaken or something. However, when Jacob came back to the house, Horace just woke up so that Jacob told him about his plan. And this case also happens with Emma being on her mission, too. Some characters are in two places at the same time.

[S.I Luncasu · Rating 5 out of 5]

If Jacob and Emma don’t get back togheter, Imma cry. Also imma cry because they deal again with Caul but there’s no Emma 😭😭😭😭🤧😭😭😭😭

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

All’s well that ends well.

I liked this last instalment of this series. Same great pace, same adventure, same absorbing story of good vs evil.

Except: it needed a good edit, and there was a multitude of mistakes. Characters had dialogue although they weren’t supposedly present in a scene, Jacob explained a character doing or saying something when in the previous chapter that character had taken their leave from the main story and weren’t actually there. Mix ups with character names.

These mistakes happened so many times that by the end it was astounding that it hadn’t been picked up. And it seriously detracted from my enjoyment of the story.

There’s were also far too many characters to keep a track of, which left not much opportunity for character growth. And also they’re stories just finished at the battle, we didn’t get their endings - which after spending so much time with them was a bit of a let down. I was invested in the likes of Horatio, and Addison, and many others but have no closure for them.

In the end, I liked it but didn’t love it.