I want to be honest because I truly enjoyed most of this book. The writing is genuinely beautiful: the character development, the world building, the relationship dynamics... just beautiful. That’s what makes the ending so disappointing.
The conclusion felt lukewarm and oddly unfinished, especially compared to how strong the rest of the story was. It left me unsatisfied rather than giving a meaningful resolution. The cliffhanger implies a continuation, but even that doesn’t make the ending for the characters feel right. Personally, this story would have benefited from being split into two books (where the second continues past the epilogue) instead of ending where it did.
I’m hopeful a sequel could strengthen what was missing here, but as it stands, that ending was just not the move.