Just as it starts to get good, the book ends!!!!
598181
Been following this story since the very beginning with Vampire Academy. So happy that Sydney is exploring other options in her life because the daily life of an alchemist seems boring and yearns for excitement. She has a good head so I'm sure this current situation she is in with her bogus sister and father will be solved without her having to give up, what she cherishes most...her freedom and her boyfriend. So anxious for the next book, October is so far away :-( Good job Richelle
4815288
I really enjoyed the first half of this book.  I had to read it for a school assignment, and I was liking it.  Once it got past the first halh, the book's plot went downhill.  Majorly!!!  I think it had a very disappointing end.
1326970
Pretty good from first to the middle of the book,
 but the end left you wanting more. The last part of the story kind of ended abruptly, like there should have been more to the story. Very disappointing ending!!!! I wanted more!!!
2801094
This book has some parts that are good and have the makings of a good story. Then it goes and dies out. It does give you a somewhat HEA. So enjoy the read  ! !
1905341
I enjoyed this book until about 3/4 of the way through.  The last few  chapters? were disappointing, for one thing at th e end of two
chapters were two blank pages,leaving the reader  in the dark as to how TED and Samantha escaped the villain.
Not good........
770410
I really like this book, except for the ending. It was very disappointing and left me thinking, "That's it? After all the adventure, intrigue and excitement this is how it ends." It felt like the author got tired and just said, "OK let me wrap this up in fifteen pages or so." It did however, spur my interest in re-reading The Count of Monte Cristo and the Three Musketeers. If you like literay adventure, I would recommend "the Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
3368956
The book gets off to a slow start, then picks up and is a good ride most of the way through. In the last part of the book, there is too much foreshadowing of the ending, so by the time you get there, there is no big reveal. The bulk of the book is well written and entertaining. It was worth the time and money, but I was disappointed at the ending.
502520
Simply this.  GWTW is one of the best books I have ever read.  Never thought that would be the case, as I assumed it was just a book about romance and that's not mt preferred genre.  But here is the unfortunate truth:  while I was completely captivated with the book, I loathe the way it ends.  It is like the author just got tired of writing it and decided to wrap things up quick with a few bittersweet insights.  So, 99.9% of the book is five stars, the rest, being the very end, gets zero stars.
4754305
I have to admit, I really enjoyed reading this book.  Written for a somewhat younger crowd and as a 31 year old male, the read was easy and entertaining and kept me interested throughout.  I stayed up LATE reading it like many of the people in this forum thread.  Actually, now that I think about it, the most disappointing part about the book is the ending...  and not necessarily it ending badly, but that right as things in the plot are getting pretty interesting and some last minute plot twists, the book ends pretty abruptly.

I'm not particularly fond of the true cliff hanger ending books with promises of more books to come and it was especially cruel to end this right when this story was getting so interesting.  However, this has the potential to be a great series so I will wait (someone impatiently) for the end of the year (as the Author states he anticipates the new book to be published) to read the next book and find out what happens to the character and how his journey plays out.

I would have given this 5 stars had the ending been a little more fulfilling.  Hurry up Mr. Gowans! As I purchased the book at the $.99 price, I would have easily dropped a Kindle price of $5.99 or more to keep reading this story.  Too bad I couldn't.

Left wanting more,

Ryan
1997949
Once again this book drew me in and once again I have the same complaint, it's too short!! I know this is how this series is set up, but man, as soon as it gets good, it's over. In this part we get to see the contestants arrive in Vegas for the boot camp portion of the competition.  Some new characters are introduced and a few older characters are revisited. We also get to see the intrigue amped up a bit and realize that there are definitely some shady things brewing behind this whole competition. It seems that the innocent lead character may be in over her head and possibly in danger from the people she trusts the most. She makes a discovery purely by accident that can bring everyone associated with the whole Pop Supa Nova franchise to their knees, and now we have to wait for the next part to see what she does with that information............
1567389
This book started out great.  Awesome premise.  Amazing characterization.  Great writing.  Engaging and interesting.

I tend to re-read books all the time.  This book, I re-read about 70% of, then i'm finished.  To me, the book should have ended about three quarters of the way through.  Great novel of his training, first missions, etc, etc, and how he manages to eventually get exactly what he wants.

Then, the book just becomes some really weird space alien invasion book.  I have no idea what happened, did a different author take over?
3559852
This feels like a book that the author started at the end and worked his way back to the beginning.  He had an idea for how the book -- and the series as a whole -- should end, and then, working backwards, constructed a plot to make that end happen.  The good aspect of the book is that it's a fine and meaningful end (although controversial); the negative aspect is that the journey to the end is full of awkward plot devices that rob the ending of some satisfaction.

The best facets of "Ptolemy's Gate," and the series as a whole, are the setting and characters.  In Nathaniel, Bartimaeus and Kitty, Stroud has created three characters with very different goals and perspectives.  They're interesting in their own right and even more so when they interact and the sparks fly.  And as opposed to the second book in the series, here each of the three get substantial time for us experience their viewpoint.

Major kudos also go to the setting, an imaginative alternate-history version of early 20th-century England where a ruling class of magicians have allowed England to maintain a global empire, albeit by exploiting the increasingly-restless common folk.  There is a level of understanding in these books -- of power and societies, of history and its cycles -- that goes far beyond the norm in young adult fiction.  Lloyd Alexander's "Westmark" series is the only one that comes to mind as comparable.

So there are some great ideas here, interesting and satisfying.  Unfortunately, the author's ability to construct an equally satisfying plot fails in this final book of the series.  The core events of the novel rest on a highly improbable coincidence: Nathaniel doing something he has not done in three years at the exact same time Kitty finally elects to do something she has been spending years getting ready to do.  The chief villain turns out to be the character who all along was the most suspicious and out of place.  Finally, the end feels a bit rigged: there's only one thing that can stop the rampaging demons, which happens to be something Nathaniel is familiar with; it inexplicably works on all demons but one; there is a way to stop that demon, but it would require...

Well, that would be spoiling things for you.

If I could rate this series as a whole I'd give it a 3.5 -- it had the potential to be higher, but this final book is a bit of a let-down.  It succumbs to a flaw I've noticed a lot in recent young adult fiction, trying so hard to provide new readers with characters they can empathize with that the story ends up resorting to cheap plot tricks that insult the intelligence of the thoughtful reader, young or old.  It's worth reading for the original aspects, yet ultimately is not that memorable.
478145
I enjoyed this book, I wish I could have read the 1st book (If it Aint One thing Its Another) but the library doesnt have it. But this was a really good book, only one problem, I did not like the ending. It's like at the end of the book, someone tore out a few chapters, because it jumped right to the Epilogue. It sad nothing about the crazy Kalif.. Now he was a wacko-o.. But I will try to find book one, and put the pieces together. It sounds like it was a really good book. Now I must wait for book 3 to come out.. Well I have nothing but time on my hands.
2766422
I really liked the last book and was looking forward to this one but just when the book gets good it ends.... Would grave been better to keep going and make it a novel!
662961
This was a great book until the end.  Lots of action, great descriptions of how a sailing ship worked.  Good battle sequences and very interesting characters from the Revolutionary War period.  Then came the end.  It was as if the writer was tired of the book and just ended it.  The main character is destroyed and dies and the ships are gone.  I will not read the rest of the series
172850
I really enjoyed the beginning of this book. Character development was great, interesting story line, it was suspenseful enough to keep me engaged then the book ended. the author seemed to be in a hurry to wrap the book up, without much consideration for keeping with the pattern he had started. But overall it was enjoyable, would have been much better if it had a more in depth end.
3749549
I throughly enjoyed all the books in this series, both authors make very memorable characters, my favorite being Sergeant Julian and Seargent Major Kosutic. The pace and drama in this book doesn't' disappoint either, but then... it just ends. I turn the page, thinking there will be another chapter, but thats it. I can't complain too much since the majority of the series is about getting Roger to grow a set and become a man, but it would have been more satisfied to see how everyone ends up. I hope they do another in this series!