I am shocked at how much I liked this book; I suspected that I would like it as much as or slightly more than the second and third books in the series, but I didn’t think it would be near the first one. It tied the whole series together so well and it made me reminisce about their childhood as though I didn’t first read about it one month ago. I also loved going back to the cycle of violence and poverty as the throughline for how the characters interact with the world. Elena continually thinks she can or has escaped only to find herself still entwined, and Lila knows that she can’t escape but tries to improve things for Elena and their children anyway. It’s a bittersweet ending leaning more to the bitter side, but I still found it really emotionally satisfying.