Jada Jones

Ugggghhhh. I'm so frustrated by this last book!! Yes, it was very entertaining and I found myself laughing or tearing up throughout the book. However, I just felt that for as shrewd and intuitive as Strike is, with the way he can slice and dice with words, it seemed impractical that throughout the whole book he couldn't find one way to tell Robin how he genuinely felt. He could have written it down in a card, found lyrics to a song, or simply just told her....WAY...before the whole Ryan sitch gets serious at the end. It just felt like poor decision making with regards to Strike, especially, when his intellect and charisma are demonstrated to be above average. I didn't really agree with Strike's slippery slope of ethics at the end, and Wardle having to remind him to "be good". It just seemed really out of character for Strike and not quite believable, imho. Plus, I expected more from Robin. She spends the whole book acknowledging all her past mistakes with Matt and SEEMS self aware. Yet in the same context, Ryan is ringing some of the same alarm bells as Matt but she doesn't seem capable of making that connection (eye roll). Ijs, she's able to figure out these complex cases, but unable to see glaring romantic similarities between Matt and Ryan. Like, who considers moving in with someone when you're hiding important things from them in your sock drawer and unable to truly express how you feel (side eye). I agree with another reader...life is too short for these shenanigans especially in light of all the near death experiences both Robin and Strike each experience in every book! I love the story telling. I just wish that this book round, the 2 protagonists would have used some of their own "smarts" to hash out the boundaries of their friendship / romantic endeavors. Lastly, I loved, loved that JKR humanized Rokeby and opened the door on that relationship. I frigging love Pat (understatement of the year)!! She's the perfect counterbalance between Strike and Robin :).