Given all the hype, I really wanted to love this book. Unfortunately, I didn't. The characters were not very well developed, and as such, I couldn't relate to any of them. The plot was linear, where one thing followed from the last, and so on all throughout the trilogy. It seems that this linear plot was by design because it translates so easily to a movie format. However, the linear plot really doesn't make for such great reading. Moreover, the entire story could have easily been developed in a single book. Stretching this simple story over a trilogy was again seemingly for the purpose of maximizing profits. The writing, and the plot development, deteriorated over the three books. I felt relief when the end finally came; not for the characters I should have cared about, but for me, for not having to read any more of what was nicely wrapped up by the end of Book 1.

It seems to me that this book was a marketing contrivance, designed specifically to maximize profits. The linear plot makes for easy movie-making. The trilogy seems to be the literary fashion of the day, which lends itself easily to three movies. Sadly, the simple plot wasn't enough to warrant three books.