I believe, thus far, this is the worst book of the series. Primarily because I actually believed at one point that things would not get better, not at all, not what so ever, and it terrified me. I hadn't realized how much I had attached myself to the characters or how much I had been drawn into the book. I skipped ahead only to briefly find some sort of "happy" ending because if it wasn't there I probably wouldn't have finished the book. But it was and so I did.
However my heart is still in my throat and the fear is already instilled and I am weary to find out what happens next because as much as I heart these kids and as much as I want to finish this series and as much as I still, somewhere inside of me, believe that in the end end end of everything it will be ok, I don't believe it will be ok. As an adult, I know that things don't always work out the way we hoped or planned and sometimes it seems as if it doesn't work at all, and initially I liked the idea that here was a person writing children's books and explaining to children in a fairly brilliant way how that is the way it goes sometimes. But now 4 books in, I don't want it to end badly. In fact, to an extent, I feel as if I NEED it to NOT END BADLY.
I want there to be a happy ending and after book 1 even 3 I still thought it would happen but now I doubt it, I doubt myself and I don't know if I can continue reading a series where I know the inevitable will break my heart. But I will and I must.

But I will read another book before picking up the next to give myself time to forget how everything was so close to such a tragic and epically tragic, for a kids book, ending. So that by the time I pick up book 5 it just becomes a story again.