Friends are Forever

Strong "Finale". I use "finale" in quotes in the title of this review because it seems we are getting a Christmas "epilogue" for this series later this year, at least per book site listings as I write this review nearly a week before this book publishes.

This noted, the story here absolutely reads like a genuine and strong finale of a series that has put its main characters through quite a lot... and has still more for them to go through. The laughs... and dusty rooms... are both timed and executed well, even as many of them seemingly come out of the blue - particularly the dusty rooms. Yet every aspect here remains perfectly true to who each of the main characters are, even as the situations they find themselves in through the course of this series finale are very unexpected.

Even as someone who first came to this series at Book 4, and thus missed the developments of the first three books, this really was very well done - one of the better finale/ wrap-ups/ send-offs I've seen done in a series finale in any medium, and certainly *far* superior to the various infamous finales over the years. No one is waking up and claiming it was all a dream here, y'all. ;)

Read the rest of the series before reading this book. But then make sure you have some tissues ready, because when those dusty rooms hit in this book - and yes, I said "rooms", as in plural - they *really* hit, and you're going to need them.

Fortunately each book in the series (at least those I've read) is at or under 200 pages, which makes them all fairly quick reads, even for busy parents (or others busy with whatever life you may lead).

By the time you get to the end of this one, you'll be satisfied with where Gilbert leaves these characters... but you're also going to welcome that epilogue currently scheduled to release in late October 2025. ;)

Very much recommended.