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It did seem like maybe she got stuck and didn't really know how to end it but I again say that the rest of the book is good enough to overlook the last chapter. I would rather have seen the whole last chapter though extended into another book.
However I did order it when I fell in love with the first book and since I had it, and enjoyed the first 3, I decided to read it. I must say I was not as disappointed by this book as the other reviewers here.
If I had read these reviews before I purchased this final book in the series I likely would not have bothered. I will not spoil it with details but I must say that I do recommend adding this book to the collection if you enjoyed the others.
I would add though that the very last chapter was a bit out of sync with the rest of the series. I completely enjoyed this book up until the end where I agree with others there was too much crammed into the wrap up and too many far fetched things added in that were not necessary.
It just seemed that the author did not even write this last chapter because it had a completely different style/tone than the rest. I loved reading these books and highly recommend all 4 to anyone who likes an interesting and captivating adventure story.
I was definately dissapointed in this book. It just seems to me that she wrote this book quickly to end the series.
I felt like the ending of this book should have been extended and essentially served as the second book, eliminating the need for books 2 & 3. Other than Lina and Doon, I felt that many of the secondary characters lacked strong characterization, which made their roles seem slightly flat.
While the return to Ember was much anticipated and a welcome plot element, parts of this book were, as a result, overwhelmingly repetitive of the first book. I think this book must have come to be as a result of the criticisms of books 2 & 3 (no return to Ember, lack of Lina and Doon, etc).
Plotwise, there was a clear single goal, but it wasn't as interesting, nor as desperate, as the goal in the first book, making for a story that was, in turn, less interesting. This worked in some instances, but in others, it felt like a desperate return to the successful elements seen in the first book, in order to gain back disappointed fans.
I did enjoy seeing Lina and Doon again, and the teamwork seen in this book was reminiscent of the first one in a good way. I enjoyed the fact that everything came full circle, although I do wish DuPrau had rearranged things a little bit.
I just think a lot was done wrong in the creation of this series, and maybe The City of Ember would have been best served as a stand-alone.Rating: 3.5/5
But that was a convenient plot device the author used to create mystery, so I give her that one. Here's some definite moralizing going on. First, I have to say that I loved the first book and the idea behind it although I had problems even with it. I noticed even back in Ember that Spam or canned tuna or any other kind of meat did not seem to exist. So I almost gave the book two stars because of this annoying bit of preaching, but I bumped it up to three because it does entertain and give some closure on the characters of Lena and Doon and their city. The first books were compelling and over all fun to read. But in The Diamond of Darkhold, when winter had set in and people were starving and malnourished FINALLY someone eats some meat, but it's a family of Neanderthal-like barbarians and, ok, one of the main characters, but he was "partly sickened" and repulsed.
A subsistence-level culture, in order to survive and get through harsh winters, would eat meat. I hated that the people of Ember weren't even taught the basics about how their city worked, for example. Come on. On to my main point about The Diamond of Darkhold. I thought it even more curious that in The People of Sparks no one came up with the idea to hunt for food (which would surely help feed a village of people that had suddenly doubled in size). It was so obvious that the author was preaching vegetarianism that I went to search her bio and found that she is a "gourmet vegetarian cook." Well, I could have guessed that. Young readers may enjoy this "return to Ember."
No shelter, no food, no tools, no seeds, no nothing. I bought these for a young nephew, and of course being an avid reader, read them first. Wouldn't it have made more sense that there would have been another storage area concealed in the area that they came out with at least basic supplies and shelter. Enjoyed the first two, but the third book was so disappointing. What was with the "diamonds." The builders of the city had provided for its people in every way that they could imagine, and yet sent them above ground with nothing. There was no guarantee that there would be a settlement in the area when the people of Ember emerged. Wish I could give it less than one star.
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