Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Spoiler Warning! I'm not sure I can explain how disappointed I am in this bk. But here it goes. I have been reading these bks for 25 yrs and they have been without a doubt my fave bks of all time. I have read and reread them over & over. They are my go to bks when I have nothing else to read. The first 3 were wonderful. The 4th slowed and got bogged down at times but I can see how it would be difficult to keep traveling day after day exciting. Auel managed it though with plenty of side stories with the people they met along the way. (I thought the whole S'Armunai/wolf women story was kinda over the top freaky weird but I liked how S'Armuna tied in with Marthona and we learned more about her past. It was the kind of thing Auel was always doing to give her characters depth.) When I finished the 5th bk I will admit I was disappointed. I was frustrated that nothing really happened. I read the negative reviews and agreed with them (sorta). I refused however to turn my back on my fave author and was determined to give her the benefit of doubt. After finishing the 6th bk I'm disappointed, frustrated and just down right pissed. I could go on & on about how boring it was. How one dimensional every character was. How she reused story lines. How she continually introduced potentially fascinating characters only to have them go nowhere. How if I had to read through one more cave description I was going to beat myself over the head w/ my Kindle. I could tell you how frustrated I was with Alya and Jondalar in part 3. I mean Really? (I think I'm going to just pretend none of it happened) Since you've made it to my review you have read these opinions repeatedly so whats the point? *Sigh* Am I the only person who thought the plot of this story was going to focus around the Clan? I mean after everything Alya went through! Losing her family/people, being raised by the drastically different Clan, death curses, years of surviving alone, having her soul mate be this emotionally fragile dude, having to overcome who she was in a world of people who hated where she was raised but steadfastly defended them. Throughout the whole series it's repeatedly reinforced that Alya has been 'chosen' by the Mother for a very special, powerful purpose. All her trials are preparing her for what she has been 'chosen' to do. Am I crazy or did I just read that Alya's 'chosen purpose' was to tell people how babies are made after a drug induced acid trip?????? WHAT THE??? Is there really not going to be any wonderfully detailed, character filled story about how Alya is the bridge between these two vibrantly rich, distinctly interesting cultures? Will we never know what happened with Durc? Is the Clan really just going to go down in history as these gross animals that contaminated the human race? Please say it aint so! I don't want to sound like some Earth Children junkie dork but I actually cried when I finished this bk. In life there are stories/movies/songs ect that grab hold of us and wedge their way into our hearts and just plain matter to us. Who knows why. This series did that with me. I just loved it. The characters, the story, the details, everything about it except this stupid pointless ending. It kills me that Auel created all these wonderful Clan charaters that came to mean so much to fans only to have their fate be swept under the rug in favor of soap opera quality relationships and a recount of what is obviously an intense fascination with the cave painting research she did for the bks. Sorry, I'll stop ranting now. To finish up I'll just say that any fan of the series should read this last bk just because. I hope they are able to enjoy it in some way that I couldn't. P.S. Please Jean, don't let this be the last book! Please don't end your series this way. Please.