Well, I wasn't expecting it. I enjoyed it , though. Of course, I was in so much shock that I got almost no sleep that night, the next day I could barely hold my pencil, and I found it impossible to make clear sentences. But it was good.

^ Wow, really? you were really into it. I wish I could find another book im that into
I still feel sad thinking about nathaniel, I think i read these books over 5 years ago

never cried so much about a story. not just the end but Nathaniel's whole story. I kept wanting to hug him since Ms. Lutyens rejected him. WHY DIDN'T ANYBODY HUG HIM?! it broke into pieces me when i knew he was actually going to die.

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Quin wrote:i put 'i would like it more if he hadn't died' . that said, i totally understand why it had to happen in regards to the plot. reading it again for the millionth time eight years after you first picked it up as a 13 year old its very obvious with the last ptolemy chapter that nat will die and it's poetic and needed.

so i wouldn't change it. that didn't stop my fourteen year old self crying for four days after i'd read it though. id never cried so much in my life. haha and i didn't pick it back up for another year cause i hated jonathan stroud for killing off nat. i would've done anything to change that end after i'd read it. i only noticed the correlation after reading it again. then i saw it was the perfect ending.

same same same same it's just so devastating, i wanted him to be happy, i finished it 2 days ago i'm still sensitive and i cry and none of my friends have read the books and i need a hug and somebody who doesn't think i'm crazy and stupid for crying so much over a book
i really wish he didn't die and i don't think it's perfect i think it could be less hurtful and still darn beautiful.

You're suffering from post-Ptolemy's Gate sad. Don't worry it happens to all of us. It will get better. :)

It was great.

I had to make an effort not to cry like a little baby.
...
Now I feel depressed again.

I remember not eating for half a day after finishing the book. It was like I was mourning for a friend. >>

It's the first book that has such effect on me u__u I'm usually like 'meh' or 'that's cool' or 'good riddance to him!' (if the MC is particularly unlikeable).

I was so sad when I read the ending. Especially because I first thought Bartimaeus was going to die too. And then I had to reread the ending three times to make sure Barti actually did make it out of there alive, and I was so relieved. Still sad for Nathaniel, though...

When I read the part about the collapse of the glass palace, I'm thinking, "that's okay, he can't be dead, there are some more pages". But when I've read it to the end and the story don't mention anything anymore about nat, I'm thinking "my book must have some pages lost!", but it's not. Then in my last desperate attempt to proof to myself that nat isn't dead I googled "john mandrake" and got interested at a title "john mandrake vs jessica whitewell", and that's how I found this forum















and that's how I found that nat really is dead too. (can't sleep that night)

I started crying when Kitty went to the Glass Palace and said, "So much for your promises". >>

I also liked how Bartimaeus still managed to be funny during the tragic/heartwarming scene. ('Well how would you give yourself the finger'...or whatever he said.)

i think i joined the forum before finishing the last book and everyone seemed pretty upbeat so the ending really came out of nowhere for me. It's so misleading because the first two books had very neat, completed happy endings and this is a children's book so I didn't think the author would risk emotionally scarring his readers by killing off the main character like that.

After staring at the last page in total silence for about 5minutes, I litterally just yelled "What???" out loud, and snapped the book shut. After another minute of total shock I broke down, cried like a damn baby for some time, felt depressed the rest of the day, then went into a phase of total denial, where I kept telling myself that he didnt die, and that he somehow survived the explosion and that he, kitty and bart was going to live long a happily ever after, going on numerous new adventures together, eventually marriyng each other some day. Went on to join this forum afterwards (joined yesterday).
But overall a splendid and heartwarming (though sad) endning. That ending was pure art.

I found the ending very sad, but I also liked it a lot. I think the main reason is that it did actually shock me: books were becoming sadly predictable and boring to me. The MC close friend or some such dies, the MC is sad, gets over it and has a happily ever after anyway. Like Harry Potter's ending. Compared to all that, I found the ending in PG to be rather refreshing. Plus, I liked how it showed Nathaniel's waking up from his false identity. It took me back to when he was a kid who was prepared to sacrifice himself for Mrs. Underwood.

I actually liked the ending quite a lot. It was realistic, but still funny and didn't fell like a fairy tale ''and they all lived happily ever after''. It was a shock to me, because I though he would make it in the last few pages and be found alive in the ruins by Kitty, but no, definitely dead. It was sad because Nat was finally getting back to himself, but I feel like the story would have been ruined if he survived. It was pretty mature for a kid's book.

Personally, the Bartimaeus Trilogy had one of my favorite series endings.
I find it exceedingly difficult to stomach butterflies-and-rainbows resolutions. They simply make the story feel false and sugarcoated, unlike the realism of this trilogy.
I felt that the Bartimaeus Trilogy was very, very cleverly written- not only Bartimaeus' little witty quips, but also in the sense of plot and character development. The way that Mr.Stroud showed said development was interesting as well, such as using Nathaniel's alias in Ptolemy's Gate and finally switching back to his birth name when Nathaniel stripped off the masks that he had layered on his true self.
His death was tragic, but realistic. I cannot imagine the Bartimaeus Trilogy without it.
Despite that, I still have not forgiven my brother for spoiling the ending for me.

Well I couldn't choose "I love it!! Nat's finally dead!"

Mostly because my reasons for enjoying the ending had nothing to do with any dislike I may have held for Nat. Also, "I thought it was ok...." doesn't really capture how I felt about the ending either, but I chose it anyway because it was the closest. I liked the ending because while many of Nat's actions were irredeemable, they were acknowledged, and he came to realize this maybe too late in the end. But he did his best to fix it, and he died as Nathaniel, yet he wasn't glorified either, and after getting over my post book depression, I felt it fit right.

I don't have a problem with happy endings, but that kind of ending really didn't fit into the tone of the series as whole. I dunno, I suppose I would peg it as "bittersweet."

I thought it fit in well. GE and AoS both ended with a dramatic change in Nat's future and even though we were happy that he managed to survive the book's drama, we sorta knew that things were going to be different. Like at the end of AoS, he was going to join the government but its hard to be completely happy for him because Bart's been complaining about evil magicians for 200+ pages

Well... the ending was great but I would like it more if Nat didn't die. because you know... i wasn't ready for it. Nat was/is my favorite character and when i read the ending i was so shocked and couldn't stop crying.... :$ :'(

I was actually less sad than when Ptolemy died. I just liked Ptolemy more.