landingtree

I think the fact that helpful magic is so conspicuously absent from the book supports Rachel's point here, though - we are presented with an ending that acts in a way the whole rest of the book hasn't. If that translates to 'Thank goodness, the world was inherently just after all,' or 'Thank goodness our protagonist was lucky enough not to have helped heal and raise a regular wounded child' then it lands for me as deeply unsatisfying. It has to be something more than that. Rush's reading of how it's more, below, is one I'm still thinking about.