You know what just kills me....?? (spoiler)

[Kelly]

The fact that Jake and Cassie don't end up together!!!
It makes me so sad! 
Especially when I read back over the series, when they're in love and...and..yeah.
Anyone else share my pain?

[ChimichangaChupacabra]

It's suppooooossssseeed to be sad, dudette!

Like, Rachel dies, Tobias cries, Jake broods and Cassie...saves furry critters and protects the Horkies.  Ax turns into The Borg and Marco lives it up Hollywood style until he suffocates with the rest of 'em.

The whole ending is a downer, basically.   

[morfowt]

...well that's one way to put it... wasn't that sad to me, although I was expecting it, what with all the spoilers I got before reading the last book...

[Terenia]

Actually, out of all the "sad" things that happened in the end, Jake and Cassie not being together affected me the least. I was never a huge shipper for those two. I found it much more devastating how Tobias cut himself off from everyone, and how Jake couldn't pull himself together. How Ax, who becomes everything he dreamed of and steps out of his brothers shadow, meets such a sticky fate. Oh, and how Rachel died of course. I was in tears the first time I read that. All in all, I think Cassie and Jake not living 'happily ever after' pales a bit in comparison.

[AniDragon]

Yeah, I was actually okay with them not ending up together, which is saying a lot, since I was a HUGE shipper for them for so long. But with the way their characters had changed by the end of the series, it made sense to keep them appart. Had they actually ended up together, it would have seemed very forced, writing-wise.

[Chad32]

Actually, out of all the "sad" things that happened in the end, Jake and Cassie not being together affected me the least. I was never a huge shipper for those two. I found it much more devastating how Tobias cut himself off from everyone, and how Jake couldn't pull himself together. How Ax, who becomes everything he dreamed of and steps out of his brothers shadow, meets such a sticky fate. Oh, and how Rachel died of course. I was in tears the first time I read that. All in all, I think Cassie and Jake not living 'happily ever after' pales a bit in comparison.

Yeah, that. Compared to other things, those two not ending up together kind of pales. Also at that time I wasn't much of a Cassie fan anyway. After her betrayal of Jake and the group at the end of 50, I felt it quite reasonable that they didn't end up together.

She broke up with him because he wasn't "her" Jake anymore. She leaves him in quite possibly his weakest moment. I think she should have tried to be with him just to help him cope, instead of going out with Ronald, or whoever that guy was.

[JFalcon]

   Not me. To be honest with Rachel dead, Tobias undead, Marco sort of a sellout, and Ax the only real winner Jake and Cassie's problems didn't seem like problems, they seemed realistic, there was no happy ending to Animorphs, it was sort of like in the field of happy endings they won most of the battles and then lost the war. We got sappy ending after sappy ending, with close call after close call the fact is K.A. warned us what would happen but she never really prepared us for it, we were shell shocked and it was brilliant.

   Irritating in some ways, but brilliant. It made the ending harder to forget, maybe some people were more willing to foget it but for me at least it wasn't possible, if Cassie and Jake ended up together all happily ever after it'd be like any other story, in the end the hero gets the girl, rides off into the sunset the badguys thuroghly beaten down.

   Besides, as Nohensen points out she kind of walked out on him when he needed her most, that's pretty low in my opinion, if she wasn't there for him then how could they have made a life together? He pretty much lost interest in her too, he was too torn up with his own grief and I don't think he ever fully trusted her after she let Tom go.

[DinosaurNothlit]

I never really trusted the fact that Cassie could be in love with Jake so long and then just . . . totally forget about him.  It's been my experience, at least, that your first love is your hardest to let go of.  Regardless of extenuating circumstances.

Personally, I think if the authors wanted to go for shock value, they should have kept them together so that we could watch their relationship slowly and agonizingly fall apart. 

A lot of things about Cassie's ending bothered me in context of her character, actually.  Leaving Jake at his weakest moment, going off to live a 'happy' and 'fulfilled' life with Ronnie . . . none of it really seemed sincere, you know?  Like the authors were saying, "Hey, we need to find a way to make life suck for Jake, but give Cassie a happy ending."

[Chad32]

Yeah, god forbid their little peacenik had a sad ending. That would ruin the message they were trying to portray, historically inaccurate as it may be.

[JFalcon]

"Hey, we need to find a way to make life suck for Jake, but give Cassie a happy ending."

. . . that factual quote was classified, who told you that? There's been a major security breach here, Visser 3 will not be pleased!

Yeah, god forbid their little peacenik had a sad ending. That would ruin the message they were trying to portray, historically inaccurate as it may be.

It was kind of a sad ending, they ditched her, sort of like she wasn't good enough or maybe Jake still didn't trust her . . . at least I bet those thoughts went through her head. Also I think her happy life was a facade, she could fool everyone, maybe even herself, but on the inside she was empty and lonely without Jake . . . or maybe not but hey, that's how I'm going to see it

[KOFSoldier]

At the same time, you guys cant blame her for leaving Jake when he basically refused to talk to her. How do you help someone who doesn't want to be helped?

[Liz]

if Cassie and Jake ended up together all happily ever after it'd be like any other story, in the end the hero gets the girl, rides off into the sunset the badguys thuroghly beaten down.

This is why I actually liked that they didn't get together (well, I didn't go "oh yay, they broke up!" but you get my point).  It made the story better for me.

Personally, I think if the authors wanted to go for shock value, they should have kept them together so that we could watch their relationship slowly and agonizingly fall apart. 

But their relationship was already falling apart, remember?  
That is an interesting idea though.

It was kind of a sad ending, they ditched her, sort of like she wasn't good enough or maybe Jake still didn't trust her . . . at least I bet those thoughts went through her head. Also I think her happy life was a facade, she could fool everyone, maybe even herself, but on the inside she was empty and lonely without Jake . . . or maybe not but hey, that's how I'm going to see it

I agree; she did end up very well off considering the circumstances, but I don't feel like it's a happy ending.  Just because she wasn't outwardly expressing it as much as Tobias or Jake doesn't mean she didn't have the same issues (although to a lesser extent).

[DinosaurNothlit]

"Hey, we need to find a way to make life suck for Jake, but give Cassie a happy ending."

. . . that factual quote was classified, who told you that? There's been a major security breach here, Visser 3 will not be pleased!

*whistles innocently*  I didn't find that quote in K.A.'s top-secret diary.  Nosiree.

I agree; she did end up very well off considering the circumstances, but I don't feel like it's a happy ending.  Just because she wasn't outwardly expressing it as much as Tobias or Jake doesn't mean she didn't have the same issues (although to a lesser extent).

I disagree.  If we were meant to think she was anything but happy, I think that would have been expressed /somehow/ in the books.  These things are never meant to simply be 'implied.'  I mean, look at Marco.  Same deal; he had a supposedly 'happy' ending, but his life was later revealed to be empty and fake.  I think we were meant to think that Cassie did truly live happily ever after.

And that's the part I just can't quite swallow. 

[Kelly]

wow some great points there guys!
But it still doesn't change my mind 

I hated the part in the last book when Cassie's trying to convince jake he's not a bad person for killing the yeerks, and Jake looks into her eyes and remembers kissing her.

It put my hopes up then crushed them... lol.

[Liz]

I agree; she did end up very well off considering the circumstances, but I don't feel like it's a happy ending.  Just because she wasn't outwardly expressing it as much as Tobias or Jake doesn't mean she didn't have the same issues (although to a lesser extent).

I disagree.  If we were meant to think she was anything but happy, I think that would have been expressed /somehow/ in the books.  These things are never meant to simply be 'implied.'  I mean, look at Marco.  Same deal; he had a supposedly 'happy' ending, but his life was later revealed to be empty and fake.  I think we were meant to think that Cassie did truly live happily ever after.

And that's the part I just can't quite swallow. 

Hmm, that's a good point.  I was thinking about how Marco and Cassie were in a similar situation, but Marco definitely says outright that he was "bored out of his mind."