I think this one is a hard 5 star - excellent.

I had about 20-30 pages left when the train reached my stop and I sat on the platform bench to finish. I was transfixed!

I had a lot of thoughts ending these novels. Some things were easy - Nino's trash, Enzo deserved better, the incident that gives the novel its title is crushing.

Some things are not easily untangled. What can I make of Elena and Lila? What kind of friendship is this between these women, inescapable, supportive, toxic. What of Lila? Unapologetic, intractable Lila, Lila steeped entirely in Naples, wrapped up in the stories and the histories that Elena (both) mines for context. How much is her texture that of the city itself?

And Elena - do I like her? Should I? As the novels progressed, and the line between Elena Greco and Elena Ferrante deepens, where do I find the link between author and character, where does it break? Ferrante famous in her anonymity, Greco seeking the approval of the Italian literary elite.

Like I said, excellent.