Though I don't remember if I thought about it consciously, I read Irial as drug/addiction too. The last part of the book felt like a chemical blur as Leslie spiraled into addiction, and it seemed to fit a world where so many were unhealthily dependent on something.

Aside from the quick ending, my nagging problem with the book - which I was never going to like like given how dark it was - was Aislinn and Seth. To me they failed Leslie on so many levels that I have a hard time seeing them ever again as hero/heroine, which the text seemed to want me to. I never really believed in any of Aislinn's human friendships in WL, though I knew I was supposed to especially with Leslie because she was clearly destined for her own novel, but after IE... NO.