This is book 3 of the "Jenny Casey" series.

This note contains spoilers for the book.

End of the Jen Casey story, I believe (at least the end so far, story brought to satisfactory conclusion).

I'm wistful about the aliens. We've met multiple very alien aliens, achieved some level of communication—and it doesn't seem to matter much. To much of anybody. Well, there might be mostly-suppressed strong feelings among the parents getting their kids into the Pilot program, thinking they can get them off Earth while there's still time. But that's not about the aliens directly, it's about our own starflight capability.

Jenny gets involved in the top levels of world politics, which has its drawbacks.

The books are written from multiple viewpoints, and Jenny's sections are are first-person present. It jars me every single paragraph, still, after three novels. Attention all authors: Don't do that! It hurts when you do that!