No spoilers for book 3 please.

I had to take a break after The Knife of Never Letting Go because it ends so hopelessly. I'm also listening to the audiobook versions, so there's a LOT of emotion put into like, every sentence.

What motivates Ness as an author to put his characters (and audience) through so many horrible things, and specifically through so many instances of getting their (and our) hopes up for something to go right, only for it to go horribly, horribly wrong? He takes the theme of 'life is hard and sometimes just about surviving through horrors" to an extreme.

I know this sub is probably full of posts and comments in this vein, but I'm scared to look too closely and see spoilers for book 3.