Ah, yes. I hadn't thought about that critique of Katherines until you mentioned it. It might even be more disappointing even with romance as a comparison, because if Colin had escaped the romance bit, it would have elevated a non-romantic relationship (which I wish more YA would do between boys and girls, make friendship be just as valuable as anything else) and allowed Colin to break out of the relationship tango. I don't agree that he doesn't grow at all — he's broken one cycle — but all he's done is ended up in another one. SIGH.