yeah, i think part of what made it so polarizing is that people saw themselves in the goats and instead of like, reflecting on it in any way they saw it as virtue signaling and an attack on their character. a lot of readers put on their serious hats about solving the mysteries and didn't like it being made light of or the idea that anything could be open ended even though the story was never presented the same way as a traditional murder mystery from the very start. i've noticed that a lot of people REALLY REALLY don't like thinking about a story after it's over, there's this idea that everything you open has to be shut at some point so you can just move on to the next thing and i personally have never understood it.