I agree. I think this is the first time I've actually experienced Darkness Induced Audience Apathy, so I guess it gets credit for that.
I have to disagree with you on your first sentence - The language Lyra uses in her journal is perfectly readable (to me, at least), whereas Purple Prose writers "eschew quotidian sentences for elaborate concatenation of phrases and clauses ... with the scintillating adjectives bewildering the reader and obscuring the subject." I seldom felt like any of the 437,000 words were unnecessary, or any word choice too ornate. If she was losing constantly, give her credit for developing her character and making progress throughout. Yes, it's a Downer Ending, but when you think about it, all her character development led up to her final decision, and her ability (and willingness) to take the third option, sacrificing her mind rather than her freedom (or the world's well-being). The downer comes from showing the aftermath in detail, and I'm fairly certain there's a trope around here somewhere that describes the very last line.
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I literally can't recommend this.
It's 437,000 words of purple prose describing Lyra being ground in to the dirt and losing constantly. At the end of the series, she's still lost and beaten in to the ground, and all character development has been lost.
I'd almost compare it to Pretty in Pink, just better written and less physical. At least Pretty in Pink had obvious intentions and got straight to the point, though.