I've studied all the books on EW. And ultimately, it's very subjective. The truth is that the market's behavior is not fully random nor is it systematic, it is chaotic and fractal, and that is about the extent that I agree with EW theory
(Chaos theory is objective as mandlebrot followers know).
You can find just about any pattern in back data, but try to look at an EW predictive analysis. Those who practice EW are constantly updating and refining their models, when it doesn't fit the count.
Then, when they spend hours to massage it to fit the pattern they see, they say it fits the objective rules.
You can read the objective rules all day long, and they would just fail on an unbiased predictive program. I do see a lot of merit in fibonacci/psychological growth, but that's not elliot waves.
If you step way back for fifty years, the market does go up and down in waves and pullbacks. However, there is no way to predict the turning pts nor duration with accuracy using elliot wave rules.
By the time you are ready for the great pullback and short the market, the market goes up for another two years, you get your head handed to you on a plate, and then the EW theorists say, "oh, that was just an extra D count, see? We had to revise our models."
Better to follow the school of systematic postion and risk trading IMHO. Although, TA does have merits on the short term, but it is far less subjective then EW.