Caraval #3

This is a review for the final book in the series and will be spoiler free for this book.  If you have not read the first two books be aware that there may be spoilers ahead.  

Finale by Stephanie Garber

Publication Date: May 7, 2019

Summary from NetGalley:

A love worth fighting for. A dream worth dying for. An ending worth waiting for.

It’s been two months since the Fates were freed from a deck of cards, two months since Legend claimed the throne for his own, and two months since Tella discovered the boy she fell in love with doesn’t really exist.

With lives, empires, and hearts hanging in the balance, Tella must decide if she’s going to trust Legend or a former enemy. After uncovering a secret that upends her life, Scarlett will need to do the impossible. And Legend has a choice to make that will forever change and define him.

Caraval is over, but perhaps the greatest game of all has begun. There are no spectators this time: only those who will win, and those who will lose everything.

Welcome, welcome to Finale. All games must come to an end…

ARC provided by Flatiron Books via NetGalley for an honest review.

Confession:

Let’s start off by just taking a minute to admire that cover.  Isn’t it just gorgeous?  I think it is my favorite of the three.  Of course it doesn’t hurt that it is purple which is my favorite color.  I can’t wait to see it on the finished book and next to my other two.  I might just have to display them with the covers out, so that they can be admired. 

Ok, enough gushing over the cover, you came here for what is inside the cover.  This finale book is just as fantastic as the other two and in some ways even better.  We get both Scarlett and Tella’s perspective in this story, so we are essentially getting two stories.  I think Tella’s story is more of the main focus, but Scarlett gets her finale as well.  I continue to adore Julian and although I found myself frustrated with Legend at times, I eventually came to adore him too.  

The one thing I missed in this book was an actual Caraval.  There was no game this time, but there was still plenty of action and solving clues to find objects that would help them defeat the Fates, but no game.  Which meant that we didn’t see hardly any of the characters that Legend employs for his Caraval.  A few make cameos, but they are essentially not involved with how the story plays out. 

We do, however, get a lot more of the Fates.  Many are heavily involved in the plot, but others are not, we just hear about them.  I would love to see a book about the origins of the Fates.  We are told some of it in this book, but not enough.  The Fallen Star was my favorite evil one.  Jacks was still my favorite in this book and even though he was somewhat evil, he did try to help Tella in his way.  

There are some twists and turns to the story of both Tella and Scarlett,  a couple I had figured out, but there were still some surprises as well.  The ending felt a bit rough and rushed, but it ended much like I thought it would so I was happy with that.  The pacing was also a bit slow at times, but the action certainly makes up for that.  

Overall this was a stellar finish to Scarlett and Tella’s stories.  I hope to see more stories set in this world though.  I would love to see the story of how the Fates came to be, and Legend’s full back story.  The one he tells Tella in the second book, is not enough if it was even true.  I would also like to see more of Paradise’s story and her roll with keeping the fates imprisoned.  Some of her story was left open ended so hopefully that means that we might get one.  

If you haven’t started this series, do so now.  It is amazing and you won’t be disappointed.