oh w o w I am just overwhelmed with all the feelings I have about this book!!
I was equal parts desperate and terrified to read Finale, since this Caraval trilogy has slowly stolen my whole heart away over these last 3 years. It has been a journey oh oh I have loved every morsel these books have given us!! And I am wholly in love with Legendary, I won’t lie, it’s justmy favourite and 10/10 to every viciously gorgeous page of games and love. So with that as an all-time favourite book, Finale had a lot of pressure on it!
And yet…it was the magical feast of wicked delight that I was waiting for. 😍
*:·ﾟ✧ THE STORY IT TOLD *:·ﾟ✧
Unlike the first two books, this doesn’t have a Caraval game — so it was quite differently paced. I did miss the fact it had less structure? But it also left room for more surprises. 🤗 This time it’s narrated by both Scarlett and Tella. But Tella’s over here with a neck ache from carrying 100% of the plot. I continue to love her best but felt Scarlett got dealt a sad sad hand here with very little to do. Obviously this one centres around Fates and magic, pretenders for the throne and the all consuming ache of deciding when to risk your heart with love. The ending was BRILLIANCE. I am starry-eyed at the perfection!
*:·ﾟ✧ MAGIC *:·ﾟ✧
As usual I died of complete love and intense jealous over how good the writing is!!! I mEAN. It is lush and gorgeous and the gowns descriptions continued to blow me away. The book is a painting of sensory details and I loved how this book is unapologetically gorgeous and each page is a treat.
*:·ﾟ✧ | CHARACTERS | *:·ﾟ✧
💜 Tella continued to be my favourite. Her character development is perfect! She has the attitude of a magpie that will attack u but also will collect shiny things and love u. She’s just so full of vivacious life???? I LOVE her. She’s also unapologetic about being into lovely things and being badass. If she wants a boy to kiss her? She kisses him. 😌 I’m just so here for how this book cheered girls on for being romantics.
💜 Like I said, Scarlett had very little plot. Lmao I feel bad for her but it made me uninvested in her chapters. In Caraval, she shone. Here? She’s playing a petty romance game with Julian and [name redacted], while Tella is over there witnessing horror and magic gone feral. And I was just a bit 🤨 at the inequality.
💜 Julian is a sweetie and a rogue and we were robbed of time with him!! (I loved the moment when Scarlett just called him OUT and is basically like “you think you’re badass but you’re a marshmallow”. True. True.)
💜 Now for the real reason for existence cAN WE TALK ABOUT LEGEND MY LOVE. Argh I freaking adore him. No spoilers but he was wicked and loving, dark and yet sometimes vulnerable. I loved his and Tella’s relationship and it just continued to be everything. He is a gorgeous PROBLEM and they all know it and they just go with it.
💜 And Jacks, my fave Fate who accidentally loved Tella while she told him to get off her lawn. He’s like the feral cat you accidentally petted and it followed you home and now you can’t get rid of it. Look Jacks is a disaster. He can’t even tuck his shirt in. But I just kind of loved him. 😂 He is the best of the Fates obviously and all “I am darkly evil” while Tella is like “i will smack both your hands if u touch anything u shouldn’t.”
💜 Secondary characters: Unfortunately I didn’t like the new Big Bad villain? He just didn’t carry much weight haha and look the book says it in Legendary: villains are best when you secretly love them! But ehhh, him aside: I LOVED getting to know more of the Fates and the Fated objects (there’s a magic library!!!!). Their powers are so unique and intriguing and can we please just shout out to the fact that they’re such an interesting, intriguing, and clever concept?! Fates trapped in cards!
Everything in this book is so different and brilliant!!! i love every twist of the world. 10/10 for the entire world, and the magic system, and the lore.
*:·ﾟ✧ | Disappointments | *:·ﾟ✧
Look you can see how much I’m flailing!! I loved the book. I can’t stop thinking about it 😍 but…I still do have some things I’m sad about? Mainly:
- I think it had a lot of potential with the plot that it didn’t touch. I love the intense romance, it’s been like that in all 3 books !! But for this one I feel like it sacrificed making the plot deliciously deeper because it mainly focused on romance.
- I’m actually super mad we didn’t get Julian and Legend’s backstories. It didn’t feel like “mystery left to the intrigue” it felt like a plot hole?
*:·ﾟ✧ OVERALL *:·ﾟ✧
can i cry on u 😭💛
It was SO GOOD. It was incredible. The very last letter Tella writes just had me screaming for 700 years. I loved loved loved how tied together and where the characters ended up. (I know I wrote a fair few problems, but overall, I rate books depending on how much they stole my heart. And this one has my whole heart.)
There was sacrifice and betrayal and gorgeous redemption. There was villainy and heroes and girls not waiting to be saved because they were too busy saving the whole freaking world. This book is everything that makes my heart beat and I will LOVE this series forever. It’s exquisitely dark and beautiful and I am so sad to say goodbye. But also deeply satisfied.
thank you to Flatiron Books for the ARC
Goodreads | Book Depository | Amazon | Booktopia |★★★★★
Welcome, welcome to Finale, the third and final book in Stephanie Garber’s #1 New York Times bestselling Caraval series!
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…
| WHAT DO YOU THINK |
alright tell me your favourite book in this trilogy! or is it on your TBR? did you prefer Tella narrating or Scarlett? basically let’s chat about all your thoughts pls 🤗
Coooool. I don’t think I’ll get around to reading this series for at least a few years, but when I saw Finale at a book store a few weeks ago I picked it up and read that last letter at the end and thought ‘cait is gonna like that ending’. It was a nice ending, bit sometimes they frustrate me because I wANNA KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!! And then I die. 😵
Most crazily, ~Olive
Yes I know I need to read this series, I really want to it’s just…ok I actually have no excuse need to get these books.
(Also I did get today’s email so the other days glitch was probably just a fluke and nothing to worry about 😌)
Urgh. I am an excited lil ball of energy waiting for this book! (I requested it at my library … buuut I’m waiting for them to buy it :/ ) I’m so so glad that you thought it was fantastic! i am, like, incredibly nervous, haha.
JACKS AND DANTE AND JULIAN HAVE ALL STOLEN MY HEARTS, WHAT IS THIS MADNESS
(much prefer Tella, too, lmao)
AH I’M SO EXCITED TO READ THIS ASDFGHJKL
I’ve just started it – so excited!
I loved Finale and I prefer Tella narrating the story compared to Scarlett. There was so much going on in this book! It’s crazy! Stephanie Garber is a mastermind when she created this series! It’s definitely a series that I will read over and over again. Thank you for sharing your thoughts about Finale!
I read your review minus spoilers when you posted it and just re-read it, with spoilers, as I finished the book on the commute this morning. Totally agree for the most part. I’m not typically a fan of young adult fantasy but won Caraval in a giveaway and was hooked. Although I had to keep reminding myself that they are 18 and 16(?) and think some things are a bit intense. How old are Julian/Legend? I know they’re ‘ageless’ but how old should they look? I do flippin’ love Legend though and agree with you about the Jacks’ ending. Bit of a plot hole. But definitely enjoyed it for the most part – I read it in two days. I’d love to see it on TV/in film, for the dresses and spectacle if nothing else. I reckon Baz Luhrmann would go a great job.