Finale (Caraval #3) Review

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…

It's been only 3 hours since I finished this book and I already miss this lush, exciting world. I think you all already know Caraval is my favorite book of all time (if you've read my reviews at all) and when I say this is a near-perfect to this fantastic whimsical series, I mean it.

We have Legend (husband #1), we have Tella (badass QUEEN), we have Julian (MARSHMALLOW), we have Scarlett (LITERAL *SPOILER* AND FREAKING AMAZING), we have Jacks (husband #2) and god I love all of them.

And no, I still wasn't able to chose between Jacks and Legend, screw me cause I love them both and boy, if I was Tella I'd be like Elena Gilbert 2.0 (or literally any other female YA protagonists or tv show female protagonist because clearly everyone needs a love triangle). Never thought I'd see the day I'd be like this.

First of all, the OTP of all time. Scarlett and Julian. My babies. I swear to god if anything had happened to them I would have died a million times over, I love them both so much and this is a ship I will always be behind, ok? Anyone else GET LOST. I love them both, I love their relationship, I love the marshmallow that is Julian and the badass fighter that Scarlett is, and they're freaking perfect together, you hear me? Perfect.

Tella and Jacks and Legend. Stephanie Garber, just how did you expect me to choose? How? I love them both so much, they both have an enemies to lovers bittersweet kind of thing and excuse me? Ma'am? Are you trying to kill me? I love the banter between Legend and Tella, I love their looks and the frustration, I love the lies and truths that make up Jacks and Tella's relationship and fates know I love them all.

The plot as usual, was amazing, we are battling literal fates and all HELL is broken loose in those books, some things that I keep thinking I should have saw coming that just came out and I was like WHAT?!

But that's the beauty behind Stephanie Garber's writing, you never see it coming and your mind gets twisted in all these ways you didn't know was possible. With all the scheming, and the delicate balances and new relations, and the fake Legend becoming emperor thing, like gods...

The setting as always were beautiful, whimsical, mastermind amazing, and I love the way Stephanie Garber describes everything (even though I know some people say it's cringe but I don't see why they would say that?). I was held on by every word and every action, trying to piece together the puzzle that is Caraval, but it's so easy to mistake pieces for something else and I love that.

Oh but there are disappointments, first: I really wanted to see more backstory between Legend and Julian, I really want to know more about their past and if what Legend said in Legendary was true about his mom leaving him and whatnot, how exactly is he related to Julian? Are they half-brothers? I also wanted to see more sibling banter between them.

Second: What happened to Jacks? I'm satisfied with most of the character arcs and endings but I'm not with Jacks's, something just feels incomplete, what he did in the end [*spoiler* leaving *spoiler*], didn't feel like him? He said he was determined to get what he wanted but he didn't so that in the end? I also wanted to see a backstory on him, I feel like there's a lot we don't know.

And Lastly: the big baddie, skip this paragraph if you don't wish to be spoiled, but as much as I can see the depth in Gabriel I'm not satisfied, I expected more. I think it would have been better if instead of Gabriel the villain had been Jacks, and if not that then after the Gabriel died Jacks had taken control? Because it feels like a loose end that could have been used so much better. 

➡5 stars

Occasionally, there are minutes that get extra seconds. Moments so precious the universe stretches to make additional room for them, and this was one of them. People don’t get pauses like these very often. Some people never receive them at all.

Fear was a poison that people mistook as protection. Making choices to stay safe could be just as treacherous.

Love is messy. It’s not easily controlled. But that’s what makes it so powerful. It’s unbridled passion. It’s caring about someone else’s life more than you care about your own

Most of my life, I’ve romanticized death. I used to love the idea of something being so tremendous that it was worth dying for. But I was wrong. I think the most magnificent things are worth living for.

I'm the villain, even in my own story.

He smelled of magic and heartbreak, and something about the combination made her think that despite what he claimed, he wanted to be her hero

I’m not trying to win her hand. I’m offering her mine, and everything that comes with it, hoping she’ll take it and decide she wants to keep it.

Fear was a poison that people mistook as protection. Making choices to stay safe could be just as treacherous.

I used to be scared of it, but now I think love is another type of magic. It makes everything brighter, it makes people who have it stronger, it breaks rules that aren't supposed to exist, it's infinitely valuable.

Just because something is real doesn't mean you believe in it.

He might have been a liar and villain, but he made both things look very good

Tonight he was smiling like a wicked prince, escaped from the stars, ready to spirit her up into the heavens.

Every story has four parts: the beginning, the middle, the almost-ending, and the true ending. Unfortunately, not everyone gets a true ending. Most people give up at the part of the story where things are the worst, when the situation feels hopeless, but that is where hope is needed most. Only those who persevere can find their true ending.