Author: Stephanie Garber
Genre: Fantasy, YA
Synopsis: Welcome, welcome to Caraval...all games must come to an end.
It’s been two months since the last Caraval concluded, two months since the Fates have been freed from an enchanted deck of cards, two months since Tella has seen Legend, and two months since Legend claimed the empire’s throne as his own.
Caraval is over, but perhaps the greatest game of all has begun―with lives, empires, and hearts all at stake. There are no spectators this time: only those who will win...and those who will lose everything.
(Source)
*Disclaimer*
This review will contain spoilers for all three books in the series, so
I do not advise reading this unless you have already read Finale! I have
reviews for both Caraval and Legendary already up on my blog if you wish to go
and check them out :)
I have been so excited about this book ever since I finished Legendary
last year, and I am so sad that this series has come to an end! Finale was a
very satisfying conclusion to the series in my opinion. There were a few things
left open-ended and questions unanswered, so I'm hoping that maybe in the
future we might get more stories from this world!
Finale picks up around two months after the end of Legendary with Tella
trying to come to terms with the revelation that the boy she had fallen in love
with is actually Legend himself, whilst trying to deal with the fact that her
mother who disappeared many years ago has returned to her and her sister. I
didn't really know where this story was going to go, but I did not expect most
of the stuff that did happen. There was a lot going on in this book and a lot
of new information being presented to us. The main story follows Tella,
Scarlett, Julian and Legend trying to figure out a way to defeat The Fates that
were released at the end of the second book.
The Character growth over the entire trilogy is very well done. You get
a real sense of closure on the four main characters that we met back in the
first book. They are all still true to themselves, but they have all developed
a newer side to them. Even though overall the whole trilogy takes place over a
few months, the development is incredible.
I resonate so much with Scarlett. In Caraval she was indecisive,
reserved, a hopeless romantic wanting to do things the proper way and not get
in trouble, but she also fought so hard to protect the ones she loves. I think
her and Legend had the biggest character development over the series, because
whilst she is still all those things in Finale, she is also a bit more bold and
daring, willing to sacrifice herself for the sake of others and knows what she
wants a bit more, but Garber wrote her in a way that doesn't completely change
her characteristics, she has just grown as a person and let go of her fears a
little.
Legends development in this book
alone was astonishing. Obviously, we didn't know who he was for books 1 & 2
so I was intrigued to see if in the third instalment he would act differently
to how he has been portrayed in the past because we have only really known him
as Dante. Throughout the entire series, the reader is told different stories
about Legend, no one knowing anything concrete about him as he is as mythical
in their world as a unicorn is in ours. He made some questionable decisions in
this book and tried to control Tella a bit too much but in the end, he realises
that he doesn't need magic and immortal life to be happy and he makes the
ultimate sacrifice.
Tella is the opposite of Scarlett
in so many ways, even in the lessons that she learns throughout this book.
Tella is bold, daring, flirtatious and not afraid to break the rules. In
Legendary I wasn't too keen on Tella, but that is purely because I'm so much
like Scarlett that I had a hard time connecting with her, but when I re-read
the second book and read Finale, I learnt to appreciate her and understand what
she was about. She is fiercely loyal, headstrong and knows what she wants, some
qualities I wish I possessed myself. In this book, she learns that love isn't a
weakness, but it's actually a strength and a form of magic. She kept her
feistiness but opened her heart a bit more to become vulnerable.
The romance in this book was particularly interesting. Love triangles
are used so often in books that it's hard to put an original spin on it, but I
believe that Garber has done just that! She manages to make both Tella and you
as a reader get swept away in the games that both Jacks and Legend play in
order to try and win Tella's heart. Tella is told that immortals can never
love, they only obsess. This is always going through the back of her mind as
she is trying to figure out what to do. She loves Legend but knows that he will
never give up his life to be with her, but Jacks is just obsessing over her
because she got his heart beating again. They are both controlling and
manipulative towards Tella, trying to selfishly keep her for themselves and
Tella knows this, but keeps going back anyway, creating an interesting
conversation about why people in abusive relationships struggle to actually
leave them, because they want to be the ones to change the person, to make them
realise the error of their ways. You really see Tella struggling in this book
with her feelings, and becoming vulnerable as for once in her life she has let
love in and know doesn't know what to do.
This book is the first in the trilogy that does not centre around a game
of Caraval, and I think that made it feel a little disjointed from the other
two. It is still full of magic and wonder, but there was a sense of danger and
urgency, adding a darker undertone to this one which I liked, and you could
sense that everything was coming to a close, so the stakes were higher than
ever. There was a lot of stuff happening in this one book, with a villain being
introduced and defeated and a host of other new characters that we had never
met before, and it sometimes took away from the actual story as we kept having
to be given background information on them. Maybe Gavriel and The Fates should
have been introduced a bit more in the second book, so we already felt a bit
more familiar with them in this one.
That isn't to say that I didn't like this book! I still loved it and
overall it is one of my all-time favourite series. The Fates were interesting
to learn about and try to figure out which ones of them were trustworthy, they
added suspense and a manic element to the book as even the ones that wanted to
help the main characters were still morally grey in their choices. I am a
little upset that Paloma was killed off so early in the book. I feel like there
was a big build up surrounding her story even from the first book, and she
would have been a very interesting character to explore and get to know, based
off the few scenes that she did have.
The ending was very satisfying. Scarlett and Julian get ready to start
their new life together whilst Tella and Legend are planning to run away,
travelling the world and most likely causing trouble wherever they go. The
characters definitely get the ending they deserve, whilst they have changed
over the three books, it is still true to who they are.
Overall, I really enjoyed this conclusion to the Caraval trilogy and
there is definitely room for a spin-off and companion stories within this
world, with some questions that have yet to be answered, mainly answering what
was revealed in the marketplace scene! Stephanie Garber is a new favourite
author of mine and I cannot wait to see what she comes out with in the future,
whether that be more books in this world or something completely new!
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