Book review on Finale by Stephanie Garber

 heyy everyone, its been a while. here's my book review for Finale by Stephanie Garber (i will also be talking in reference to the first two books since this is the last in the series). But firstly i would like to say that while reading this book, i had VERY mixed emotions. i majorly liked the novel in only the second half, but honestly found it tedious in the first half and some parts of the second. 

As i have already expressed before, i usually find romances cheesy and cringy (it might just be that i haven't read good romances), and this trilogy was no exception. but more on that later, i would like to talk about the world building, lore and the plot first.

If you have read the first two books, you probably would agree with me that the lore of the world in these books is absolutely breathtaking. the fates, the history, paradise's life, all these elements were so beautiful and interesting to read, which is why i felt that it was a shame that we did not come to know more these things in this book.

book cover

(minor spoilers ahead)

since we already got Scarlett and Julian's and Legend and Donatella's love stories in the first and second books, i really wanted the last book to focus more towards the lore and the workings of the ancient city of Alcara when the Fates ruled. 

the thing i really disliked throughout the book was specifically that the author spent too much time on the relationships between our four main characters and the bigger picture was lost amidst all the petty drama and the lives of only a few characters.

one example is of Jacks. He was a literal fate, but his role in the story was reduced to the secondary male love interest for Donatella. Despite being introduced since the second book, I felt that his perspective was not fully explored and potential under-utilised.

also, there were a few instances that left me totally muddled. When poison (the fate) was supposed to be with the fallen star, why then, did he help Julian and Scarlett?? why did the undead queen never try to attempt to kill Scarlett even after she had her handmaidens come into close proximity with scarlett? 

there are a few more such instances, and even after the major plots are resolved, these minor strings are left. idk but i get really annoyed when such things are left unclear. ( just because poison had a supposed crush on scarlet, he helped julian? what? and why did we get this piece of information in the last few pages as if it were something trivial?)

AND, Scarlett and Tella's dear mother, PARADISE!! the author absolutely DID NOT do her justice. she was one the few characters i found myself admiring in the story because of the air of mystery and intrigue surrounding her. she was such a layered character and she was a key reason and the motivation for Tella in the second book. And they killed her off just like that, in the first 100 pages of the book, no less. why? we didn't even get to know or see her character. 

I half expected her resurrection later in the book, because my brain thought no way would a character as important as her would die such a useless death, but i was wrong. because then who else would be the factor for the fallen star's regret and obsession? and then who else will imitate her to trick the fallen star?

i was also annoyed abt the fact that Paradise had a dumb death. she left in a weakened state, did not bother to explain to her daughters and got herself killed instead on a flimsy chance that she might have had of killing the fallen star. even after witnessing her street smartness and potential later in the book.

and I know, her character would have been absolutely exquisite, if it was even written. in the short exchange that we got to see between Scar and Paradise, i was convinced that it was a blunder to kill off such a great character. every single one of the four mains were IDIOTS, they would have fared so much better, had Paradise been alive. 

seeing Tella and legend's love story made even Julian seem like a fine male specimen. because oh god save me, legend was so fuckinf annoying and immature throughout the series, it made me want to drop the book so bad!! and wtf was even up with Tella??  if she was carefree and devilish in caraval, she was stupid and impulsive in finale. her constant whining and indecisiveness was grating on my nerves the whole time.

the whole nicolas-scarlett-julian love triangle did not hold any significance except to show how Scarlett and Julian are "meant to be" and to exhibit the terror of the fates. even though i did not really care about Nicolas, i still found his character a fresh breath of air from the same old main characters and their repetitive problems.

(and as a side note, i personally think we moved on from Nicolas' gruesome death way to fast. like i didn't even read a passing mention of the poor guy in the story whatsoever. )

(at this point i think i should take a break, its 2:08 am and im raging over a fictional book)

anyway, to conclude, if i were to compare this book with the previous two books of the Caraval series, then I'm sorry but this did not live up to my expectations. with a title like Finale, i expected an epic conclusion to the Caraval premise and the start of a new era. i actually thought the book will either end with the destruction of fates or the start of their coexistence with humans. we did not touch on any of those topics fully and instead got a relatively ambiguous ending.

as for the final battle, as expected, Legend was pathetically useless and instead the lead was taken by Scarlett and Donatella (FINALLY, THANK YOU). personally i found it to be a bit rushed but other than that it was interesting to read. also the line-

“And Scarlett cried. She cried for all the horrors he had been, and she cried for the wonders that he could have been instead.”

i think it describes the end of the fallen star gloriously. even though i already half  expected that the fallen star will die because of his regret and the ever present soul consuming darkness within him, and that something that either of the sisters will do will be the last straw that will cause his demise, i still found the scene to be enjoyable.

well then, this is the end of my review, i hope to see you again next time! thank you for reading it till here, it's truly a pleasure to know that someone other than me, my friends and family are interested in reading my reviews. :)

love,

danika