v2.
Finale is a good conclusion to the first two books. It lacks the world building of Legendary (because the world has been built well in that book--it simply continues in this one). Scarlett adds a new layer to keep things interesting. And while I liked the characters and the world, I found the plot a bit light. There are quite a few scenes where things happen but nothing happens. There are elements introduced that don't seem to play out worth much (like their mother waking up and then dying…Scarlett pretending to be their mother for 2 minutes…Legend and Tella looking for a book that never gives them information, I guess except for the knowledge that Tella married Jacks, but then that's dissolved before Legend finds out which could have been really interesting…Tella going to the trouble to trade a secret for information on Fallen Star…Scarlett trying to master her power to no use, or I guess a little use because she chooses not to use it on Julian). But none of those things felt like they had weight in the story. Very little of the plot felt like it had weight or that it mattered. It was a lot of occurrences to keep them running around until the end.
Which I shouldn't complain about because the heart of the story then becomes those moments of character interaction. The moments between Legend and Tella weighing love and immortality. The few moments between Julian and Scarlett pushing each other way and choosing each other. The brief moments with the sisters supporting each other. I like character driven books and I enjoyed these character moments. I think after Legendary, however, I hoped Garber might be able to balance good characters, sparkles of description with a bit more substance in the plot. Two out of three is nothing to complain about.
On the upside, like the first two books most of what bothered me when I first ready Finale didn't bother me upon rereading. Perhaps because I liked both Scarlett and Tella better coming into this book. Perhaps because I think I understood them better this time. I enjoyed Finale more this time around.
v1.
I expected the duel point of view, because I was fairly sure there wasn't a third character to go with. I thought it mostly worked well and allowed more to happen in the story. But Tella eavesdropping on a few scenes just to get us info that wouldn't work with the pov felt a little flimsy. And there were parts that seemed completely unnecessary. Like why was Nicholas brought in at all to be there for one scene and then die? Was he just a temporary foil for Julian and Scarlett? With all the big things happening with Fates and empires changing rulers some long dismissed ex-fiancé was the way to go about that? And the same thing with their mother. Everything Tella went through to save her in Legendary and she just wakes up and then dies? Was it because she would have given her daughters too much information? Or what was the point of all that?
Also, and this is a small annoyance but the scene with Esmerelda where Tella decides that if Legend can betray the person who created him, he can betray anyone, really? Like her giving him power is any way connected to him caring about her or that she matters to him in anyway? It was too ridiculously illogical for me and confirmed that Tella is still stupid in this book.
Also I instantly hated their mother because the second she wakes up she starts making decisions for her daughters and doing things to control them “for their own good” which is completely toxic and I'm kind of glad she died if that's how she was going to act.
There's more repetition in this book than the previous two. I thought Legendary did a good job of giving the reader vital information without rehashing the first book or being repetitive. Finale repeats not just what we've read in previous books but what we've read a few times already in this one.
All that being said, I liked the mythology and the capriciousness of the Fates. I maybe thought the climax was a little convenient and off-kilter (Scarlett goes through this whole elaborate ruse to convince Fallen Star she's her mother and then abandons it like two paragraphs in?). But Fates and magic and the rules of the world I thought were interesting enough to hold the trilogy up. And both romances created sparks when things started to get dull which kept it fun.