Finale (Caraval, #3)

by Stephanie Garber

My feelings about this book are quite all over the place. I enjoyed it a lot, I still love the world, but I also thought that some parts were just utterly ridiculous and I hated the love triangle that was so prominent in this last book.

I liked the fact that we got to see more from the Fates, they were interesting, but at the same time also a bit late to the party. I did not care about them that much because their threat was new, again. It felt a bit as with tv series that have a new bad guy every episode. At a sudden point, you stop caring about the villains.

Also, Tella's storyline was really intriguing in the beginning. Following Legend, searching if he was actually trustable, discovering his secrets. Oh, wait - there's Jack, and we transformed into a love triangle that did not stop until the very last page of the book. Normally I do not mind love triangles unless they take over the whole storyline, which was, unfortunately, the case in this book.

The ending felt rushed and ridiculous. All of these characters who love playing games truly believed that Scarlet could impersonate Paloma and make him love again? Seriously? Oh and then she forgave him so he started feeling again, I did not realize I was reading a fairytale. And the fated objects felt again very convenient for the plot, without any good explanation of how the magic system worked. I must admit, the magic system is a lot more clear than in the first book, but I wanna know more! Also, there is still no world building. There is a world, but at the same time there almost isn't? And Legend's questionable motives just get thrown away halfway through the book.

I get why people love this. Stephanie Garber has a very magical and intriguing writing style that few authors possess. You almost cannot help but love the book, even if you have a lot of remarks about it. It is highly enjoyable, but I get why people are upset about this ending.