Review – Finale by Stephanie Garber

Title Finale

Author Stephanie Garber

Description from Amazon

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.

Initial Thoughts

I was so pumped after reading Legendary.  I had to dive into Finale immediately.  I had ridiculously high hopes for this book.  Since I loved the first two books in this series so much, I honestly didn’t think it would be possible for me to like this series more (but I wanted to hope that I could).

I had so many questions after Legendary, so many mysteries to solve.  I was a bit afraid that everything I wanted to see couldn’t be covered in just one more book.

Favorite Character

Legend.  Sorry, not sorry for those who don’t like that choice.  He’s my favorite character.  As much as I loved Scarlett and Tella, Legend stole the show.  As much as the story was about the sisters, it was about him.

Cover Art

This is my favorite of the US covers for this series.  Normally, I’d be partial to the blue or black covers found on Caraval or Legendary, respectively, but I think the purple really works here.  All of the editions of this book are so pretty, but, I actually think I like the US Edition best.

Despite the fact that purple is Scarlett’s least favorite color, I think the cover is beautiful and it is a perfect choice to go with the other two books.

POV

I loved that this book was told from both Tella and Scarlett’s POVs.  Caraval was Scarlett’s story while Legendary was Tella’s.  Finale was both of their stories and I loved that both of their voices were represented equally.

Side note, I also loved the chapter at the end told from Legend’s POV.

Something I Loved

**Spoiler Alert** I loved the mention of Tella’s daughter.  Like her mother, Tella had to make a promise to give away something of her daughter’s in the future.  Not only does this allude to more books in this amazing series, but, I love that it’s a promise of happiness for Tella.  She’s been through so much, she deserves a happy ending.  Also, the promise she made helped her to understand why her own mother made the choice that she did in Legendary.  I really enjoyed how it brought Paloma’s decision full circle for Tella.

Final Thoughts

I loved this book.  (I still might have loved Legendary a smidge more).  But, I thought Finale was superb.  The story was amazing, the characters were fantastic, I wouldn’t change anything.  This is easily my favorite trilogy of the year.  I want a million more books set in the Meridian Empire about Tella, Scarlett, Julian, Legend, Jacks, and all of the other characters I fell in love with.

Dear Stephanie Garber, please continue this series, it’s too good not to!

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Recommendations for Further Reading

• The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern – I have recommended this one for every volume of the Caraval series.  But, it’s so good.  It gave me such similar feels, I can’t not recommend it.
• Furyborn by Claire Legrand – I loved the dual POVs in Finale and Furyborn has a similar style.  Although the stories are different, I think the idea of two simultaneous stories that eventually converge makes these books very similar.
• Rule by Ellen Goodlett – this is another story told by sisters with alternating POV.  While the magic and settings are not the same, there are a lot of similar themes of family, royalty, and secrets.