Reviews with content warning for Torture - Finale (Large Print)

This book for sure isn't bad, but imo it's definitely the weakest in the trilogy. I think the biggest issues stem from the structure and pacing of the story; this is the only book without Caraval as the skeleton around which to construct the plot and it feels scattered and untethered without it. It felt like a lot of characters just walking around and talking, and the actual interesting parts of the story suffered from playing second fiddle to a repetitive and rather dry love story between Tella/Legend. Tella's repetitive agonizing over Legend took up the vast majority of the book which started to annoy me pretty quickly, especially as it became clear that the actual action of the plot wasn't going to happen with her. Scarlett's entire arc felt rushed and underdeveloped, despite it being the actual plot/solution to the problems in the book? Garber should've delved more into Scarlett's time being trapped by the Fallen Star, her powers, and the planning to defeat the Fates. That all felt very haphazard, like she was just throwing shit at the wall and seeing what stuck. The book also imo would've been better if it were around 70 pages shorter and forced to cut a lot of the unnecessary ramblings. Garber, based on her other books in Caraval and ouabh, can be a very good writer, which is why Finale felt particularly weak to me. Overall, I enjoyed the first part of the book where they learned more about the lore of the Fates, but it lost me around the middle when it started to make less sense and get more repetitive.

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anxieteaandbiscuits12's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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ambenicole418's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I’m sorry, but as much as I enjoyed Caraval and as much as Jacks carried Legendary for me, unfortunately, even the Prince of Hearts could not save the finale installment of this series. Honestly, I was ready to give this book a 2.5 stars and DNF it at the 50% mark, but the only reason I didn’t is because the whole reason I started this series in the first place is because I wanted (and still do) to read Once Upon A Broken Heart.

Let’s start with the positives shall we:
Jacks, my baby 😍, my Prince of Hearts❤️‍🔥. Idk what this says about me, but I LOVE a hot, flirty, villain🤤! I’m sorry, but I am who I am and I cannot change 💖. I also LOVED Scarlett and Julian!!! I’m pretty sure I said this in my review of Legendary and I still can’t explain it, but they remind me of two of my favorite fairy tale romances, Rapunzel x Flynn Rider and Emma x Captain Hook from Once Upon A Time (a show about fairytale characters is considered a fairytale right?). They just have a cute and wholesome romance, and I truly wish nothing but the best for them! The fact that they had such little screen time in this book is downright CRIMINAL! Lastly, one thing about Stephanie Garber is she KNOWS how to write an ending! Honestly after finishing the book I was almost tempted to give it 4 stars, but then I started to remember all the things that pissed me off while reading and I settled at 3 stars. Speaking of things that pissed me off….

Let’s talk about the negatives (fair warning ⚠️ since this is the 3rd book in the series, I’m gonna assume if you’re reading this review you already read the book and I’m not gonna mark spoilers):
There were so many points throughout the book where it felt like Ms. Garber was trying to retcon, rewrite, or just pretend like certain things in the previous books didn’t happen. For example, at the end of this book when Legend started becoming mortal again he tells Tella “I can’t say that I understand love, or that I’m very good at it, because I’ve never loved anyone before,” but that’s a LIE because in the very first book we’re told that the whole reason Legend became Legend is because he was in love with Annalise Dragna (Scar and Tella’s grandmother), and since he was poor he thought the only way her father would let Annalise marry him was if he performed at Empress Elantine’s coronation and gained fame and fortune! This is a story that both Scarlett AND Tella learn during the first book! So, since Tella doesn’t call him out on this blatant lie are we just supposed to pretend that Legend’s entire backstory didn’t happen??? Are we just rewriting history now?? ALSO during one of Tella and Legend’s little flirt sessions Tella makes a comment about Legend’s rose tattoo being gone and Legend says, “Did you really think I’d keep it? You don’t have to be jealous of the tattoo anymore”, and Tella and him joke about it. But in the first book it’s said that Legend got the tattoo because a girl named Rosa who he was sleeping with unalived herself because he didn’t reciprocate her love. AGAIN another story Tella already knows! So, why are acting like this tattoo is a joke? Also joking about “being jealous” over a tattoo that was gotten in the honor of someone you drove to su*cide is CRAZY to me, but the fact that they both act like this tattoo means nothing is again another instance where it feels like Ms. Garber is trying to rewrite the books and Legend’s history!

While we’re on the topic of Tella x Legend, can I say that I absolutely HATE this couple! Idk something about Legend f*cking her grandmother back in the day, trying to get with Scarlett to the point where other Caraval performers literally say to his face in the 2nd book, “I thought you liked the other sister better?”, and him just deciding to make out with Tella at the end of the first book is just really weird to me. Why was Legend sliding down Tella’s family tree like that? I mean shit the only person in Tella’s family he DIDN’T try to start a relationship with (that we know of) after her grandmother was Paloma lol😭. Tella was quite literally just the last stop 🛑 on Legend’s tour of the women in the Dragna family😂💀.

Let’s talk about Tella specifically now because her and her constant dumbass decisions is 100% the reason why I wanted to DNF this book. Idk if she was like this in Legendary and I just didn’t notice it because I was obsessing over Jacks, but she is so STUPID. I mean this girl literally sold the weakness of her unborn child just to learn the same information that she should’ve been able to put together herself! Let me ask you a question, if you find out that your mother knows the secret weakness of the Fates, she had a romantic relationship with one of the Fates that ended in the BIRTH OF YOUR SISTER, then you see her kissing and proceeding to stab the Fate in order to kill him, and then you find out that the Fates’ weakness is love wouldn’t you then assume that your mother and the Fate in question were in love and she was trying to use that weakness against him? So why is Tella surprised by this information?? Why would it surprise her that Gavriel’s love for Paloma made him mortal when she was TOLD VERBATIM love makes Fates mortal? She literally sold her unborn child out because she couldn’t make 2+2=4 🙄 (this is never addressed or brought up by the end of book by the way; we kinda just immediately forget it happens lol). Tella comes up with so many half baked stupid schemes that consistently fail that for the LIFE of me I couldn’t understand why Tella couldn’t just follow Scarlett’s lead and let her enact her plan to kill Gavriel in peace.

Speaking of having to spend the majority of the book following Tella make dumb choices, why wasn’t the majority of the book spent with Scarlett and Gavriel as Scar tried to learn how to control her powers and get Gavriel to love her?? Considering that Gavriel is the main villain of the book, he’s Scar’s secret father, he was in love with their mother so much that it made him human, and the whole “kill Gavriel plan” hinges on this, why did we spend as little time as possible with them? More importantly why was Tella spending all of her time coming up with stupid half baked plots when she could’ve used Jacks (aka the Fate she’s supposed the “one true love” of) to get closer to Gavriel and help Scar from the inside?? I mean we learn that Tella is the “one true love” of the Prince of Hearts in the second book and yet for like 70% of this book we were doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING with this information, until the very end where Jacks tries to get Tella to choose him over Legend 🙄. Considering BOTH sisters are completely intertwined with the Fates, the majority of this book should’ve been spent with Scar living with Gavriel, learning how to control her powers, finding out more about his and Paloma’s relationship, and sorting through the complicated feelings Gavriel should’ve felt, considering how much he loved her mother, how much Scarlett looked like her, and how Paloma’s betrayal made him hate love. While in the background, Tella used Jacks to get closer to the Fates and find out more information about Gavriel. But instead in a book where the biggest threat is Gavriel and the Fates we spent little to no time with them.

There are other things that really pissed me off while reading this book, but I’ve been incoherently angry typing and rambling for way too long as it is, so I’m gonna end it here.

Final thoughts💭:
Even though I didn’t enjoy Finale, I did really enjoy the first book in this series, I LOVE Jacks, and I know Ms. Garber can write a romance I adore and root for (Scar x Julian 😍), so I will definitely be reading Once Upon a Broken Heart!💔🦊🏹🍎 (Although if I find out that Evangeline is Tella’s daughter, or granddaughter, or something like that, I WILL scream.)

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szekelyewy's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

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outer_books's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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aas's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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stitchbooks22's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Finale was enjoyable and it was lovely to see the growth of some of the characters. The plot was good, despite the lack of anything to do with Caraval and the almost abandoned or rushed plot points that cropped up within. I do feel some of the characters could’ve had a stronger role in the book or been developed better.

Overall, it was relaxing, enjoyable and a good ending to the trilogy.

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charhollyx's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

A fitting end to the trilogy.

obviously Legend was the better choice for Tella… but Christ I wanted her to choose Jacks so much. I hope we get answers about her being his true love in his own trilogy.

I did think it left a few questions unanswered, but I suppose a big part of this trilogy is the not knowing and the magic of secrets.
Enjoyed it a lot

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