Occasionally, there are minutes that get extra seconds. Moments so precious the universe stretches to make additional room for them
After multiple years of sitting on my to-read, and almost six months from start to end, I have finished the Caraval series! No book has made me wish more that I was better at painting. The imagery is absolutely wonderous, the games are inspiring, and the characters are fully endearing. Whenever I would sit down to read some, I would come out of it in a haze of sparkles, colors, and playing cards.
I tend to enjoy standalone books better than series. Even if I long for more content, I find that a lot of stories just only need one book to cover the plot and development. Because of this, I find the endings of the last book in a series to often be unsatisfying. Either the characters were taken somewhere I didn't want them to end up, or that sense of finality was lost over the course of multiple installments. So it stands out to me when the ending of a series really satisfies me. I am delighted that Finale falls into that category.
With the Fates released from the Deck of Destiny, as well as the Dragna's mother Paradise, Scarlett and Tella come together to narrate the adventure. Both sisters seek to find their love, their path, and safety for the unsure world. As the Fates threaten to take over the land, Scarlett, Tella, Julian, and yes, Legend, navigate around both new and old Fates and the cast of Caraval. Although the sanctioned games are over, the magic continues to push the girls to fight for themselves, and what they love.
Although we get to hear from the perspectives of both sisters, I still felt that the focus was more on Tella and her development. I think she is a wonderful character, a joy to read, and so much fun to follow along with... but I missed Scarlett and couldn't shake the feeling of unbalance. After both girls getting center stage in a previous book, I would have preferred more equal investment for the conclusion. Perhaps others would disagree, or perhaps I just like Scarlett better. No matter which way it leans, hearing from both characters was certainly the way to go for this book.
Overall, I also felt that the book could have been shortened a bit, as much as it pains me to say. There were some scenes that I felt didn't have much impact on the story, and the momentum slowed a bit at times. Like the previous books, the description could be a little heavy, but also like the previous books, I felt this was better handled than even Legendary.
In Legendary, we are introduced to the idea that "Every story has four parts - the beginning, the middle, the almost ending, and the true ending". Finale embraced this, gracefully separating the book into those categories. It may seem small, but it really helped the story rise up to another level to me, like the magic was pulling up off the pages. It was a simple yet beautiful way of helping move the story along.
Although no Caravel games were played, I still felt the constant wish to dive in and experience the world for myself. I tend to love games and competitions in stories, whether ethical or not, a la Hunger Games, so it was pleasantly surprising to not feel the want to go back to that plotline.
I won't give away the ending of course, but I will say that I would not have wished for anything different. It was masterfully handled and left me with that coveted feeling of excitement for beloved books.
The most magnificent things are worth living for
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