Book Review: Finale (Caraval #3) by Stephanie Garber

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ 
Audience: Young adult fantasy
Length: 496 pages
Author: Stephanie Garber
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Release Date: May 7th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Welcome, welcome to Finale, the third and final book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Caraval series!

Welcome, welcome to Caraval…all games must come to an end.

It’s been two months since the last Caraval concluded, two months since the Fates have been freed from an enchanted deck of cards, two months since Tella has seen Legend, and two months since Legend claimed the empire’s throne as his own. Now, Legend is preparing for his official coronation and Tella is determined to stop it. She believes her own mother, who still remains in an enchanted sleep, is the rightful heir to the throne.

Meanwhile, Scarlett has started a game of her own. She’s challenged Julian and her former fiancé, Count Nicolas d’Arcy, to a competition where the winner will receive her hand in marriage. Finaly, Scarlett feels as if she is in complete control over her life and future. She is unaware that her mother’s past has put her in the greatest danger of all.

Caraval is over, but perhaps the greatest game of all has begun―with lives, empires, and hearts all at stake. There are no spectators this time: only those who will win…and those who will lose everything…

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE.

I had to take a few days before writing this review because I loved this book that much. Oh my goodness, PLEASE READ THIS SERIES and thank me later. This is what my carnival + fantasy dreams are made of.

WHAT A FINALE. (yes, I will use this pun without any shame).

Okay, my heart is in a million pieces. What I loved absolute most about this book was how it was entirely focused on love. AND IT WASN’T CHEESY. That I feel is the hardest part of any romance-ish book. Finale was full of love, it controlled the book. Oh, it was so well done. I could gush forever at this one fact.

Now, I know most people love Scarlet, BUT I LOVE TELLA MOST. I love that she’s stubborn and passionate. She’s fiercely loyal and loves with a controlled recklessness that makes me love her even more. I was happy to have her as the main POV (Scarlet was the other one, but only occasionally). Scarlet did grow A LOT in this book. She took control of her own choices and really helped those around her. She showed strength and grace and so much love to those she held dear. I do love Scarlet and Julian though. Julian melts my heart into a tiny thousand pieces. Both Legend and Julian are completely frustrating, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I don’t know how many times I squealed or felt like shouting at this book IF LEGEND DIDN’T GET HIS CRAP TOGETHER. Hot dang, that guy was running me ragged. I’ve been #teamlegend from day one. Jacks is great and all, but Legend. LEGEND. Speaking of Jacks, he was this morally gray character that spoke to my soul. He was twisted and in way too deep with Tella. The possessiveness he exhibited made me flip out more than once. The way this all settled left me breathless.

This book was less focused on the games and more on real life. I love the way this adapted over the entire series. This felt like the older and wiser sibling of a book. It really started out as a game, but as life always comes rearing back, Finale remained in the literal world. A lot of mystery and intrigue was left to be solved to save the world before the Fates took over.

I’ll say it again, the ending left me breathless. Y’all. THE ENDING. IT. WAS. EVERYTHING. Perfectly done. A happily ever after I have been dreaming of since Caraval was first released. I now am pleading to the bookish gods for a spin-off starring some of my favs.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult fantasy
  • Language: none
  • Romance: lots of kisses
  • Violence: knives, poison, magic

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Book Review: Two Can Keep a Secret by Karen M. McManus

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Young adult mystery/thriller
Length: 336 pages
Author: Karen M. McManus
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: January 8th, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Echo Ridge is small-town America. Ellery’s never been there, but she’s heard all about it. Her aunt went missing there at age seventeen. And only five years ago, a homecoming queen put the town on the map when she was killed. Now Ellery has to move there to live with a grandmother she barely knows.

The town is picture-perfect, but it’s hiding secrets. And before school even begins for Ellery, someone’s declared open season on homecoming, promising to make it as dangerous as it was five years ago. Then, almost as if to prove it, another girl goes missing.

Ellery knows all about secrets. Her mother has them; her grandmother does too. And the longer she’s in Echo Ridge, the clearer it becomes that everyone there is hiding something. The thing is, secrets are dangerous–and most people aren’t good at keeping them. Which is why in Echo Ridge, it’s safest to keep your secrets to yourself. 

DEFINITELY A BIT CREEPY.

I’m not a horror/scary fan. Never have been, and while I would love to try a legit horror book just once, I like this dialed back version a lot.

I loved One of Us Is Lying, and TCKaS was better.

I spent the entire book trying to guess who was the original murderer. Every time I thought I had an idea, whoa bam, something would happen and I would have to change my mind.

THIS IS HOW I’M SUPPOSED TO FEEL. Right? No one wants a mystery book where you can guess the person before you even start reading it. I loved that the blame kept moving around making me nervous as to what the final fallout would be.

There were definitely some creepy moments. And it only got more disturbing as all of the facts were known. I mean, really disturbing.

I loved our two main POVs, Ellery and Malcolm. They had great banter and chemistry together. I liked that both of there backgrounds were different and switching between them gave a truly different view point on how these murders were affecting them.

A chilling last sentence left me feeling shook. I am not mad I read this. These are the only YA mystery/thrillers I’ve ever read and I will definitely keep picking her books up.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult mystery/thriller
  • Language: a bit of strong language
  • Romance: kiss/small make-out
  • Violence: light descriptions of multiple murders, creepy dolls, poisoning, physical
  • Trigger warnings: loss of a loved one

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Book Review: The Traitor’s Ruin (The Traitor’s Circle #2) by Erin Beaty

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Audience: YA Fantasy Romance
Length: 384 pages
Author: Erin Beaty
Publisher: Imprint
Release Date: July 10th, 2018
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

After proving her worth in book one as a deft spy and strategic matchmaker, Sage Fowler is now comfortably positioned in high society as the royal tutor. When she’s called upon to teach his majesty’s soldiers how to read and write, she jumps at the chance to serve her kingdom of Demora—and to be reunited with her fiancé, Captain Alex Quinn. 

During a skirmish, Sage and Alex are separated. She watches him die before he can deliver important military intel—or so she thinks. She escapes from the enemy and makes an unlikely alliance with a mysterious soldier from a third nation. As Sage tries to rally their support against a common foe, the important political alliance is plagued by secrets and betrayal. 

Can Sage complete Alex’s mission and save her kingdom once more?

The Traitor’s Kiss Review – ☆☆☆☆☆

Y’ALL I AM SMITTEN BY THIS SERIES.

Some books hit you at the right time, causing you to love them on an even grander scale than you thought you originally thought you might. This has been that case and I can NOT stop gushing about it.

Alex & Sage ARE LIFE. THEY ARE SO PRECIOUS AND I LOVE THEM. And I can’t stop using capitals. Bear with me. They’re so many emotions to express.

Oh how miscommunication wears on me in books. I didn’t hate the way this was done though. Alex was struggling through some PTSD-like emotions that were causing him to have a hard time coping. This lead to some issues with Sage that sent her into dangerous situations. While I am all over cheering Sage on, I was also like GIRL. STOP RUNNING TOWARDS DANGER. But she can handle herself, this is a favorite fact of mine. But really, once they started working together, magic happened. WHOOP.

The bad guy was kinda silly in this because he didn’t have the most villain-y reasons for battle and attempted kidnappings. The other political aspects were much more flourished and I loved getting to travel all of the map. It was amazing world-building full of getting to know other kingdoms, lands, and people.

One of my favorite tiny tidbits is that Alex actually shows emotion. He CRIES, and I want to cry with him. I always hate when guys think they’re too good to shed a few tears at truly awful situations. He cares so much and I feel that on every level.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult fantasy romance
  • Language: very little (I believe shoot was used once or twice)
  • Romance: lots of kissing and wanting each other
  • Violence: knives, fire, physical, battles, quicksand, torture, arrows

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Book Review: The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle #1) by Patrick Rothfuss

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Fantasy
Length: 662 pages
Author: Patrick Rothfuss
Publisher: DAW
Release Date: March 27th, 2007
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

This is the riveting first-person narrative of Kvothe, a young man who grows to be one of the most notorious magicians his world has ever seen. From his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, to years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-riddled city, to his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, The Name of the Wind is a novel that transports readers into the body and mind of a wizard. 

WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH THIS BOOK.

Okay, first I’m going to start out by mentioning that I started this book on Audible. This was my mistake. I still gave it four stars (when I was truly contemplating three) because I really enjoyed The Name of the Wind much more reading it. My library happened to have a digital copy so I downloaded that because it took me almost two months to listen to it. There was something about the way it was done that never clicked. I didn’t love the voices and couldn’t appreciate the characters.

Now that I chugged along twice as fast with reading it I appreciated the story as a whole so much more.

Kvothe is an interesting child. I’m actually annoyed that he’s so good at everything, but maybe that’s the point? I did find it amusing how poor he was with women. I mean, the book ends and he’s barely 15/16. IT TOOK 600+ PAGES TO GO THROUGH THIS MUCH OF HIS LIFE? Talk about a slow burn build of a fantasy.

Everything was definitely explained well. The world-building was fantastic. I loved the differing characters and the romanticism of the story. He’s the amazing, warrior, kingkiller and everyone wants to know the tale. Since Kvothe takes his dang sweet time, nothing is left out. I haven’t read a book where I truly felt nothing was left out.

The book picked up once Kvothe made it to the University. More and more continued to happen and a lot more webs were being weaved. Kvothe is pushed by one thing, and one thing alone (spoiler if I say more!). His sheer determined mindset had me hoping he would get his answers.

The only thing I stand wondering now is, do I want to read book two?

Overall audience notes:

  • Adult epic fantasy
  • Language: A little
  • Romance: a kiss or two
  • Violence: knives, killing creatures, poison, physical, whipping

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