Legendary – In Anticipation of FINALE

I fell in love about a year ago. I got drawn in and mesmerized by the magical land of Caraval, because what girl doesn’t want to believe that there’s some otherworldly experiences out there? When I realized the last book in the series, Finale, comes out on May 7th, 2019, I realized I needed to play some catch up. So, I picked Legendary by Stephanie Garber up at my local library. Support your public libraries people!

I swept through this and overall I’d give it 4.5 Stars. I’m docking a half star because there are still some questions I have about details that seemed important but weren’t addressed. It’s the whole if a knife shows up in the first act, someone needs to use it in the third type thing. Although if it all gets put together gloriously in Finale, it’ll be worth ALL THE STARS.

It was extremely hard to write this review without spoiling everything because the author so deftly weaves important details throughout the novel. Much like Legend himself, Stephanie Garber reveals enough clues to encourage guessing as to what the twist might be. Some of the twists can be anticipated by readers paying close enough attention, however, she always throws one or two fully unexpected solutions in. The best part is that even the surprises make perfect sense within the story to me. No out of place dues ex machina here. I love that I can still be surprised like that in a book without feeling confused as to how the twist came about.

Hearing more of Tella’s story was a treat! I enjoy her perspective differently than I did Scarlett’s. Scarlett was a lot like me, timid, protective, and maybe an overthinker. Tella is imperfect and jumps into things feet first, and I am always into a main character who isn’t the picture of perfection. Tella lies and gets it wrong sometimes, but to me that only makes her a more enjoyable narrator. And don’t even get me started on her relationships with men, cause heckin right that girl knows how to flirt. Getting to explore her complex emotions about the other characters in the story was such a relatable journey because Tella wants to be able to make her friends and family simple and explainable, but she struggles. The dynamic of an ageless performer interacting with and becoming friends or more with someone outside of the Caraval is something I hope is explored more in Finale.

I’m currently working on reading an Arc of Finale by Stephanie Garber that was provided to me through NetGalley and Flatiron Books. Make sure to be on the look-out for my review which will drop a day or two before May 7! Definitely pick this series up if you love a little bit of magic, hijinx, and wonder in your life!