The last of the Caraval trilogy. A solid conclusion to the series. The ending made sense however the path to get there really needed some more exposition. I feel like too many things happened off the page. This book was from the viewport of the two sisters rather than just one so I wished we got a couple other characters’ viewpoints as well.

The series of events in this book happen at rapid intervals and swapping between the characters does not lend a helpful hand in the pacing. The Fates and the girls’ mother seem like an afterthought. Paloma’s story was one of the more interesting aspects of the fiction given some of the revelations but she is quickly disposed of. I would have liked to see more of her and learned more of her history.

Scarlett becomes a prisoner for most of the story to secretly unlock her hidden power. This power was hinted at throughout the books and feels cohesive to the story, but doesn’t mean much in the end.

Characters that were important in previous books were mentioned only a couple times or were quickly disposed of. Legend’s performers don’t take the stage at all and their presence is sorely missed. Other characters like Scarlett’s betrothed from the first two books is introduced then quickly killed off. It felt like the author had no idea what to do with him and it would have been better had he never made an appearance. Julian and Scarlett’s fight about him seemed like nothing other than a plot device to cause their relationship distress.

Honestly this book felt like an outlier to the series rather than a main entry. It didn’t have the character moments the first two books did and the only character development we see is for Scarlett and Tella, which is not as substantial as previous. It is not a terrible end to the saga of the Dragna sisters but it definitely needed more time to become a cohesive narrative.