Finale (Caraval, #3)

by Stephanie Garber

Every story has four parts: the beginning, the middle, the almost-ending, and the true ending. Unfortunately, not everyone gets a true ending. Most people give up at the part of the story where things are the worst, when the situation feels hopeless, but that is where hope is needed most. Only those who persevere can find their true ending.

“A true queen’s power isn’t in her crown, my little love. It’s here.” Her mother placed a hand over her heart.

“I would actually say your greatest treasure is sitting across from you. There is nothing quite so precious as the love of a sister.”

Occasionally, there are minutes that get extra seconds. Moments so precious the universe stretches to make additional room for them, and this was one of them. People don’t get pauses like these very often. Some people never receive them at all.

He smelled of magic and heartbreak, and something about the combination made her think that despite what he claimed, he wanted to be her hero.

“I won’t ever move on, Crimson.”

Fear was a poison that people mistook as protection. Making choices to stay safe could be just as treacherous.

“I didn’t free you from the cards just to see you killed by the Fates.”

“What do you want in return?” “I never wanted you to leave in the first place.”

Love and immortality cannot coexist. We only feel obsession, fixation, lust, possession. If an immortal feels love for even a minute, they become human for that minute. If the feeling lasts too long, their mortality becomes permanent. And most immortals would kill the object of their affection rather than become human.

I used to be so scared of it, but now I think love is another type of magic. It makes everything brighter, it makes people who have it stronger, it breaks rules that aren’t supposed to exist, it’s infinitely valuable. I can’t imagine my life without it.

“You’re wrong. I don’t think my heart could be safer than in your hands.”

He didn’t kiss her as if he’d simply just come back to life. He kissed her as if he’d died, been buried, and clawed his way out of the grave and through the dirt just to get to her.

“When I met a girl who loved her sister so much she was able to wish her back to life. You might possess magic, but love like that is real power.”

“I don’t know if you’re my true love, Donatella. All I know is that I want you to be.”

“I’m half naked, I’m in my bed, and you’re staring at me as if you want to join me here.”

“Most of my life, I’ve romanticized death. I used to love the idea of something being so tremendous that it was worth dying for. But I was wrong. I think the most magnificent things are worth living for.”

“I can’t say that I understand love, or that I’m very good at it, because I’ve never loved anyone before. But I love everything about you, Donatella Dragna. Everything.”

I love you, I don’t intend to stop loving you, and I hope that somewhere deep inside, you still love me, too.”

“This is my choice, and I choose you, Donatella. I don’t need immortality. You’re my forever.”