I give this 3.5 stars. Its actually the lowest rating I've given a book in this series which is disappointing because its the FINALE! Like if this was the first book in a series, I probably wouldn't have liked it all that much. I just wasn't as engaged as I hoped to be. 
 Don't get me wrong. I really enjoyed this series as a whole. Sydney is my homegirl and Adrian is my dark prince. I love all the wacky characters and their own little spin-off family. I enjoyed reading this book too but... I guess I just wanted more and I feel disappointed. It felt a bit like a filler book honestly. There were a lot of loose ends and several characters that we never heard from again or got an closure on. That would be fine in any other book of a series but not the FINALE! 
 Its hard to put my finger on exactly what was missing. It wasn't just one thing that could have been added and then the book would have been perfect. It was more like the chemistry between the characters was off. All of the subtle nuances between the characters were some of my favorite bits in the previous installments. In The Ruby Circle it felt like I was just being told the story not experiencing it through the characters. That may not make sense but that's really the best way I can describe it. 
 The problem with just being told a story is that this particular story was weak. There were a lot of minor characters in here that I felt were under utilized and left unresolved. (view spoiler)[What happened to Marcus, Carly, Zoey, Angelique, Trey, Jackie, Malachi, Alicia, The Alchemists, and Hopper? THAT'S A LOT OF PEOPLE TO NOT HAVE ANY CLOSURE ON WHAT SO EVER. WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY ARE UP TO AT ALL! (hide spoiler)] The entire plot just felt rushed. We get some pretty ground breaking new developments in the universe that Vampire Academy / Bloodlines series take place in. Like fundamental changes to their reality! (view spoiler)[Restored Dhampirs can make babies with other Dhampirs. That has never happened before and was impossible. Declan, the miracle baby, is infused with spirit. This could be the cure to the Strigoi. (hide spoiler)] Yet, we get no closure. Like all these world shattering things are introduced and then never cleared up by the end. Maybe this was on purpose and there will be yet another spin off series. Who knows... What I do know is that I will still definitely read another spin-off in this universe. I drank the kool-aid loooooong ago! 
 Basically my problem with the finale is this: 
 Did we have some new and interesting twists? Yes. 
 Were the events leading to the discovery of those twists exciting? Sometimes. 
 Did the plot make me super invested in the characters? Not so much. 
 Despite me being a Negative Nancy, I still liked the book because the series itself was so strong. The cheese factor was turned up about a million percent but, whatever! Sydney and Adrian had to go through hell for their love. I was happy that they got their HEA. I just wished the book gave me time to savor it.