Caraval by Stephanie Garber
Genres: Fantasy, Romance, YA
Pages: 407
Cover: Paperback
Age rating: 12+
Buy on: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kindle
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Scarlett Dragna and her sister Tella live on a small island with their nasty and powerful father, and Scarlett has never left. Scarlett believes her ambitions of attending Caraval, the distant, once-a-year play in which the audience participates in the production, are now ended because her father has arranged for her to get married.
However, Scarlett's long-awaited invitation finally shows up this year. Tella takes Scarlett to the show with the assistance of an enigmatic sailor. However, Legend, Caraval's chief organizer, kidnaps Tella as soon as they get there. It turns out that Tella is the main focus of this season's Caraval, and the winner is the first person to locate her.
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Everything that occurs at Caraval is merely a lavish performance, Scarlett has been informed. She nevertheless gets caught up in a game of magic, heartache, and love. Regardless matter whether Caraval is real or not, Scarlett has to locate Tella before the game's five nights are out or a disastrous chain of events will begin, causing her beloved sister to vanish forever.
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Review:
​​​Characters and Plot
Such a whimsical and magical book; the world-building was fascinating. It's like being in Wonderland, a fairy tale. The magical dress, how every item has a price, but not the typical coin, but a secret to yourself. It's been a while since I read about a villain that I hated so much, and that is the sisters' father, a disgusting, abusive man. I think Stephanie Garber portrays the guilt that Scarlett felt whenever her father punished her sister or her well; most victims in an abusive household would often feel guilty that they are the wrong person, as the abuser had guilt-tripped and gaslighted them.
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The plot was easy to get into, fast-paced, and page-turning. What I love about this was Julian and Scarlett solving the clues together, and we get to see their relationship from reluctant allies to lovers. I admit that their relationship could have been developed more before they officially got together, but they were still really cute.
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The last 80 pages were something else... The twists, the "leap of faith", identity revealing was overwhelming; however, I had read crazier books than this, so I wasn't that shocked, some of the twists were kind of predictable. I think by the end of the book, everyone deserves Scarlett the biggest apology. My girl was constantly worrying all over the place, nearly having a heart attack by the end. Scarlett, being an over-thinker, was so relatable that it hurts, just so scarred she was from living in an abusive household for 17 years.
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I didn't like Tella at first, as she came off as spoiled, reckless, and selfish, constantly worrying Scarlett, even though Scarlett loved and cared for her so much. However, by the end, my thoughts about her turned a 180, the girl had planned the whole thing...
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​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Conclusion
I came to this book with a mix feeling, as people said it wasn't as good as Once Upon A Broken Heart, which I didn't read, and a lot of people said the first book wasn't good, but I enjoy it, and wonder what else magical the next 2 books had installed. ​
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