Caraval Review

Hello again!
So I'm a little behind on blog posts once again (surprise, surprise) but I'm still here, probably sleeping or working but I'm still here and I'm still reading. First book finished in May was Caraval by Stephanie Garber. I finished it on May 2nd and gave it a 4 star review. It started out pretty slow but picked up towards the middle and had me hooked by the end. I have preordered the second book in the series: Legendary which comes out on May 29th. I decided to read Caraval now because my April 2018 OwlCrate contained an exclusive sneak peak sampler for Legendary and I had had the book sitting on my shelf since my Christmas book haul in January. So without further ado here's my review of Caraval.

As always everything after the picture could contain spoilers!!!

So Caraval is about a pair of sisters named Scarlett and Donatella (Tella) Dragna who have never left the tiny island where they live. Scarlett (the main character and narrator) has been writing letters to the leader of Caraval, Master Legend, asking for either Caraval to come to their island or for tickets to the show for her sister's birthday. Finally 17 year old Scarlett receives a letter back with the tickets, the same year she's to be married to a faraway Count she's never met. When she goes to show the tickets to Tella, she finds him with a boy, a sailor named Julian. Their father catches them and punishes Tella physically giving a slight insight into the cruelty of their father. Scarlett tries to get Julian to leave her sister alone but then is knocked out by him and Tella and smuggled aboard a ship to take them to the isle where Caraval will be held, despite her wedding taking place in just a week's time. Julian takes Tella in the rowboat to the island first, followed by Scarlett but when he and Scarlett arrive to join Tella on the shore she's gone. They decide to find her at the opening night's show and that's when they discover that finding Tella is the task of the year's show. In exchange you get a wish from Master Legend. Julian and Scarlett team up to win the game and get Tella back. There are twists and turns as Julian and Scarlett get closer to each other and then Scarlett's father and fiance get involved. In the end, Julian is killed leaving Scarlett heartbroken and after finding Tella, Scarlett discovers she's fallen in love with Master Legend who is in disguise. Upon being confronted by their father and Scarlett's fiance, Tella leaps from her window killing herself. Despite her losses, Scarlett manages to send her father and fiance away in her heartbreak before using her wish as winner to revive Tella. At that point Tella reveals to Scarlett that it really is all a game: nothing permanent can happen during the games: the Master Legend they met was an actor, Julian is the real Master Legend's brother and is also alive, Tella was never in danger of remaining dead but they all did so to get the sisters away from their abusive father. At the cast party to wrap things up, Julian tells Scarlett the truth that he was acting and plotting along with Tella to save the sisters but he also reveals that he was supposed to leave Scarlett after the beach but everything that happened between them was genuine. The book ends with a happy moment for Scarlett but the epilogue reveals that their dead mother may very well be alive and a hint that Tella made a deal with the devil (Master Legend as it is) in order to orchestrate the whole thing leading to the sequel Legendary.

All in all I really did like Caraval. It had a fun intriguing setting in this part carnival, part show fantasy where nothing is what it seems and the lines between fact and fiction and reality and fantasy are blurred. It's a place built on stories and lies but it's a game you can get swept away on very easily. The characters were a little superficial but it kind of worked with the type of story where everything is part of this game/show. I wasn't the biggest fan of Scarlett to be honest, she's too prim and proper, always too straight-laced and serious, even as she falls in love with Julian. I would have enjoyed his point of view more, but knowing the twist in the ending where he's part of the show would have changed the line of the story too much to make it the same thing. That all being said I did really enjoy the story and am looking forward to the sequel. It was a fun, quick read set in a fun, carnival universe. So all in all, a solid four star read that I would recommend to any fan of young adult fantasy, especially circus themed reads.

Happy Reading!
Richelle and Emma