• Title: Caraval
• Author: Stephanie Garber
• Genre(s): Young Adult, Fantasy, Fiction, Mystery, Romance
• Type: Series (trilogy)
• Quick Summary: The story follows the story of two sisters, Scarlett and Donatella Dragna, who leave their home island and abusive father behind by sneaking away in the middle of the night to go participate in the Caraval game. Scarlett received a private invitation from Legend, the Master of Caraval, and is taken there by Julian Santos, someone later revealed to be a performer in the game and also the brother of Legend. The prize for winning the game is one wish, granted by Legend himself. The catch? Scarlett's little sister Donatella is kidnapped and the game is won by being the first player to find her.
• My Rating: 4/5
• My Favorite Character and Why: Julian; I loved his charm and wit throughout the story. You can't quite always tell if he is trying to help Scarlett or compromise her progress.
• My Favorite Part of the Story: I loved when the historian for the games drags Scarlett to the dress shop and makes her buy some new dresses so that it makes her job of drawing the participants easier. I would adore finding multiple dresses worth giving days of my life up to own. So far, no such luck in real life.
• My Least Favorite Part of the Story: (SPOILER) There is a suicide in the book and I felt it was too much. That particular death just took the story too far and I felt like the trauma that would have left the characters was never really addressed. It felt forced and unnatural and I wasn't into it.
• Would I recommend this book: Yes. Even with my least favorite part, I would still recommend this book to anyone who enjoys young adult stories and fantasy. It still has all the good stuff that make young adult books enjoyable.
• Overall/Final impression: I have actually read the entire series and recently re-read Caraval alone for a book club. I see things I missed the first time, but I saw more of the flaws too. I really didn't like Scarlett the second read through. She felt very whiney and stuck in her ways. The whole game felt catered for her specifically as all the performers were basically force feeding her help and clues. The world crafting is wonderful, the concept of a mystery game built into a carnival with magic is just fantastic. Overall, I find Donatella a better main character, so I do prefer Book 2 to Book 1, but I still did enjoy this book overall.
• Would I change anything if I could: I would make Scarlett a bit more relaxed and open to ideas throughout the story. She just felt too tense and stressed the entire time to actually enjoy the game she was playing.

Tags: Blog, Book Review