Stephanie Garber

Scarlett has never left the tiny island where she and her beloved sister, Tella, live with their ruthless father. Now Scarlett's father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval, the legendary, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show, are over. But this year, Scarlett's long-dreamt-of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor who she has just met, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval's mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season's Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner. Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. But she nevertheless becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic with the other players in the game. And whether Caraval is real or not, she must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over, a dangerous domino effect of consequences is set off, and her sister disappears forever.

Caraval

Thiea

raia 🧸🎧

Scarlett danced back. “You don’t understand—after tonight, my father will kill you.”

“Then we won’t let him catch us.” Julian wove his fingers through hers and raced with Scarlett into the golden passage on the left.

“Oh, poor you. Here you are on a magical isle and all you can think of is what you don’t have."

"But before you fully enter into our world, you must remember it’s all a game."

“If you’ve done something to Tella, I swear—”

Too many questions omg first of all her mother?! what !? And what payment!? I need answers 

Pia 

“I’m sure your mother will be quiet proud, and I believe you should be able to see her soon[…] I plan on collecting my payment very soon”

"Legend is your brother?" she asked. A wry smile curved Julian's lips.

He sounded more serious than mocking. Yet all she heard was the way he'd called her Scarlett-not Crimson. 

"But I saw you die," Scarlett sputtered. "I know, and trust me when I say, plummeting to the ground is not a good way to go." Tella grinned 

Nahh I don’t believe it she can’t just die after everything that scarlet just went through 

Tella couldn't bear to look at her. "I meant it when I said I'd rather die at the edge of the world than live a miserable life on Trisda. Im so sorry.”With trembling fingers, Tella blew her sister a kiss. "Don't-" Tella stepped off the edge of the balcony. "No!" Scarlett wailed, watching as her sister plummeted into the night. With no wings to fly her down, she fell to her death.

“After tonight I don’t think father’s hands will be a problem anymore, at least not for us.” Tella’s eyes twinkled 

Scarlett didn't know how many times she repeated his name. She said it like a prayer. A plea. A whisper. A good-bye.

But he was still her Julian, Scarlett could feel the pieces of her battered heart daring to move back together. And it might have been a beautiful moment, if Legend had not chosen that same instant to pull out a knife and stab Julian in the chest.

I don’t believe it….at least I don’t want to believe it

“ Which is why Ive had Julian working with me for the entire game"

"We were just talking about you," Legend said. "Would you like to tell her, or should I?" 

Oh this book is messing with me so bad but like I can’t stop reading it’s so damn good

Julian wrapped a protective arm around Scarlett."I’d appreciate it if you stopped looking at my fiancée like that." "That's funny." the gentleman said. "All this time, I thought she was my fiancée."

"Tell me they didn't take a day of your life." "No..." She fought to stay standing.They took two days." t

Finally she got there took her long enough 

Specifically, a black tattoo shaped like a heart.

Oh okay great I thought it would be something bad haha silly me 

“What happens if someone does get swept too far away?" asked Scarlett. “That's usually when people die or go mad," Rupert answered

"How do you know that?" Scarlett asked. Julian flashed a wicked smile. "I know because I've played before."

Are we sure the father didn’t do something to her?

"She'll thank me for it later." Julian bared a wolfish smile, the whites of his teeth shining in the moonlight. "You know, that's exactly what your sister said to me earlier."

That’s just cruel and reminds me of cr 

Every time Scarlett or her sister dis- obeyed, Governor Dragna did something awful to the other as pun- ishment.

***The Sunday Times bestseller*** WELCOME TO CARAVAL, WHERE NOTHING IS QUITE WHAT IT SEEMS. Scarlett has never left the tiny isle of Trisda, pining from afar for the wonder of Caraval, a once-a-year week-long performance where the audience participates in the show. Caraval is Magic. Mystery. Adventure. And for Scarlett and her beloved sister Tella it represents freedom and an escape from their ruthless, abusive father. When the sisters' long-awaited invitations to Caraval finally arrive, it seems their dreams have come true. But no sooner have they arrived than Tella vanishes, kidnapped by the show's mastermind organiser, Legend. Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. But nonetheless she quickly becomes enmeshed in a dangerous game of love, magic and heartbreak. And real or not, she must find Tella before the game is over, and her sister disappears forever. A mesmerising, magical and stunningly imaginative debut novel for anyone who loved The Night Circus. The hardback will have FOUR secret hidden-on-the-board covers featuring stunning foiled illustrations. The one you receive will be random, but all are jaw-droppingly beautiful.

Nessa Luna

Actual rating: 3.5, maybe 3.75. Will try to write a review asap.

plot is not too memorable but how I felt while reading this was. if you want a consuming story that makes you feel like you're in a dark, magical world, this is a great binge-read summer book.

Xin Ma

Has everything you want: mystery, magic, death, romance, betrayal. So good!

Sasha

alexandra

i was told this book would be good but WOW THIS BOOK WAS SO AMAZING I'M EMOTIONALLY WRECKED HELP ME. 

full review to come!!

Scarlett has never left the tiny island where she and her beloved sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett's father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval, the far-away, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show, are over.But this year, Scarlett's long-dreamt of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval's mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season's Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. But she nevertheless becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic with the other players in the game. And whether Caraval is real or not, she must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over, a dangerous domino effect of consequences is set off, and her sister disappears forever.Welcome, welcome to Caraval . . . beware of getting swept too far away.

I really enjoyed this book while I was reading it. The ending was not my cup of tea. It made everything I had read before less magical. 

The writing was not great, and the ending was so dissatisfying. 

I did like the two main characters, though. Even if Scarlett’s thoughts were strange and overly descriptive. 

I might give this series another chance one day. 

Amelie Wilkinson

I really enjoyed this book while I was reading it. The ending was not my cup of tea. It made everything I had read before less magical. 

The writing was not great, and the ending was so dissatisfying. 

I did like the two main characters, though. Even if Scarlett’s thoughts were strange and overly descriptive. 

I might give this series another chance one day. 

During the first half of this book I thought I was really going to like it and possibly give it a four stars but the last quarter made Caraval deserve only 2.  The worldbuilding was overwhelming at times and not like how high fantasy books typically are. It seemed like Garber tried to make the world in Caraval enchanting and magical but it instead came across as something you would read in a children's book perhaps. The magic system was never explained and it seemed to have worked on it on volition. Besides the over compensating world building, the plot never really seemed to make much sense and the characters were all really boring and I didn't like a single one of them, certainly not Scarlett. The last quarter of the story tried hard to have shocking plot twists but it was one of the worst conclusions to a book I've ever read. It just felt awkward and forced. The ending of this book proves that nothing we actually read mattered. Something about this book reminds me of Lightlark ... they have alot in common : immature characters, point less world building and writing that over compensates for the lack of everything else

June

Courtney

This book was so enchanting! I highly recommend this for fans of The Night Circus!

This is by far my most favourite book. Usually, I can't really read more than a few chapters in one sitting, but this book just kept me wanting more. I love the mysterious and magical feeling of the entire book, and the plot is amazing. The world building is well thought-out, with a lot of description. The characters are wonderful, with good development, and you can clearly tell the growth of all the characters. Reading this made me feeling as though I was in the book myself. I'm definitely reading the second book as soon as possible! I'm currently writing my own book, and this has definitely inspired and motivated me.

Amelia

Colleen

1.5 Stars

This review contains spoilers. Also, if Caraval is your precious rainbow sparkling daydream then you probably should not read this review. It is going to be long and ranty. 

  "Whatever you've heard about Caraval, it doesn't compare to the reality."
 No kidding! It does not compare to the reality AT ALL.

Honestly, during the first half of this book I thought I would be generous and give it three stars since it is a debut novel. But then I got to the last quarter of the book which was atrocious and deserving of no more than one star in any and all categories. That last quarter was epically messy and one of the worst conclusions I have read. It was as if the feeble worldbuilding decided to kill itself and convinced the plot and character development to off themselves as well leaving nothing but a ridiculous, cloying romance behind which was too busy trying to make out with itself to notice what was going on. 

But I am getting ahead of myself. Back to the beginning. 

To be fair, Caraval might not have seemed quite as hollow if I had not recently read Strange the Dreamer. But I did. And the differences between them were dumbfounding. Strange the Dreamer is the epitome of enthralling writing and magical escape. Caraval is… well… it is a bunch of drivel. The story never captivated me. The magic was sloppy not enchanting. The characters were flat and obnoxious. The plot bounced around so much it felt like a damn ping pong ball. And the worldbuilding was deplorable. Looking back through my notes, there was not a single positive thing for me to write down. This book started off mediocre. I gave it the benefit of the doubt at first and (wrongfully) hoped that the author would tie everything together. Sadly, that was not the case. 

Something about Caraval kept reminding of Heartless which is a very bad thing. I hated Heartless . It was vague sense of similarity rather than any one thing I could point out. But they did both feature flat, annoying main characters forced into arranged engagements, a vaguely Victorian setting, magic that was not magical, negligent worldbuilding, and nauseating instalove. I kept at it despite the slow beginning. I really wanted to see what hype was about.

Ok, I am going to have to break this down or I am not going to make it through this review. If you want the synopsis of the story, go read the book blurb. I won’t bother recapping it here.

WRITING STYLE:
The writing was choppy and basic. It tried to be lyrical but came across as awkward and off-putting. Worst of all, it was stuffed full of clumsy analogies. It seemed like the main character, Scarlett, had some sort of Synesthesia. That could have been cool if it had been handled right. Mostly it just boils down to her “seeing emotions as colors.” But it was so weirdly done, I couldn’t help but make disgruntled expressions while reading it.

  “Something about him made her feel perilous shades of silky black.” 

“It smelled like the middle of the night”

“He tasted like midnight and wind, and shades of rich brown and light blue”

"the colour of late-night laughter"

“The world tasted like lies and ashes when Scarlett woke.”

“She could see the sting of her rejection in shades of stormy blue, ghosting over his heart like sad morning mist.”

“Periwinkle curiosity”

“she felt … disappointed. It came in cool shades of forget-me-not blue, which wrapped around her like evening fog, making her feel hidden enough to acknowledge that she wanted to experience more of Caraval’s pleasures than she would ever have admitted out loud.”

“Something acidic and moldy and burnt bubbled up through Scarlett’s throat - the taste of death.”

“Inside the house, violin music, richer than the darkest chocolate, started playing. It seeped outside and whispered to Scarlett as Julian’s smile turned seductive, all shameless curves and immoral promises."
 W.T.F.??? I’m hesitant to even call it purple prose, because most of it was just nonsense. These were even worse analogies and similes that in The Book Thief.

CHARACTERS AND CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT:
I did not like a single character in this book. They were flat, full of troupes, and lacking any character development. The book tells you how loving and protective Scarlett allegedly is towards her sister, but her actions often say just the opposite. She was naïve, apprehensive, inconsistent, easily sidetracked, easily manipulated, inconsistent, insipid, and just generally unbelievable. Since the story focuses on Scarlett, you are stuck with that nitwit who has no idea what is going on.

Scarlett spent the first seventeen years of her life repressing everything, and then one touch from a guy (just a touch on her waist) turns her into an exploding volcano of hormones which causes her to spend page after page ogling men and fantasizing about them. Yes, it stays PG13. But the story gets suffocated by the sappy, unbalanced romance. And to make matters so, so much worse, it was angsty-as-hell instalust/instalove. I shudder when I (involuntarily) think back to the many make-out scenes. They certainly seemed written for horny teenage girls who have no idea what a healthy relationship should look like. It was all saccharine and nauseating. The instalove romance took over the story in a heavy and suffocating way. The whole story only covers like eight or nine days with the vast majority of events taking place during five days. Yet this is apparently plenty of time for a teenage girl with zero relationship experience to find true love. This is not a magical adventure. There is nothing mysterious or thrilling. It’s a nauseating romance dressed up as Fantasy. 

Garber tried to add in real issues but they were done in a hollow and half-assed way made even more ineffectual by the lack of character depth and development. Scarlett's abusive father seemed like a cartoon villain and the rest of it was ineffectual and emotionless. The self-actualization moments were too instant and over-the-top and obvious. All of it rang false.

WORLDBUILDING:
Abysmal worldbuilding. Simply terrible. It’s vaguely Victorian, vaguely Italian and Spanish, and overall… well, vague. 

The worst part was that the magic system that did not make sense and was never explained. The closest thing to an explanation was one character shrugging it off and saying how they didn’t really know how it worked. There were bits that alluded to the magic running on blood and time, but nothing was ever explained. I feel confident in saying that the author herself probably never came up with how the magic was supposed to work because it was inconsistent. That did not increase the enchantment; it made it all the more frustrating. On top of that, the story was constantly changing its mind about what was real, what was a trick or illusion, and what was actually magic. 

Also, I have to mention that almost no one actually eats or drinks other than occasional alcohol. The couple of times that Scarlett makes it to the dining room, she ends up running off for one reason or another. And sure, she has a magical dress that apparently keeps her from needing to bathe, but come on! (view spoiler)[Who spends two days unconscious and one day dead and does not have a single thought about food or water upon waking?? (hide spoiler)]

There was also a map at the beginning which I promptly forgot about because it did nothing to help the story. I don’t think it even matched up with the story. And it was not a pleasant map to look at, so it seemed pointless.

PLOT STRUCTURE AND DEVELOPMENT:
This is one of those books that tries to blow your mind. It tries so hard to blow your mind that its own head explodes. The “twists” were painfully obvious. And there are so many “twists” that they just end up cancelling each other out. It’s this constant roundabout of “He’s a good guy. No, he’s a bad guy. No, he’s a good guy. No, he’s a double-crosser whose is double-crossing the triple-crosser who is a good guy who is really a bad guy who…” Well, I hope you get the point.

The mystery / quest element was so basic and obvious that there was no fun in it. The story also had massive plot holes. Anytime something ridiculous would happen, characters would gloss over it by saying “It’s magic!”

The last quarter of the story, when things should have been the most engaging, was terrible. I had to make myself finish it. Garber just had to use the dreaded villain monologue as well as deus ex machina to wrap everything up. And it turns out NONE OF IT MATTERED. It was 407 pages of pointlessness and sappy instalove. The ending was flat and abrupt and unsatisfying. And Garber still kept trying to throw twists in even in the effing epilogue! 

Honestly, I might end up lowering my rating to one star, because the more I think about this book, the more irritated I get. This is one of the most overhyped books of the year. I wish I had not wasted my time, and I do not plan on reading the sequel.

  "Remember, it’s only a game…" It’s all lies.

*Note 12/30/17 - I am lowering this to one star because it definitely needs to go on my Worst Books of the Year list.

RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 2 Stars
Writing Style: 1 Star
Characters and Character Development: 1 Star
Plot Structure and Development: 1 Star
Level of Captivation: 2 Stars
Originality: 2 Stars

this book was magical and mystical and creepy and dark and everything i needed!

star girl✨

stephanie garber brings magic to life in the way that feels like i’m playing the game too. it’s adventurous, thrilling, horrifying, and tricky - with a dash of love & determination.

caraval had me gripping & flipping the pages to see what happened next ✨

samantha lias

stephanie garber brings magic to life in the way that feels like i’m playing the game too. it’s adventurous, thrilling, horrifying, and tricky - with a dash of love & determination.

caraval had me gripping & flipping the pages to see what happened next ✨

Jessica

It was pretty good. But I didn’t pay attention. To the setting so ig was a little confusing 

Anisha Mody

I have mixed feelings about this. Up until the end of the book I was always asking myself "why?"  A lot of things didn't make sense to me and I couldn't rely on the facts I was given because maybe in the next chapter it'll turn out to be a lie, again!

I'm glad I read something so different than the books I usually read but I can't say that I'm a fan. Nevertheless I will probably finish the trilogy to find out how it will end.

Yeganeh 

I have mixed feelings about this. Up until the end of the book I was always asking myself "why?"  A lot of things didn't make sense to me and I couldn't rely on the facts I was given because maybe in the next chapter it'll turn out to be a lie, again!

I'm glad I read something so different than the books I usually read but I can't say that I'm a fan. Nevertheless I will probably finish the trilogy to find out how it will end.

Abby Champion

Lacy W

this is more like a 3.5. I really struggled to rate this one, which I will explain in the follow review. 

This one...well this one made me question my tastes in books. The reason I had picked this up was because of several reasons. I wanted to get more into fantasy and magic realism type books. This book had elements of that and it seems to be a preferred genre of a lot of readers. I also saw several reviews with people saying how much they loved this book and really hyped it up. As much as I say I don't like reading hyped up books, I bought into the hype. The last reason I got this book was because of the cover and the different covers that you could get. Yes, I judge books based on their covers. Sue me. 

What I got wasn't what I was expecting. I think I let the hype get to me. The plot itself was interesting. I am all for magic mixed in with games. In a way, this is what I expected The Crown's Game  to be like. I did like that in order to "buy" things, you had to tell secrets or desires. I don't know why, but that part was really cool to me. The rest of the world, however, just really threw me. It relied too much on magic and it was constantly changing, so the world that was described wouldn't be that way a few days later.

I have realized that I like stability in my books. Let me explain because that sounds really confusing. Yes, I have read mystery books and books portraying mental illness. But I  knew  that things were going to get explained. I knew when things were and weren't real. This book, however, made me questioning everything and I felt like I really never got straight answers. Even the ending, I was left with all these questions. I NEED to know that things are what they say they are or at the very least, get a satisfactory explanation. 

I felt like the book lied to me for the sake of lying. It's all a game and nothing is as what it seems. I get that but I didn't like it. I couldn't stand not knowing what was real and what wasn't. It was just incredibly frustrating and I think that was one of the reasons why I didn't rate the book the 4 stars I was going to give it (because that ending!). 

Another thing that really annoyed me was Scarlett. I have anxiety. It's a constant thing in my life and it has been since as long as I can remember. I think I need to stay away from books that portray characters with anxiety. Scarlett's constant worrying frustrated me. When I read, I read to escape. I want a character that is strong and doesn't always worry about everything. I already know what that feels like. I don't need to read about it. Yes, there are some parts where the worrying was a need but there were some parts that just go so damn repetitive, it nearly killed the book for me.

I didn't like Tella, either. She is incredibly selfish. How could someone put their own flesh and blood through that ordeal? I understand that she was doing it to get her and Scarlett away from their father but there had to be a different way. I would  NEVER  put one of my baby siblings through something that horrific. Ever. Tella almost ruined the book for me as well. 

Overall, I liked it but I'm not super in love with it. The last 30% or so almost made up for the negatives I mentioned. But this book doesn't really deserve the hype (I can already feel the hate). I will finish the series because I am curious about how it's going to end but I'm not going to shout about how much I love this book or recommend it to everyone and their dog. This book just wasn't for me.

Lauren Nicole

Kenzie

Totally not what I was expecting but in a good way! Loved the romance and the sister relationship in the book

Cherryreads

I can't believe it took me this long to read this!
I LOVED the writing style so much. The world building, the magical description and the fashion details... So so beautiful.
I didn't think Julian was gonna be the love interest at the beginning but oh my god do I love him. Him and Scarlett (or should I say crimson AAH) are so perfect together.
I always forget how much I love fantasy books until I read a book like this.

Sloan MacDonald

i felt bored the whole time but I also think that could just be my ✨depression✨ talking. will continue with the series to find out.

Samantha 

Alison Deaner

Amazing! I couldn't put this book down. 



That was so incredible! I think this is my favourite book of the year so far...

I don't think I've read a book this year that I've loved as much as this one. It was such a roller coaster of a ride, especially nearer the last half of the book (the amount of plot twists I just...oh my God.) This was honestly genius, there were so many twists I really wasn't expecting and everything was so well thought out, I think I'm in love with Stephanie Garber! 

I really loved Scarlet and Julian through the entire book (though Julian did give me some scares 0.0) and I ship them so much and Tella(!!), the absolute legend (lmao), I also adored...I just can't even with how amazed I am at this book. 

I wasn't expecting to like it even half as much as I did, though I did have high hopes, which were absolutely smashed. The plot, the world, the characters, everything as incredible and I really can't recommend it enough! I still can't believe it's a debut novel. I really hope book 2 is as spectacular as this one was, especially with how it left off! 

(I think this is my most praisey book review lmao bur I literally just finished it 2 minutes ago and I'm still not over the twists!)

mena 

Scarlett and Julian, sweet ya love story!

Caraval

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