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Caraval
Author: Stephanie Garber | Publisher: Macmillan
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Synopsis:
Remember, it’s only a game…
Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her 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 faraway, 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. Nevertheless she becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic. And whether Caraval is real or not, Scarlett must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over or a dangerous domino effect of consequences will be set off, and her beloved sister will disappear forever.
Welcome, welcome to Caraval…beware of getting swept too far away.
Hope is a powerful thing. Some say it’s a different breed of magic altogether. Elusive, difficult to hold on to. But not much is needed.
Review:
Caraval is an enticing book that manages to create and depict an insane location with insane events, characters and concepts and I cannot believe that it ended the way it did.
From the beginning, Caraval was not very appealing to me. I guess I had overhyped the book on my own and when I began reading it, the magic I had hoped for was not present.
That isn’t to say, however, that this book is terrible — quite the contrary really. The language and words used by Garber are fancy and pretentious and I love the writing. But everything about the first half of this book felt so mundane and intangible — nothing felt magical to me.
The second-half was absolutely amazing, though. I had formed an idea in my head — I had a theory on what was happening in this world. But the truth behind everything had me stopping to process my thoughts — it had me questioning everything. I cannot believe this book ended the way it did, because I have so many questions and concerns and I need to know what happens next.
For that same reason, I give this book 4 out of 5 stars — the last 200 pages redeemed this book in my eyes. I cannot wait for the next installment (please come sooner 2018, please) and I will let my mind wander into what could possibly happen next.
Every person has the power to change their fate if they are brave enough to fight for what they desire more than anything.
Overall:
Caraval is an exciting read and the ending makes this book worth reading. Although I probably wouldn’t read it again, I can assure you that I will be pre-ordering the next installment.
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