The acclaimed New York Times bestseller! Welcome, welcome to Caraval—Stephanie Garber’s sweeping tale of the unbreakable bond between two sisters. It’s the closest you’ll ever find to magic in this world…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 … 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.
New York Times bestseller
#1 IndieNext Pick
Publishers Weekly Flying Start
Entertainment Weekly Best 10 YA Books of 2017
Teen Vogue Best YA Book of the Year
Amazon Best Book of the Year
Barnes & Noble Best Book of the Year
BuzzFeed Best Book of the Year
“The Hunger Games meets The Night Circus. Grade: A-.” —Entertainment Weekly
“Impressive, original, wondrous.” —USA Today
“Spellbinding.” —US Weekly
“Magnificent.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
“I lost myself in this world.” —Sabaa Tahir, author of An Ember in the Ashes
“Beautifully written.” —Renée Ahdieh, author of The Wrath and the Dawn
“Shimmers with magic.” —Marie Rutkoski, author of The Winner’s Curse
“Darkly enchanting.” —Kiersten White, author of And I Darken
“Decadent.” —Roshani Chokshi, author of The Star-Touched Queen
“Like stepping into a living dream.” —Stacey Lee, author of Outrun the Moon
“Destined to capture imaginations.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Ideal for fans of The Night Circus, Stardust, and The Hunger Games.” —School Library Journal
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Fresh, fun, magical. I read this book in two sittings – could. not. stop turning the pages. Beautiful writing. Lovely story, with plot twists that kept me guessing (incorrectly, more often than not) and characters I wanted to root for. I had already recommended it to my sisters when I was only four chapters in.
This book was really enjoyable to read. I really enjoyed the concept of Caraval and the combination of magic and puzzles. I also enjoyed seeing the world come alive. If you like books with magic, and whimsical elements than this is a book to check out. In fact, most of the book describes Caraval as magical, and colorful. It’s actually somewhat dreamlike.
I also enjoyed some of the mysterious elements throughout the book with all the clues. The clues that lead you closer to winning the major the prize. I also like the idea of being careful with your choices or you may face the consequences.That said, I would’ve liked to have seen more Carnival elements within the book. The fact that the book made it seem like some big show, the book lacked any Carnival elements. I would’ve liked to see more characters that would feel like you are at a Carnival. Maybe jugglers, clowns, or acrobat? I also have seen much of the actual competition. It felt like this game was more a passive MMORPG game that people just show up and have fun.
As for the characters, I am left with mixed feelings. On the one handle, I like seeing the main character go through a transformation in the book. At the beginning of the book, we meet a scary, shy, and broken Scarlet and see how she learns to find her strength in the book. I also like how she would do anything for the sister and would make the hard choices to get her back.
But even though I do like Scarlet, as a character she does have some flaws in the book. At times Scarlet can be naive and can be overly trusting at times in situations where she should have asked questions. I also didn’t really like the love interest in the book. I feel like Julian could’ve used more of a backstory and be developed more. I feel like Julian was half developed and just gave us more questions about who he was.
Overall, I did really enjoyed this story and loved all the magical element and the dark mystery throughout the book. Despite that, I hope some of the supporting characters and some of the questions that were present in the story could be answered in the next book.
Great story, loved it. But the ending fell a little flat.
There were so many mind-bending twists and turns in this book, I almost got whiplash! I kept trying to guess what was going on, being suspicious of everyone and trying to puzzle things out the whole way through. Like Scarlett, the main character, I couldn’t tell what was real and what was magical and what was deception—which is the mystery of Caraval, so that actually fit perfectly. I was still surprised by a few of the reveals. I could relate to Scarlett’s confusion and inability to know whether to trust Julian. Amusing, how he called her “Crimson.” I almost liked that name better for her, because with her name as Scarlett, I kept thinking of Gone With the Wind! Quite an imaginative tale overall, one I enjoyed. The main twists near the end seemed more convenient than realistic to me (no spoilers here, but the type related to the wish) but hey, it IS a fantasy novel dealing with magic.
Loved the concept and the characters. Super enchanting and twists at every turn.