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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Be transported to CARAVAL…
I really enjoyed getting lost in the story & magic of Caraval. The author did a good job of creating a unique world, however sometimes the characters felt like standard YA characters-the bad boy, the sisters, family drama. The author did almost too good of a job with descriptions; the majority were great and gave a good picture for your mind’s eye, but some could be a bit over the top. I was surprised by the ending, which is always nice, and will definitely be reading the sequel Legendary (soon I hope). Anyone who enjoyed Hunger Games would enjoy this fast paced novel-it’s a nice escape to a magical world. While this is a lengthy novel, I was able to read it quickly thanks to the interesting & imaginative story.
P.S.-I love carrying around a book this gorgeous!!! Lots of pretty details inside as well
Roll up roll up to the world of Caraval, a game where nothing is ever as it seems but if you succeed you can make your greatest wish come true! For Scarlett, she has been writing to Caraval Master Legend for many years, hoping that he will bring his players to her Isle of Trisda so she can experience the joy and wonder her Grandmother’s stories told her about. When her final letter see’s an older Scarlett informing Legend that she is about to marry, a pre-wedding gift arrives in the form of tickets to Caraval! One for her, her sister Donatella and Scarlett’s fiance, who by the way she has never met…. Her father is a cruel man and Scarlett see’s the opportunity for marriage as a way to escape, which won’t happen if she attends Caraval. But her sister and the young sailor, Julian, have other plans!
Sailed away to Master Legends Island, Scarlet must play the game of Caraval and the stakes are higher than she ever thought. Not everything is real and everything has a price, can Scarlett complete the game and get back to Trisda before her father knows she has gone and before her wedding day? Or will the secrets of Caraval pull her in too deep?
I went into Caraval a little sceptical, I had heard mixed reviews from friends but I wanted to love it as the story sounded amazing, thankfully I wasn’t disappointed. In a book where I was constantly told that not everything is real I found myself second guessing everything, trying to figure out the clues along with Scarlett. The Caraval itself is wonderful and vibrant but yet a little sinister if you scratch the surface, I almost felt transported to a Victorian era where the currency is secrets rather than coin. There are a ton of twists in this tale and I have to say that I struggled a little to keep up at times. My only quibble is that it did get quite ridiculous as the story progressed and I was longing for a little stability in the story. There are however, some genius bits that I loved especially around some of the forms of payment.
I found it a struggle to put this down, for the most part it was the kind of read that I didn’t have to think about as I flew through the pages and apart from the odd moments of wading through treacle I found myself utterly caught up in the world, my heart racing against the clock just as Scarlett’s did. I would totally recommend giving this a read, it’s not 100% up to the hype, but I’m glad I read it and I think it may end up in that rare pile of books that I have that I would want to read again!
Amazing book with great character development and lots of plot twists and surprises.
Caraval is a mysterious and almost a Cirque Du Solei performance. They say it’s a game. They say not to get carried away. They say it’s only a game and yet nothing about this “game” feels safe. Nothing about this game seems friendly. Is it really a game?
Caraval is going to have your mind spilling theories, fears, worries, and feelings you don’t want, didn’t ask for, and are afraid to acknowledge. The twisting turning thoughts will consume your mind and make you question whether or not you are playing…
I loved the constant guessing. Questioning everything and trying to follow the trails of crumbs scattered any and everywhere kept me almost as entertained as the story itself. Whether you blindly trust Scarlett’s intuition or are developing your own theories, Caraval will pull you in and make it more than a game. Especially if you let your heart get involved…
I LOVED this book. You never knew what was going to happen. I was unable to put the book down despite having to get up early. If you liked “The Night Circus” I highly recommend!
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I was recommended it based on my rating of The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern and I feel like this was a great next book. I loved so much about this book, and once I got into the thick of it, it was hard for me to put it down. There was a YA feel and a few moments where the magic / fantasy aspect made some conflicts easier to overcome than they could have been, but it didn’t take too much away from the story. I highly recommend this book for people who appreciate fantasy, magic, and mystery.
I just wanted this to be better than it was, because the plot has SO MUCH potential and it was completely let down by the weak characters and the quality of the writing. I’m probably still going to read the sequel because I’ve heard it’s better, but the only true positive I can say it that at least this book is a pretty fast read.
This is a great series. I plowed through the first book in less than 48 hours.
Hands down, the best book ever. Not even kidding.
Definitely the most disappointing book I have read in a loooong time. The hype was so intense that I was absolutely dying to read it, but in reality it was a poorly written, generic YA that was full of plot holes, cringe-worthy metaphors, and yet another lazy, underdeveloped “romance.” If you’re craving magic and characters/writing that are actually worth anything, just read The Night Circus (which, let’s be honest, is what this book has been trying to be all along).
Leaves you hanging. Can’t wait for Legendary.
I loved this book so much that I read it in 3 days. I recommended it to a friend and she loved it so much she had to stay up late to finish it.
The story started out a little slow for me, but it picks up quickly. This story was very original with a lot of old ideals. I loved it!
I absolutely fell in love with this book!!
What a wonderful read! I love a book that gives me no clue of where it’s going or where it will end up. The character, as well as the scenes, are fantastically written, and there’s so much color!!!! Would love to see this become a movie.
This is the kind of book that rips your heart out, but then magically mends your heart in the end. Garber is a talented author and I cannot wait to read the next book in this series. If you love magic and fantasy worlds, you would love Caraval.
Teen book, but a very interesting premise, pretty well written. I will probably read the second one when it comes out. Not heartbreakingly depressing with everyone dying and the world ending.
I never knew I’d say this but Caraval is on the same level of awesomeness as Harry Potter. Epic drama, gut-wrenching turns and literal cliff hangers…the author perfectly captured a world I so badly wish was real.
It was a great story and really kept my interest.
Interesting story and premise but the book felt weak. The world building wasn’t great and it had ridiculous metaphors throughout the entire story. I stuck around to find out the end but wasn’t impressed with the characters. The ending also felt forced to me.