Book: Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Published January 2017 by Flatiron Books|416 books

Where I Got It: I own the e-book

Series: Caraval #1

Genre: YA Fantasy

How far would you go to save your sister?

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. 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 interested me when I first heard about it because it reminded me of The Night Circus.  There is a very Night Circus feel to the book, and I was reminded of The Crown’s Game as well.

The idea behind Caraval, and how it came to be is really interesting.  There were a few different variations about how it started, and even now, I’m having a hard time figuring out which variation is the true story.  I did like the connection to Scarlett’s family, and I wonder if it goes deeper than we know.  And if there’s more to it than what we saw in the book.  Especially with he ending.  It makes me wonder if there’s more to it then I initially thought. Was Caraval the reason why their mother left when they were little, or was it something else?  Will we learn what happens to their mother in the next book?  Because the ending made me feel like there’s a lot going on with their mom than I ever thought.

Speaking of Scarlett’s mom, she is mentioned, but I didn’t really think about her until the end of the book. What does she have to do with Tella and what she may have done in this book?  It’s clear something happened with Tella, but we never see what it is, since the book is mostly focused on Scarlett finding her.

I am really curious about Tella, and what’s in store for her.  I’m curious about Scarlett as well, but again…the ending makes me wonder about how things are going to turn out for Tella.  I’m really hoping the next book focuses on her, because I have the feeling there is more to her story than what we get into this book.  I need to know more!

I thought the world-building was interesting.  I wish we got more of it, because it didn’t seem like enough to me. We got a good enough sense of what Caraval is, and it really does seem like a carnival-type game.  There’s something Night Circus-esque about the island and all of the shops places.

There are very dreamy descriptions, which I really liked, but even though I got a good enough sense of the world, I wanted more of the history.  I wanted more about Legend and Scarlett’s family and their mom, and I felt like we got just enough of the world to know what was going on.  But it seemed pretty bare in comparison to what it could have been.  Still, I thought the idea of Caraval was interesting, and I think there’s a lot more to it than what we saw in this book.

4 stars.  I really liked, and I think it’s a pretty good read-alike for The Night Circus.  I wish we had a little bit more of Caraval and the island, but overall, I really liked how everything was described.