Synopsis:
Welcome, welcome to CARAVAL, Stephanie Garber’s enchanting, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling fantasy debut about two sisters swept up in a mysterious competition filled with magic, heartbreak, and danger

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 attend. 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 whether Caraval is real or not, she must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over, and her sister disappears forever.

Review:
“Every person gets one impossible wish, if the person wants something more than anything, and they can find a bit of magic to help them along.” -Caraval

This book takes you on a fabulous journey and from the beginning you’re completely enthralled. This is a book you’ll both not be able to put down and cannot wait to finish but never want to have end. A gothic romance with magic that truly pulls you in, that I would definitely recommend for any fans of The Night Circus. The characterization, depth, and reasoning for how characters are and behave how they do is very well done. A world in which you never know what to expect or what is real, there were a few twists that were eluded to and expected that I quite enjoyed. Overall it was a stunning mystery from beginning to end and I absolutely adored every moment of it, even the terrifying/horrifying parts.

I thought that the anaologies and descriptions/imagery did a great job of pulling you into the world, but there was a huge undercurrent of trying to pull someone from a bad situation and remind them how to live again. There is a lot of time where Scarlett is left having to remember not to act in a certain learned behaviours because of the life she grew up in, and that she cannot always be meek and live in fear. Scarlett is also allowed to dream again, and remember/experience the magic she always wanted and dreamt of when she was younger.

It’s intriguing the way in which Tella is involved in the Caraval, which leaves the question of are all the games rigged? What’s also interesting is that Donatella is shortened to Tella and not Dona, though I definitely think it suits the character. We are never quite sure just how much Tella is acting and how much she truly is the wild sister, which I presume we will learn more of in book 2.

I frantically bought the next two books before I finished this one, and look forward to continuing in this world once they’re delivered. This had actually been on my to read list for a while and I’d picked up a paper copy while at a Barnes and Noble buy two get one sale- I definitely recommend this in paper as you’re going to want to be able to loan it out! There are so many tropes in this book, a few of which being sisterly love, older sibling parentification, enemies to lovers, magic/mystery. I highly recommend this book series to people who love magic, relatable heroines, circuses, and always straddling the line between what is and isn’t, what’s good and evil.

Star rating: ✯✯✯✯✯