"Caraval"

“Caraval”

Written by Stephanie Garber

Review written by Diana Iozzia

After choosing to read one of the most highly anticipated young adult fantasy books, I was very eager but also very nervous. As far as romance and magic competitions in fiction go, I was not planning to find a new favorite, after the major letdown of “The Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern. However, “Caraval” mystified me, enchanted me, and threw me onto a crazy adventure that was a lot of fun, very exciting, and so utterly confusing. Every single turn in the story led us so far from what we were expecting. Trust cannot exist in this magical world. Let’s begin.

It was instantly interesting to see the world-building. We learn about different islands, empires, past ruling, the ways the years, seasons, and dates are told, and more. I find it fascinating to learn of the government organization, currency, and more.

Our main character and protagonist, Scarlett, has dreamed, since childhood, to see and join the Caraval competition. She has written letters to the master of the ceremonies, the creator, the villain, Legend. This year, he has finally allowed her and her fiancé to come. Instead, Scarlett subverts our first expectation and takes her sister, (Dona)Tella, with the assistance of a cute, smarmy sailor. After arriving and being separated from Tella, Julian and Scarlett begin competing, realizing that Tella is the key to the puzzles and clues and is sought after by all of the competitors.

To continue, the actual competition was so entertaining to watch! We felt like spectators ourselves, as Scarlett and Julian become entangled in this crazy adventure. They must encounter so many interesting types of magic, including enchanted dresses, clarity drinking cider, moving bridges, fallen stars, wish seeds, future-seeing eyeglasses, exchanging blood for two days of death, and more.

We are introduced to a large cast of characters in this spectacular fever dream. We meet: Tella and Scarlett’s awful father, Dante, Valentina, Jovan, Aiko, and a few other characters I won’t spoil.

I think one of the most interesting aspects of our villain, Legend, is the build-up to him. We are learning all of these horrible decisions and tricks and magic he plays, and we’re just waiting desperately to catch a glimpse of him.

I think this book shocked me, surprised me, and enchanted me. There are countless twists and turns, so many that I felt I had no idea where it was going. I also felt that the story ended very interestingly, causing me to run to the library to borrow “Legendary”. Let the games begin.

I recommend this for teens, young adults, and adults. This book incorporates many teen characters, but I felt they were written splendidly. Often, I find in fantasy novels, I do not enjoy the teen characters. However, they are realistic, interesting, manipulative, and perfectly crafted. I absolutely loved this book, and I know this will be a new favorite series. In addition, if you’re looking for a book that has really fantastic female characters who are strong and stand up for what they believe in, Scarlett and Tella are your girls. Jovan’s pretty cool too. I hope you give this book a chance. I really don’t know why it took me this long. Oh, also, I read it all in one night! I simply could not stop turning the pages.