Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Title: Caraval

Author: Stephanie Garber 

Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult, Romance

Published January 31st 2017 by Flatiron Books

Rating: 5/5

Remember, it’s only a game…

Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her 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 faraway, 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. Nevertheless she becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic. And whether Caraval is real or not, Scarlett must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over or a dangerous domino effect of consequences will be set off, and her beloved sister will disappear forever.

Welcome, welcome to Caraval…beware of getting swept too far away. 

First of all, I want to thank Macmillan International for sending a review copy my way. This will not affect nor influence my review.

Caraval has been on my radar since its release day, everyone I know raved about this book so much that I myself won’t lie that I fell into it. But I’ve been seeing/hearing mixed reviews as time passed, that’s when I became hesitant about reading it BUT thank God I didn’t listen to that small voice inside my head and I continued on to FINALLY reading probably one of my favorite books this 2017!

The only thing I knew about this books is that it’s somehow like a circus themed setting and compared to the Night Circus which I haven’t read yet so I don’t know the comparison between the two. But I do get the whole circus vibe of this book I recommend you guys reading this without knowing anything and you’ll be surprised with what you’ll be getting in the end of the game.

Last night I saw Stephanie Garber tweeting about the cover reveal of the second book in this series(?) AHHH! I’m so excited but there’s no exact date when it’s going to be released in the public so that means I’m going to wait for a little while.

I can’t explain how much I enjoyed my journey through Caraval! I liked how the parts of the book were divided on each day you spend on that place, at least we weren’t stuck in a book where a bunch of things happen in one day! To be honest the pacing of the book was pure perfection, I didn’t notice that it was almost 400 pages long because I kept on tearing through the pages and read it in one sitting. I love every element that was introduced in this book; it’s mesmerizing, enthralling, whimsical and had me bewitched!

I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of reading Caraval. Every chapter has new characters thrown in that added excitement to the story! The author’s writing style worked for my reading preference. I am not a big fantasy reader but I can say that this book is really worth giving a try. I liked the whole circus theme of it, it gave out a dark-fairy tale-esque vibe to it. Everything seems so magical and vivid in my head. I do the like the budding romance between the characters which I thought made the story more interesting.

The ending was EVERYTHING! I want more, will I be getting more? I’m glad that I picked this book up and the only thing that made me sad is that I had to finish reading and end my adventure in the magical world of Caraval. I’ll be back again soon, this definitely deserves a reread!