Caraval by Stephanie GarberStar Rating:
Spice Level:
Series: Caraval #1
Also in this series: Legendary, Finale
Published by Flatiron Books on 01/31/2017
Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Romantasy, Young Adult
Format: Kindle (407 pages)
Source: Purchased
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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.
This was a “stay up until 4am because I couldn’t put it down” book. I absolutely loved it! Think Cirque du Soleil meets “The Night Circus” with a splash of “Alice in Wonderland”; but make it dark & a little twisted. UGH!!! So, so, so, so good!
I didn’t know this series was a prequel to the “Once Upon a Broken Heart” series. I started to tuck into OUABH, and something made me stop 2 pages in & look online to see if I should read Caraval first. Everything I could find (while avoiding spoilers) said yes, read Caravel first, but it wasn’t 100% necessary. There were some characters in common, Caravel would help you understand the magic better, but the biggest reason I saw was that reading OUABH first would spoil the ending of the Caraval series. So, I stopped OUABH, started Caraval, & boy am I glad I did. So much magical, romantic, WHAT IS GOING ON, goodness.
I can’t wait to see where this series goes!
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