Caraval: A Caraval Novel

Good quality and a must read book Caraval is an absolute masterpiece! Stephanie Garber's writing is beautifully immersive, pulling you into a world of magic, mystery, and high-stakes adventure. The story follows Scarlett Dragna, who has always dreamed of seeing Caraval—a legendary performance where the audience plays a role in the spectacle. But when she finally gets her chance, things take a dark and thrilling turn as her sister, Tella, is kidnapped, and Scarlett must navigate a dangerous game where nothing is as it seems. The world-building is breathtaking, full of lush descriptions that make you feel like you're walking through the streets of Caraval yourself. The plot is fast-paced and filled with twists that kept me turning the pages late into the night. I also loved the romance—subtle yet swoon-worthy! If you love books like The Night Circus or The Selection, you’ll absolutely adore Caraval. Highly recommend for fans of fantasy, mystery, and adventure! — A very happy reader

The book revolves around two sisters: Scarlet and Donatella Dragna, who wish to escape from their cruel father and enter into the world of the Caraval, a magical show hosted once in a year in an isolated place. As they escape with a mysterious boy, Scarlet realises her sister is missing and the only way to find her is to win the game and save her. What happens in the process makes up the rest of the book. After a lot of doubts and assumptions, I bought the first book and it did live up to my expectations. The world building is the highlight of the book followed by the intricate plot. Scarlet, being the main character, I expected her to come out stronger and braver through the course of the book but she makes an average heroine which makes me cut off a star. Julian, however, was a very interesting character and till the end of the book you keep on guessing whrre his loyalties lie. Colourful and magical as it seems, it's dark and manipulative from within. The last 100-150 pages stole the show and literally blew my mind. If you are a lover of fantasy, slow-burn romance, secrets and deceptive villains, this book will surely impress you. Can't wait to grab the sequel and get lost in it!

Definitely one of the best books I've ever read. I was very skeptic about it being a fantasy mixed with romance but it was very surprising to my liking, to see how different it was. The amount of plot twists I had discovered every chapter and how well the plot was balanced, it all made sense and at the end and came a full circle. I assume some people might find the metaphors pretty deep and highly-descriptive. But even if you read without fully experiencing it I'd say the storyline is very well written. I myself understood all the descriptions and i must say it was very awesome. I'd really recommend this book if you're new to fantasy or just starting to get into it, i really liked it :))

The product arrived on time and was in a sturdy packaging. The book wasn't damaged at all and I also got the particular paperback edition I wanted instead of the other. {The difference between this paperback edition and the other paperback edition is that THIS ONE HAS GLITTER!!! The other edition doesn't...}

The book came a bit damaged The spine was a bit teared And some pages were stuck together, it wasn't too bad tho But the storyline was good n

Prepare to be enthralled by the gripping storyline that will leave you spellbound with its beauty and enchantment!! The characters, especially Julian and Scarlet, are truly captivating, and Donatella is simply remarkable! The lingering mystery surrounding the legend has me eagerly anticipating the unraveling of more secrets in book 2 & REMEMBER ITS ONLY A GAME AND NOTHING IS AS IT SEEMS !!

I’m so glad I picked this up because I had so much fun reading it. The plot was magical and kept me at the edge of my seat the entire time. There were so many plot twists and my emotions were all over the place while reading this. I can’t believe how unexpected some twists were and just when I thought everything was over, there was another twist. Everything was written so well that by the end of the book, I still didn’t know what to believe and what not to anymore. The bond between the sisters and the way they were both ready to sacrifice so much for each other and even though there weren’t that many moments between Scarlett and Julian, they were still so good together (I thinkI kept shipping her with almost everyone towards the end of this book🙈). Also, what a way to end the first book because that epilogue made me even more excited to see what happens next!

I actually got to know about this book from a recommendation on YouTube, and I'm definitely impressed. Safe to say, this book totally lived up to the hype. The atmosphere of this book was so magical and flowy! I believe this book will be suitable for a fairly mature 11-year old, like me haha. Full of fantasy and magic, this book def deserves the hype!

Wooow thos was so good!! I cant wait to read Legendary now!

Bien entregado

After getting about 10% of the way through OUABH, I recognised the authors name. And realised I better start from the beginning. Caraval first. This has been one of the most intriguing storylines I’ve ever read. It will require a physical re-read with pads and highlighters to grasp every little detail but I think it adds to the magic of this book. Games, Corruption, Romance, Relationships, mis-trust. It’s all here. And it’s all intertwined. It hasn’t been the easiest to read but it’s been most intriguing and I honestly haven’t been able to keep my mind off it. I feel like this book is underrated for what it is and honestly, Stephanie Garber has proven to be a very talented writer. You’re transported from an island to a map inside a building. Bigger on the inside. No one can be trusted. Everyone seems connected. Venice-style transport. Victorian-esque fashion. Magic. Illusions. It’s all here with a sprinkle of romance. I highly recommend this book and I recommend you read it well and slowly. Get to understand everything. Take time to reread parts. It’s meant to mess with you. It’s meant to make you second guess everyone. You feel yourself start to stop trusting every one. This is definitely a 5 star read and you’d be surprised when some conclusions you make are in fact… right. Welcome to the game of Caraval!

J’ai lu Caraval et j’ai vraiment apprécié ce livre ! L’univers est très immersif, plein de magie, de mystère et de surprises, et je n’ai pas pu m’arrêter de lire jusqu’à la fin. L’histoire de Scarlett à la recherche de sa sœur dans ce jeu incroyable est bien écrite et pleine de rebondissements. Pour moi, c’est une lecture parfaite si tu aimes les romans fantastiques pleins d’imagination et d’aventure.

“Welcome, welcome to Caraval! The grandest show on land or by sea. Inside you’ll experience more wonders than most people see in a lifetime. You can sip magic from a cup and buy dreams in a bottle. But before you fully enter into our world, you must remember it’s all a game.” This is the second time reading Caraval for me. It all started one year ago: I was watching a BookTuber talking about her favorite reads and she grabbed my attention when she mentioned The Night Circus. She talked so highly of that book I knew I needed to try it for myself. I immediately checked on Amazon - keep in mind that, at the time, I was still reading mainly in Italian, so I was pretty disappointed to find out that, for some reason I don't remember, I couldn't order the Italian edition of that book on Amazon. Pretty bummed I returned to the video I was originally watching. The girl proceeded to talk about Caraval, another book she really enjoyed and that she considered perfect for fans of The Night Circus. I hadn't read the latter yet, but I already considered myself a fan, so I returned on Amazon full of hope and I managed to order the Italian edition of Caraval. What happened next is history (for me lol): the book stole my heart in a blink, making me fall in love with every little detail, every description, every character, every plot twist... I was obsessed. As soon as I finished it, I discovered the sequel had already been published and I ordered it without even thinking about it. And that's when I made the mistake that led me to where I am right now: too excited about Legendary, I didn't notice that I was ordering a book in English. Yes, the sequel wasn't out in Italy yet, but Amazon had the original edition and that's what I bought. Legendary was my first English book! Looking back I'm so glad I made that mistake because it made me realize my English level was more than enough to allow me to read books that hadn't been published in Italy (as long as they were written in English of course). It's been almost a year since I finished Legendary and when Finale was announced I screamed! I couldn't wait to discover how everything was going to end. I still had to wait many months though, so I decided to sell my Italian edition of Caraval, order the English one and do a re-read of the series, in order to remember every little detail when I eventually started Finale. Even though this was my second time reading Caraval, it felt like the first. It didn't matter that I already knew how it was going to unravel, I enjoyed it so much - discovering how many things I forgot since last year. From the first pages, I felt the urge to keep reading because I needed to know what happened in the next chapter! In the book someone says that "Caraval is the closest you'll ever find yourself to magic in this world" and I honestly think he was talking about the book itself, not the game. This book is pure magic. Like Queen Garber would say, it's made of dreams come true. I won't go much into details because I'm honestly not able to analyze this book as I would normally do. It's too intense, too unique, too unexpected. Stephanie's writing style is one of the most beautiful I've ever come across. It made me dream on a whole new level! She uses lots of romantic metaphors and thanks to them you find yourself experiencing the story with all your senses, almost like you were the main character. “He tasted like midnight and wind, and shades of rich brown and light blue. Colors that made her feel safe and guarded.” Quotes like this one make you feel everything. Every single character is perfectly built and three-dimensional in a very unusual way. They're all actors and they're even more complex and faceted, at the point where you're constantly asking yourself if they're telling the truth or if they're just acting. Just like Scarlett - the MC - you're always wondering what's real and what's part of the game. Talking about Scarlett, I've heard many people saying how they didn't like her and how much Tella was better than her sister. Even though I more with Donatella as well, I must say that this re-read made me appreciate Scarlett a lot more: she's not boring as many people say, she's clever, she evaluates her options carefully, she thinks twice before taking any decision because she's analytical and precise. Maybe this makes us more similar than I realized when I first read the book. She doesn't want to waste her time, she's driven by her infinite love for Donatella and she only cares for her. She spends the entirety of the game thinking about Tella, looking for her and hoping she's okay. Her dedication is touching and admirable. The romance is a very strong part of the book, yet it never feels too much. It's a slow burn, always present but always on the side, never exaggerate to the point where it feels like the main point of the story. Knowing that you can't really tell reality from act makes it even more unique and interesting, to the point where you find yourself analyzing every little detail of it to understand what's really going on. The final plot twist didn't take me by surprise because I remembered it, but I also remember that it left me shook the first time I've read it, so I can say it's quite a good one. I know, this review is probably useless, it feels like I haven't written anything. I just think that Caraval is one of those books that need to be experienced without knowing too much about the plot, you need to dive in completely blind. Do it and I swear you're in for a marvelous, magical adventure!