Rating

Ever since she was little, Scarlett has dreamed of going to Caraval: a once a year performance where the audience becomes the participants. Her callous father has arranged a marriage for her, dashing these dreams until her sister Tella and an unknown sailor take her to the show. However, her sister is kidnapped and the master of Caraval, Legend, decides to make this year revolve around Tella. In ‘Caraval’, the first installment of Stephanie Garber’s fantasy young adult series, Scarlett becomes swept up in this make-believe world of love, magic, and terror. She must find Tella before Caraval ends, or she will never return.

The best parts of the book are the plot twists and world-building. The plot twists are unpredictable— you never know what will happen next. The worldbuilding is excellent in and around Caraval (although there is little to no worldbuilding outside of it). The mood Stephanie Garber sets and the descriptions she uses really immerse me in the setting. However, I find Scarlett boring, and she doesn’t seem to have much depth to her. It feels like every other sentence, Scarlett is talking about Tella. Maybe instead of being called Caraval, it should be called Tella. The ending feels rushed and doesn’t leave me feeling satisfied. This point is continued in the spoilers section.

*Spoiler Warning*

The relationships are okay for the most part, but there are a few of them that I find issues with. Scarlett’s romance with Julian feels surface-level to me. It is like she is a Disney Princess who has met and magically fallen in love with her prince. I also find it annoying how much Scarlett talks about finding Tella. It feels like it is never-ending, and it draws me out of the book.

One of the weakest parts of the book is the ending: the tragic moments where Tella and Julian die don’t hold much weight since they are just brought back to life at the end. I also don’t think the explanation at the end is done well— I am still left with many questions. It turns out that Scarlett and Tella’s grandmother was Legend’s former lover, and Tella helped to plan the whole thing. The book tried to make itself too complicated, and lost some of its luster and magic.

The ending somewhat redeems itself with its plot twists. Even though I may not like the explanation for them, I didn’t see them coming and they really surprised me.