Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Caravel by Stephanie Garber is a tale that I don’t even know how to describe without basically spoiling the entire thing. It is about two sisters who escape from their ruthless father. They come to Caraval, a magical place where its motto is "remember it's only a game". They get separated, and we follow Scarlet as she searches for her sister while finding herself along the way.

The plot is so complex. Sometimes, I was a little bit confused as to what was happening. But, as soon as my brain started to put the pieces together, it totally made sense. Throughout the book, I tried to guess at what was going to happen next, who the person was, what they were going to do. For the most part I failed, miserably. The characters in the book were very well developed. I could definitely see Scarlett evolving throughout the book. You could see how the ups and downs were affecting her.

Now, let’s talk about the physical details of the book. First, the spine. The spine was very solid and wouldn’t open properly. Although it was a minuscule problem because I still got to read the book, it was a bit of a pain. The spine would also creak sometimes because it was opened. But as I said, minuscule. The cover is absolutely stunning. I’m not sure if you saw it in Espresso Patronum’s Owl Crate unboxing but it is gorgeous.

Even when the jacket was taken off the book, the hardcover had a simple tear drop in the bottom right corner. It just made the book feel even more special. Inside the book, there is a map. I love it when there are maps, then you can look back at the map to discover where the places the characters go are. Also, there are letters in the book. I like the letters because they give a unique way to storytelling. The book is divided into 8 sections, and each of those sections has a 2 page design of flowers. It looks very pretty. On every chapters there is a line on the right side on the page of the same flowers. It’s the little things that make the book all the better.

Now that I have told to all the non-spoiler things, go read the book before joining me down below while I talk about the details of the book.

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Welcome to the spoiler section! I hope that everyone reading this has read to book already or just wants to spoil most of the important parts for themselves. In this section I will be going over the parts of the book that stood out to me.

The very first chapter made me laugh. All it says is “It took seven years to get the letter right”. I don’t know why I found it that funny that it only had one sentence, but I did. (anybody else, nope?) The letters that Scarlet wrote to Legend were cute. They remind me of letters that I’m sure all of the average day famous bands and singers get from their fans on a regular bases. And for a second, I thought that this was just going to be another dumb famous person falling in love book. Boy, I could not have been more wrong. When Scarlet got the letter and the tickets, I kind of got excited with her. I don’t think I have ever fallen in love with a character that fast. Skipping ahead a couple minutes, when Scarlet and Donatella’s father found them in the cellar. My heart was beating and I almost instantly hated Donatella for lying. Then I hated Julian as well for lying. But, when the father hurt Donatella, I understood why Donatella lied. To protect her sister. I liked Donatella again, but I still hated Julian because he lied without knowing why. Blind obedience. The next part that I think is important is the kidnapped. What? I was so confused. I was just rocking back and forth in my seat, trying to figure out why they needed to get her off the island. I get the abusive father and all but she didn’t want to leave. Scarlet wanted to get married to her fiance. But I gave up trying to understand at this moment and continued reading. I came to the part where they had to hop off the boat. When Scarlet was drowning and Julian helped take of the dress, that’s when I started to ship Scarlian. (my love for Julian, and Julian and Scarlet’s relationship has many ups and downs throughout this book.) Skip the coldness and the finding the way into Caraval. We now come to when they got the magical changing clothes. This is when I started to see the Caraval magic. I just think these are so cool! I want them! My next destination is when Scarlett is in the inn while Julian is locked outside. “He’s going to freeze!” I yelled at the book. I could feel myself getting very attached to this book. And then, when Scarlet and Julian got separate room keys, but they lead to the same room. I just shook my head. Laughing. But as Julian proceeded take the bed, I flipped. That’s  Then when, Scarlet passes by Donatella’s room and hears Donatella. I was ripped between wanting Scarlet to open the door or listen Donatella and not open the door. But then they moved on. And we met Dante. The gentleman who let’s Scarlet take his bed. He was sweet.

After sunset, (or was it before?) Scarlet found the first clue in Donatella’s room because everybody else bypassed it. It was a picture card of Castillo Maldito. It shows how well Scarlet knows Donatella. I also liked the flashback, it provided a little bit of cuteness. Then, they found the second clue, the man. I found the way he “told her fortune” very interesting. It intrigued me how he could tell what she was thinking by where her eyes landed. Another thing that intrigued me about this encounter is the fact that Scarlet thought about something else before her sister, who was the entire reason she was here. The third clue was “The boy with the black heart”, who was Dante. My heart was thumping fast as I read. Questions were running through my head. Who’s the boy with the black heart? Is it Julian? I had no idea that it was Danta, (a time where my guessing skills failed), I thought it was so cool that the clues were using his body art. Honestly, my mind was working the same way as Scarlet’s was. I thought it had to be Julian! I didn’t make sense for it to be anybody else, but, alas I was wrong. What can you expect from me?! This book has too many plot twists! The fourth clue will cost you something valuable. What! I don’t want the Scarlet to have to give up anything more for her sister! She’s given up. It kind of is making me feel like a bad sister. I’ve never given up half the stuff she’s already had to give up and I’m only HALFWAY through the book. Aiko, Caraval’s historiographer, said that if Scarlet buys two dresses, she can see the history of Caraval. So, she went to the dress shop and was told that for payment of the two dresses, she must tell them her greatest fear and her greatest desire. Okay, that’s not that bad, right? Scarlet puts her hands on this lie detector kind of thing, and she says her greatest fear “that something will happen to her sister”. It’s not a lie to the lie detector thingy. So far so good. Next she has to tell her greatest desire, easy right? “To see her sister”, but then, the lie detector doesn’t take it. Instead, Scarlet is forced to sacrifice two days of her life in payment for the dress. Little did she know, the two days that those two days were going to be taken off, starting now. Aiko tells Scarlet to rush back to the inn and she will come in her dream things to show her the history. When Scarlet arrives back at the inn, her and Julian share a moment of them bonding. Julian takes his a day off his own life and gives it to Scarlet. My emotions skyrocket, intimacy, Scarlian! Ahhh! Then, they go up to the room, and, well, die for twenty-four hours. While she’s dead, she like Aiko promised, she got to see the history of Caraval. It shows a Julian in a top hat, going to a funeral. Scarlet’s mind immediately went to, Julian is Legend! And I can’t say I disagree with this thought. I mean all the evidence points to him. Then she wakes up. Embarrassed that she shared a bed with Julian, who she is not engaged to, she jumps out of bed. When reaches the door, she opens it. And you’ll never guess who she sees, her father! Plot twist! Guess who’s got daddy problems now? As Julian (or should I say, Legend?) wakes up, he goes somewhere. In order to escape her demonic father, again, she flees to the tunnels, where she sees Julian standing over a dead Dante. Obviously, Scarlet was like “what?” and it only heightened the feeling that Julian was in fact Legend. And my need for the relationship lessened. Julian just laughed when Scarlet told him of her suspicions. Of course he wasn’t Legend. He proceeded to tell Scarlet a brief summary of Legend’s past with her Grandmother and Legend’s vow to destroy relationships that are from her line. Although I still have my doubts, Scarlet eats it up. They make it back to their room and find a wedding dress. Convinced that this is her fifth clue, Scarlet puts it on. The fifth clue needs a leap of faith. Scarlet has herself convinced that the next clue is in the hat store. Julian say it’s not, but Scarlet is a lot more opinionated now in the book then she was before, and insists that it is. (btw she’s wrong) They go to the hat shop and the hatter it unpleasant. Julian being the jealous guy he is, got defensive and told that hatter to leave his fiance alone. But, the hatter is Scarlet’s fiance. What? The count? Is that you? To make matters worse, Scarlet’s father was with him. Julian turned, pulling Scarlet with him and they ran. Then they got on a boat, and go in the castle where they found the second clue. They escaped the brutal father. Skipping ahead a little bit, Julian just got his face mutilated by Scarlet’s father, who he will be “sharing” a room with while the Count (Scarlet’s fiance) is supposedly taking Scarlet to his suite to “enjoy what he bought” (not my words). Scarlet turns to her fiance, the count, and boldly says “Do you really want a bride who will only sleep with you because another man will be tortured if she doesn’t?” Yes girl! Finally! Scarlet’s character is finally understands that she has to make decisions for herself, her father is not always right. In fact, in my opinion, he is nearly always wrong. (like when he drowned that poor boy). Anyway, the count agrees and tell Scarlet’s father that the deal is off if he doesn’t let Julian go. After that ordeal, Scarlet and the count are in his room together. And he strips. Scarlet looks for anyway to stop him from forcing her to do this when she remembers the elixir of protection. I forgot about that! Remember, she got it from She goes to get it from the closet and guess who tumbles out? Julian! He’s here! Scarlet dumps the potion on the count. Julian and Scarlet race to the tunnel before exiting the tunnels by the carousel. They go to the carousel in broad daylight. Here’s where the leap of faith comes in, Scarlet has to leap off the carousel into a pit. She meets Legend there. Julian comes down the stairs. He explains how he was actually working for Legend the entire time. Argh! How could you Julian? I loved you! And once again, plot twist! Before Legend stabs Julian. Scarlet holds Julian’s dying body in her hands. Until he’s completely gone, Legend is too. But he leaves a note, inviting Scarlet to Donatella’s funeral. Can a punch him?

Scarlet goes up a ladder, which leads her to her sister. Her sister who fell in love with Legend. Oh my word! Please stop! No! Listen to Scarlet, Donatella! Donatella proceeds to jump of the balcony. I nearly shut the book, stopped reading. Their father is in the room now, along with the count. It appears that Scarlet has become more bold because she stands up to her father. And I’m loving it! Here’s another plot twist! The Legend that ran this game isn’t the real Legend! Dun dun dun! He is just a performer who works for Legend. Wow! I was surprised! Oh! And Julian is not dead? He explains how the real Legend is his brother and then asks for a second chance. I forgive his past mistakes, apparently so does Scarlet as they kiss. Aw, all smiles here! And that’s a wrap on an excellent book. But there’s an epilogue! Personally, I felt that the book was tied off neatly. I thought the epilogue would just be spurt in the future. No, Stephanie Garber decided that we needed more letters. Except for this time, the letters were from Donatella to Legend. Apparently, Donatella created the whole thing to get Scarlet to be more brave. In the last scenes, we read that their mother, who mysteriously vanished / ran away / something like that, is contact with Donatella. And she wants to meet.

If you thought this was the end, you were wrong (don’t worry, I’m in the same boat). This is just the beginning. Or so I hope! I really, really, really hope that Stephanie Garber doesn’t leave her fans hanging like this. That she writes a sequel. I also hope that you enjoyed this review, I know I enjoyed writing it! Thanks for reading!

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~Tea-Riffic