Summary:
A heart to protect. A debt to repay. A game to win.
After being swept up in the magical world of Caraval, Donatella Dragna has finally escaped her father and saved her sister, Scarlett, from a disastrous arranged marriage. The girls should be celebrating, but Tella isn’t yet free. She made a desperate bargain with a mysterious criminal, and what Tella owes him no one has ever been able to deliver: Caraval Master Legend’s true name.
The only chance of uncovering Legend’s identity is to win Caraval, so Tella throws herself into the legendary competition once more—and into the path of the murderous heir to the throne, a doomed love story, and a web of secrets…including her sister's. Caraval has always demanded bravery, cunning, and sacrifice, but now the game is asking for more. If Tella can’t fulfill her bargain and deliver Legend’s name, she’ll lose everything she cares about—maybe even her life. But if she wins, Legend and Caraval will be destroyed forever...
Welcome, welcome to Caraval . . . the games have only just begun.
Wow. Wow wow wow, I don't know how to from my feelings and thoughts into words right now, but I'll try.
The first book in this series, The Caraval was magical and irresistible and beautiful and I loved every moment of it! After reading the first book in January of 2021, I somehow got caught up in other books, and school, and life in general and I somehow forget about reading the second one. And then now months later, in May, I was scrolling through Goodreads and remembered this book and decided to pick it up. I was somewhat skeptical about whether or not I should since I was worried that I had forgotten everything, but once I started reading everything just came back to me and it was easy as anything to just fall back into the magical world of Caraval!
Worldbuilding/Writing:
I would usually start with Characters, but in this case, I would be doing this book injustice if I didn't talk about the Setting and Worldbuilding. It's just so magical and probably one of the most atmospheric books I've read. This is because Stephanie Garber's writing is so beautiful and immersive! It's poetic and descriptive and suspenseful and can switch tones very well.
There's no way you can really get how amazing her writing and worldbuilding is unless you read it yourself, but here are some quotes:
“The air tasted like wonder. Like candied butterfly wings caught in sugared spiderwebs, and drunken peaches coated in luck.”
“Julian had a voice meant for casting spells. But tonight he'd have broken them instead. He sounded like salt without the sea. Rough, alone, and lost.”
The Characters: I'll admit, I was skeptical about reading from Tella's perspective after being used to Scarlett's but once I started reading it, I loved her character even more than Scarlett's! She's brave, bold, clever, and complex and she can't be controlled.
The side characters were exceptional as well! Julian and Scarlett were just as good as in the last book, but it's the new characters that caught my interest. Dante was such a great character because he really was complex. He had the best dialogue with jokes and sassiness, but we could still see that he was a bit broken inside.
And then there's Jacks! I just loved reading about Jacks because he was such an intriguing character and it's hard not to like him even when you know that he's supposed to be a villain.
The Plot: This probably the hardest part of the review to write because I have so much I want to say but I don't want to spoil it!! I guess all I can say is that it's really suspenseful and mysterious.
This was such a fun book and it's definitely one of my favorites! I have Finale available at my library now so hopefully I can start on that soon!
You can find this review on Goodreads here! https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3978874950
Commenti