REVIEW | "Caraval" by Stephanie Garber

Title: Caraval
Author: Stephanie Garber
Publisher: Macmillan USA
Genre: YA, fantasy
ISBN: 978-1250095251
Page Number: 407 pages





Blurb
Remember, it’s only a game…

Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her 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 faraway, 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 the show. 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. Nevertheless she becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic. And whether Caraval is real or not, Scarlett must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over or a dangerous domino effect of consequences will be set off, and her beloved sister will disappear forever.

Welcome, welcome to Caraval…beware of getting swept too far away.

Execution
This was actually my second time reading Caraval. When I read it for the first time I wasn't really in the right mind set to read anything so I knew right away that I wanted to reread this some day and since the sequel, Legendary, just came out I thought hey, why not read it now?
And I am so glad I gave this book a second chance.
This is pretty much unique in so many ways. 
When the blurb says: Remember, it's only a game and beware of getting swept too far away - it's so true! Throughout the book, you find out so many things that later turn out to be false, in the end you can't tell what's real and what's not and I think that is exactly what the author intended.
The world of Caraval seems so magical and whimsical, you do get swept away quite easily and I absolutely loved the atmosphere. Stephanie Garber's writing is exceptionally beautiful and draws a very vivid picture of the world which is part of the reason why I loved this book so much.
The build-up is perfectly done: every time you think it can't get any more twisted and crazy, Stephanie Garber goes the extra mile. I adored how this was executed!

Characters
The entire book is told from Scarlett's perspective so you get to know her pretty well whereas the other character's motives are rather hard to comprehend because you never know what's real and what's an act.
Scarlett first appeared to be rather like the typical shy, nice girl from next door but as you get to know her better you understand her reasons for being how she is. Also, I really loved her character development and how she gets braver as the story goes on.
I also really liked Julian and what Stephanie Garber did with that bad boy trope which didn't turn out to be so bad boyish at all in the end. 
I was especially fond of Tella's character and I can't wait to get to know her better in the next book!

Emotions
Caraval really played with my emotions. I, very much like Scarlett, couldn't tell what was real and what was only a game at all and I definitely got swept too far away. But that's exactly what I want when I'm reading a book so I didn't mind☺
I did have an emotional bond to the characters, especially to Julian and Scarlett so Caraval definitely fulfilled my standards according to the emotional part.

Overall
Altogether, I think Caraval is a very unique book that may not be for everyone, but I definitely loved it and I can't wait to read more of Stephanie Garber's works!