YOUth Review: Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Caraval by Stephaine Garber is a YA fantasy novel set in a world that hosts a magical game every year named Caraval. Sisters Scarlett and Donatella Dragna have dreamt of going to Caraval their whole lives. Scarlett writes letters to Legend, the creator and runner of Carval, every year, hoping for an invitation. This year, Scarlett has been invited, along with her future fiance, Count Nicolas, who she has yet to meet. The sisters escape their horrible Father to go play the game with the help of a sailor. Once they arrive at Caraval, Tella gets kidnapped, and Scarlett soon learns the point of this year's game is to find her sister. Scarlett is now determined to win and will at any cost, along with the help of the sailor who helped them get there. Everything that happens during Caraval isn’t real; it’s all a game… but Scarlett worries about what will happen if she doesn’t find her sister after the five days of Caraval end. 

I read this book not long ago, and recently I finished the whole Caraval trilogy. This trilogy as a whole has been one of my favourite book series I’ve ever read. The first Caraval book was great, I gave it four stars. I found that the author could be overly descriptive, making the reading boring at times. I also thought that the book was paced quite slow, but by the end, it really picked up. I really loved the concept of this book, it was a very fun read. Caraval is a thrilling novel that will have you loving the characters and the world-building. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to start reading fantasy because it was easy to understand all the terms and magic. I think it’s a good beginner's fantasy book. The series got better with every book, I had to pick up the spin-off series right after. 

Written by Sophia C.