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Caraval | April 6, 2017

by Stephanie Garber (Macmillan Children's Publishing Group / Flatiron Books, January 2017)

“She didn’t realize how toasty it had been in the tavern until she escaped into the brittle evening.  Crisp, like the first bite of a chilled apple, smelling just as sweet, with hints of burnt sugar weaving through the charcoal night air.”

Caraval wraps itself around you; you cannot escape it.  It is a book of love, intrigue, and longing—a book of trickery, magic, and suspense.  Caraval checks all of my boxes.  What starts as a family drama soon turns into a magical mystery when Scarlett is granted three tickets to the most spectacular performance on Earth, Caraval.  Escaping the clutches of their abusive father, Scarlett and her sister, Tella, leave their island in the dead of night, thanks to a handsome sailor with a broken moral compass.  Once they reach Caraval, the trio becomes part of a deceitful, fantastical game, where nothing is as it seems, unless…perhaps it is.  When Tella is taken by the game’s creator, Scarlett must find her before the other contestants, because in Caraval, you never know what could happen if you fail.

In the most fantastical of settings, Caraval explores the depths of human desire and the lies we tell ourselves to overcome it.  With Garber’s characters we share hope, defeat, love, and humiliation.  In her words we are embraced and abused but, ultimately, transported.  This book is fantastic.

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