Caraval - Stephanie Garber

Goodreads rating: 5*

I'd seen the Caraval series so many times on TikTok and Bookstagram over the past few months, so I finally got around to reading them and I honestly don't know why I didn't crack on sooner. The hype is certainly warranted because I fell in love with Stephanie Garber's storytelling within the first few chapters.

I adore how the author uses such intense imagery to really bring colours to life - it made reading so incredibly vivid for me and she kept this up throughout the entire book. My first impression of Caraval was that it gave me serious Narnia vibes crossed with Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory and I think that's part of the reason I gelled with the book so quickly - they were some of my favourite childhood novels.

There were so many twists and turns throughout that I could not anticipate how things were going to play out. I had an inkling that Dante was working for Legend, but I did not see Julian playing a performer role too and it was so heartbreaking for Scarlett. I did enjoy seeing how Scarlett's personality developed as time went on and it was so lovely to see her come out of her shell. The girl's fear of their father was almost palpable and I'm not surprised they were willing to go to such lengths to escape him - every time I thought he might turn over a new leaf and redeem himself, he completely ruined his chances.

The ending made me wonder if the second book in the series would be written from Tella's point of view and to be honest, I'd really like to read from her perspective as I feel like I relate more to Tella as a character. So excited to carry on with this trilogy!