May 9th, in Denver, as I sat at Tattered Covers listening to Stephanie speak, I couldn't help but let myself be enthralled in her happiness. This was the first book signing event I'd ever been to. I was nervous, a little anxious and a hell of a lot of excited. What would happen? Would she be kind? Would she take her time to talk to me? Would I make a fool of myself?
Needless to say, Stephanie was beyond sweet. She took her time to speak with each person, discussing commonitalities with her fans. When it came my turn, we discussed our love of disney and villains. She admired my villains tattoo, discussed scarlet's dress with me and signed the artwork on my B&N edition.
While standing in line, I heard someone refer to Stephanie as a ray of sunshine encapsulated in a person. THIS IS SO ACCURATE, Y'ALL! She is really is every shade of golden sunshine.
"Every story has four parts:
the beginning, the middle, the almost-ending, and the true ending."
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Author: Stephanie Garber
Publisher: Flat Iron
Format/Source: ARC
From GoodReads: Welcome, welcome to Caraval...all games must come to an end.
It’s been two months since the last Caraval concluded, two months since the Fates have been freed from an enchanted deck of cards, two months since Tella has seen Legend, and two months since Legend claimed the empire’s throne as his own. Now, Legend is preparing for his official coronation and Tella is determined to stop it. She believes her own mother, who still remains in an enchanted sleep, is the rightful heir to the throne.
Meanwhile, Scarlett has started a game of her own. She’s challenged Julian and her former fiancé, Count Nicolas d’Arcy, to a competition where the winner will receive her hand in marriage. Finaly, Scarlett feels as if she is in complete control over her life and future. She is unaware that her mother’s past has put her in the greatest danger of all.
Caraval is over, but perhaps the greatest game of all has begun―with lives, empires, and hearts all at stake. There are no spectators this time: only those who will win...and those who will lose everything. .
"Unfortunately, not everyone gets a true ending. Most people give up at the part of the story where things are the worst, when the situation feels hopeless, but that is where hope is needed the most."
HERE'S WHAT I THINK...
I will warn you, there will be spoilers to Caraval, Legendary and possibly Finale if you go any further! I will do my best to leave out any spoilers for Finale, but I cannot promise that will happen. SORRY LOVELIES!
As you could have guessed from the synopsis, Finale does in fact pick up very quickly after the ending of Legendary. I really was not surprised with who Legend was, there were plenty of clues that led us down that path.
I really did not enjoy Caraval the way I enjoyed the other two books in the triology. Scarlet was overwhelmingly inept in most of Caraval, and though good, Garber's writing exhibited it'elf as a debut novel. When I picked up Legendary, my views of this trilogy did a full 180! Her writing seemed to expand and evolve, developing into a language of color and magic.
Things I LOVED:
Tella
Legend
Paloma
The Fates
THE COLORS
Tella is bae when to comes to this trilogy. There was just something so captivating about her that kept me coming back for more. I am typically not a fan of romance (unless it's of the LGBT variety). I find them overdone and redundant - however, Tell and Legend's story had me raptured. Turning each page as fast as I humanly could to devour the next scene. Legend had me swooning, and sometimes questioning myself! That's good writing. ;)
The Fates were another aspect of the story that really drew me in. While I admittedly was expecting a BIT more about the Fates, I truly appreciated and enjoyed the story between them, Esmeralda, Legend and Paloma. They made everything come together very neatly - though not in the way I expected at times.
Things I did NOT love:
Scarlet
While I was completely happy with the outcome of Scarlet's story, she continued to annoy me through the novel. It was hard to get on board with some of the things that she did. Her desire to meet the count was ridiculous to me - and the game she had to play was even more uncharacteristic. It seemed forced, even if it didn't pan out.
Scarley really was the only portion of the story I didn't head over heels enjoy, and even then - she grew on me. Her fearfulness was understandable, and I think that's why I gave her a little bit of leeway.
"Only those who persevere can find their true ending."
TL;DR
Tella and Scarlet bring us full circle as the magical game of Caraval comes to its true ending. This ending was still a crowning jewel. It brought me to the edge of my seat and then threw my heart in the trash, lit it on fire - and then pulled it back out and handed it back. So many emotions ran through me while I read this book. This is a 5/5 star read. If you haven't already read the first two, DO IT NOW! You will not regret falling into the world of CARAVAL.
About the Author:
I’m the #1 New York Times bestselling and international bestselling author of Caraval, Legendary, and Finale (coming May 2019).
When I’m not writing, I teach creative writing at a private college in Northern California, where I’ve been known to turn assignments into games and take students on field trips that involve book signings.
To help pay my bills during college, grad school, and the breaks in between, I worked as a barista, a waitress, a bartender, a customer service representative for an energy consulting company, and as a sales girl at Bath and Bodyworks. I also spent years working with youth; I worked as a counselor at space themed summer camp, volunteered at a school for deaf children in Mexico, and I took multiple groups of college students overseas to spend their winter vacations serving at youth hostels in Amsterdam. But out of everything that I’ve done, writing young adult novels has been my favorite job.
My debut YA fantasy novel, Caraval and its sequel Legendary is out now (Flatiron Books/Macmillan—US and Hodder & Stoughton—UK). Caraval has sold in over thirty foreign territories and the movie rights were picked by Twentieth Century Fox.
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