Caraval!

'Whatever you've heard about Caraval, it doesn't compare to the reality. It's more than just a game or a performance. It's the closest you'll ever find to magic in this world . . .

Welcome, welcome to Caraval―Stephanie Garber’s sweeping tale of two sisters who escape their ruthless father when they enter the dangerous intrigue of a legendary game.

Scarlett has never left the tiny island where she and her beloved 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 far-away, 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. But she nevertheless becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic with the other players in the game. And whether Caraval is real or not, she must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over, a dangerous domino effect of consequences is set off, and her sister disappears forever' (from Goodreads).


After trying for a week to even start Caraval, I have been sat in the bath for about an hour tonight and have finally finished it! I am so happy and yet so unsatisfied with the ending. This book has taken me on an emotional rollercoaster and I don't know why I expected anything different from Garber's debut. The Night Circus is now frequently mentioned in association with Caraval and I could see the links. However I did feel that Caraval also possessed the element of mystery and craziness that were present throughout Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I am sure we're all aware, by now, of my love of Alice in Wonderland. There are riddles, and lies all of the way through.

Stephanie Garber did an amazing job. From the very beginning, we are warned that we must not get carried away and swept up by Caraval. We are warned that the magic is not real, that it is just a game. I felt as though this warning was not just intended for players like Scarlett. The warning also seemed to apply to the reader. But I will admit to getting carried away. I was swept away by Caraval and did not wish to return to reality. I am suffering with a major book hang over after this one! But it also got me out of a little bit of a reading rut. Caraval is a book that you race through, desperate to find out the fates of chararacters such as Scarlett and Donatella. Yet, I didn't want it to be over. Garber included plot twists at every step of the way to keep my hooked. Caraval was so unpredictable that I really appreciated its mystery. I fell in love with the descriptions of the mysterious location, the boy that falls flies from the first balcony upon their entry, and Scarlett's mood changing dress!

Scarlett was a beautiful character and I fell in love with her. She was genuine, good (though it is pointed out that 'good means different things to different people), and relatable. She was anxious for most of the book, but the game changed her. The development in her personality was lovely to see, I felt as though I was watching Scarlett grow up during the week long adventure. She was the only character that I felt that I could trust throughout the entire novel. I had nobody else to trust or to root for, especially as Scarlett kept writing everyone off as I began to trust other characters. Dontatella is absent for much of the novel, and therefore untrustworthy. Julian is a character that Scarlett repeatedly questions. Her father is scum, who beats Dontatella in order to encourage Scarlett to behave. We know nothing about the Count that Scarlett is due to marry, only that her father has set it up! The rest of the characters seem to be Caraval performers. The novel is based upon rumour, and lies and huge leaps of faith. It was certainly not easy to make any assumptions.

I felt stuck with Scarlett and simply had to trust her judgement regarding legend, her father, and the count. Caraval made Scarlett question herself and I was right there with her. On the surface, it appeared that all she thought about was the impulsive Donatella. But beneath, it was clear that she sought so much more from life. Scarlett only begins to make choices for herself right at the end of the novel, after following Donatella around into Caraval, being forced into an arranged marriage by her father, and accidentally falling in love with the charming Julian.

The bond between the two sisters was truly beautiful to read. Though the story features romance and mystery, the true focus remains on the relationship between Scarlett and Donatella. Following the most painful cliff-hanger I have ever had the pleasure of reading, I had to find out if there was going to be a second book! The good news is that Garber is planning a second novel and the film rights have already been sold! I am so very excited!

Just a short review for today, purely because I cannot bring myself to spoil it for anybody. I recommend this book, wholeheartedly. By far the best book I have read in a long time. Thank you very much to Fairyloot for making it a part of their January box.

Have a lovely evening, folks.

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

'Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland and a favourite of the unmarried King, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, she wants to open a shop and create delectable pastries. But for her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for a woman who could be a queen.

At a royal ball where Cath is expected to receive the King’s marriage proposal, she meets handsome and mysterious Jest. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the King and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into a secret courtship.

Cath is determined to choose her own destiny. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans'. (Goodreads)

This book was whimsical, confusing and fascinating. Meyer’s intertextual references were intriguing. I found a blend of Lewis Carrol’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Disney’s somewhat interesting adaptation, and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland (2010). The novel is not a retelling, as I have seen it referred to so frequently, but rather an origin story. It is the origin of the notorious Queen of Hearts, and of the infamous phrase that is ‘off with their heads!’ Additionally we are provided with some eagerly anticipated answers to the familiar question of ‘why is a raven like a writing desk?’

Heartless was possibly one of the most anticipated young adult novels of the year for me. Having of a love of the setting of Wonderland and of Alice’s character, I didn’t think it would be possible for me to form a stronger bond and feel more attached to another Wonderland character other than her. However, Catherine Pinkerton stole my heart. It was her development from an ambitious girl with dreams of opening a bakery with her best friend to the much feared Queen of Hearts that keep me captivated throughout.

However, Meyer's intertextual references were also intriguing and amusing with the Raven quoting lines from Edgar Allen Poe's 'The Raven'. The Raven uses language such as 'nevermore' I found this interesting and a clear example of the fact that Meyer hadn't decided to write Heartless without conducting extensive research first.

The novel opens and allows us entry into a Wonderland that any fan of Alice in Wonderland would be all too familiar with. However, we are introduced to new characters such as the ‘silly’ King of Hearts, our protagonist, and her oppressive parents. It was Catherine’s strained relationship with her parents that pained me the most. Their very characters were a constant source of angst throughout the novel. I very quickly, however, became attached to the heroine that has the ability to dream up fruit trees in the garden and has an extraordinary talent for baking.

However, due to Catherine being our current guide through the world of Wonderland, her development means that the novel begins to take on a sinister tone. As a reader I began to hope that the inevitable future of the Queen of Hearts would not be actualised.

 With regard to other characters in Meyer’s Wonderland, I was very pleased and entertained. I found the Cheshire cat to be very much himself, selfish and unhelpful. He appeared momentarily though-out to offer unnecessary facts to Catherine. However, at the point of the climax in the text, I felt that Cheshire broke character and appeared to be sympathetic toward Catherine’s impossible dream of the bakery. But this lapse in harshness and madness and introduction of sympathy to his character was unwelcome by my imagination.

 However, a character I did not enjoy was Meyer's portrayal of the Hatter. The Hatter is one of the characters I fell in love with after Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland in 2010. I felt a distance, however, from his character in Heartless. I felt that, especially toward the climax and end of the novel, the Hatter was sinister in his madness and riddles. Perhaps this was because I was viewing the Hatter through the eyes of Lady Pinkerton. I found his character irritating unfortunately.

Having said that, the best parts of the Hater that I had originally hoped for were embodied by the Joker for the Court of Hearts, introduced to us as Jest. I think that this made up for it. Jest was much more endearing on the basis of him being Catherine's love interest.

To conclude, I felt Heartless was stimulating. It embodied everything that I'd originally fell I love with regarding Wonderland. Origin stories such as Heartless, and Frank Beddor's Looking Glass Wars trilogy, enable Wonderland to be so accessible.

“But hoping," he said, "is how the impossible can be possible after all.”
― Marissa Meyer, Heartless

My rating: