A Mind Inside the Circus: A Look Into the Magical World of Caraval

Intro

Ever since Scarlett Dragna was little, it has been her biggest dream to attend Caraval, the famous carnival that travels worldwide but only happens once a year, and the audience participates in the game. For seven years, she has written letters to the Caraval master Legend, hoping that she might be able to attend. She has always wanted to see Caraval with her little sister Tella, but their abusive father has no intention of letting them leave the island of Trisda, where they have always lived. Scarlett's father has set her up in an arranged marriage, which Scarlett hates, but she sees it as her only way of escaping the island. Scarlett, Tella, and Tella's boyfriend Julian secretly escape the island unbeknownst to their father and sail away to Caraval, where they are amazed at what awaits them, but Tella soon gets kidnapped. Scarlett and Julian have to work together despite their mutual hatred (and maybe possible romance) for one another to save Tella and to save themselves, because once they enter Caraval, what seemed fun and magical soon turns deadly. Scarlett has always been told that Caraval is just an illusion, so convincing that everything seems real; however, nothing truly is. She has to remind herself of this as the consequences surrounding her sister's fate seem too dangerous to be fake, and her time is running out.

How I Came Across the Book

My friend recommended this book to me, and she said it had so much romance but also mystery and intrigue/fantasy thriller with high stakes, so of course I can't not read a dangerous romance mystery (with some murder as well?).

Other Books by the Author/In the Series

There are a second and third book to the series, and there is a spinoff series called Once Upon A Broken Heart that connects to the Caraval world, but I haven't read any of these yet.

The Good

• THE ROMANTIC TENSION BETWEEN SCARLET AND JULIAN IS SO PERFECT IT HAD ME SCREAMING!

• The part where Julian and Scarlett get off the boat and he suggests they take their clothes off to make it easier to swim, and she is wearing a heavy corset dres,s which makes it hard for her to stay afloat, so AS THEY ARE SWIMMING, HE CUTS HER DRESS OFF WITH HIS KNIFE IN THE WATER!

• I loved how it displayed the realistic emotional sibling relationship between Scarlet and Tella because all siblings fight, but when it comes to life or death (literally), they would do anything for each other

• HOW JULIAN'S NICKNAME FOR SCARLETT IS CRIMSON BECAUSE OF HER RED HAIR

• The plot twist where Legend kills Tella and then she comes back to life, I WAS NOT EXPECTING AND THEIR FATHER HELPS LEGEND KILL HIS OWN DAUGHTER.

• At the very, very end, when Julian reveals to Scarlett who he actually is and even though he was a player that whole time,e he genuinely likes her, so they start dating in the real world outside of Caraval, and it was the best plot twist!!!!!

The Bad

• THE ABUSIVE DAD HE WAS SO EXTREMELY EVIL HE COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED OFF IMMEDIATELY, AND I WOULD BE REJOICING!

• The plot twist where Legend is actually the guy Scarlett is supposed to have an arranged marriage with, WHICH WAS THE DAD'S DOING, and how Legend tracked Scarlett throughout the whole story, but became more obviously evil, was interesting and surprising, but in a bad way, and was not appreciated.

• When Julian and Scarlett escape Scarlett's fiance Count Nicolas D'Arcy (Legend) and once they get to safety they kiss for the first time and it is passionate and soft and the tension is perfect but it only lasted half a page which could have been much longer and that was the only explicitly romantic scene in the book which wasn't even explicit so it definetly could have had a lot more detail

Who Else Would Like This

• Romance addicts

• Fantasy/Alternate world lovers

• People who love mystery and intrigue/thrillers

Rating

5/5: Everything was so surprising and amazing! There was a plot twist on basically every single page, and it could not possibly be boring, and you had no way of knowing what would come next.