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Cover of Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Caraval

  • 436 pages · about 7 hours
  • First published 2000
  • 26 editions

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1 About this book

Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her 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 faraway, 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. Nevertheless she becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic.

  • Marriage
  • Fantasy
  • Arranged marriage
  • Kidnapping
  • Sisters
  • Contests
  • Children's fiction
  • Treasure hunt

2 What to expect

A young adult fantasy set at Caraval, a once-a-year magical performance in which the audience plays a game, and this year the game is to find the heroine's own kidnapped sister. Nothing inside the game can be trusted, so the story runs on illusions, bargains that carry a cost and a romance with a sailor of doubtful motives. Sisterhood and escape from a cruel father are at its heart, and it is the first book of a trilogy.

3 About Stephanie Garber

Born 1987

Stephanie Garber is an American author of young adult fiction known for the Caraval and Once Upon a Broken Heart which were interconnected trilogies.

Bio adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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