Presenting Author - Stephanie Garber

[Viviana Kingston]

Name of the author: Stephanie Garber
Main genre: Young Adult
Main audience: Young adult
Main books: The Caraval trilogy (3 books + 1 upcoming Novella), Once Upon a Broken Heart series (3 books)
Short summary of the author:
Stephanie Garber is an American author, best known for her Caraval series. She initially was a college resident director as she pursued writing to relax and unwind and after several rejections (200 of them according to the author herself) one of her drafts - a space opera called Lost Stars Broken Galaxy - was given representation. It failed to sell, so she got to working with Caraval, one she never intended to be a romance novel nor the first book of a trilogy.

[Viviana Kingston]

Title: Caraval
Author: Stephanie Garber
Genre: young adult fiction, romance
Rating: 4/5
Category: traditional publishing, book 1 of series
Age rating: 13+
Warnings: physical abuse, emotional manipulation, death
Synopsis:
Scarlett and her sister Donnatella have never left the island of their birth, living under an oppressive father. Scarlett’s dream was to be apart of the Caraval, an annual show where the audience become a participant in the show, but when she’s arranged to marry an unknown suitor, her dream feels out of reach. But when the long-waited invitation arrives, Tella and a sailor, Julian, kidnap Scarlett to take her to Caraval, where Scarlett discovers that the stakes are much higher than she anticipated. Tella’s held captive by the master of the show, Legend, and the only way to free her sister is to win the game. Stuck with Julian, Scarlett has to fight between fact and fiction in five nights in order to get her sister back or risk losing her forever. The most important thing? Not to get swept away by the allure of Caraval.

Goodreads write-up:

Scarlett has never left the tiny island where she and her beloved sister, Tella, live with their ruthless father. Now Scarlett's has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval, the legendary, 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 who she has just met, 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 eleborate 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. Welcome, welcome to Caraval......beware of getting swept too far away!

Comments + opinion:
I think the thing that stuck out most for me was sisterly love. Tella goes through great lengths to get her sister and herself out of a dangerous household and she puts immense trust in her sister in order to have the plan pull through - which was scary in my opinion because Scarlett was in between the spectrums of just wanting to get out of there and getting swept away by the game. But ultimately having sisterly love win at the end was just incredible for me. Caraval is suspenseful - you have no idea what’s a part of the game and what’s not which just adds to the mystery.
There were some things I didn’t like about the book were certain scenes - cruel father as per the synopsis given by Goodreads is so misleading. There’s about two or three scenes where he’s violent towards the sisters and that was an absolute no for me and it may be triggering for some people so caution for that.

[Viviana Kingston]

Title: Legendary
Author: Stephanie Garber
Genre: young adult fiction, romance
Rating: 5/5
Category: traditional publishing, book 2 of series
Age rating: 13+
Warnings: emotional manipulation, death, parental abandonment, blood drinking, mild violence
Synopsis:
Donnatella has finally escaped her father and saved her sister from a dangerous alliance, but at the cost of a debt. She owes a stranger something no one else has been able to discover - the real identity of Legend, the Caraval Master. The lengths Tella goes through to keep her end of the bargain throws her straight into danger because this year Caraval is not as it once was. Never has Caraval been performed twice in a year and so close apart and never has the game been real. With all odds stacked against her, Tella has to play Caraval and win, or lose everything, including her life and new found freedom.

Amazon write-up:

Donatella and Scarlett Dragna escaped their cruel father and made it out of Caraval alive, but the games aren’t over yet. What Scarlett doesn’t know is that, in order to gain their freedom, Tella made a deal with a mysterious stranger and now it’s time to pay.

Except what Tella owes is something that no one has ever been able to deliver: the true name of Caraval Master Legend. Tella’s only chance at uncovering Legend’s true identity is to enter the dangerous game of Caraval once more, and win. But what will she have to sacrifice to do that?

Comments + opinion:
This book goes more in depth into the character Donnatella and their family history which seems more intricate than what anyone would initially think. It ties up a lot of loose ends from the first book and introduces one of my favourite characters in the entire series - Jacks. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because Jacks has his own spin-off series “Once Upon A Broken Heart”. The stakes are much higher in this game of Caraval, though Donnatella seems to be getting help from the Caraval performers themselves, more so than her sister did. The ending was much more satisfying than the first book, considering the added arcs but I’m half way through the third book and I think I truly do not want to find out what happens at the end of the series. I found myself with another love triangle (or two) and really questionable character choices, but it was enjoyable.
I’m much more happier that there isn’t child (not as in a minor but rather the offspring of a parent) abuse. But there are mild scenes of violence that some people may not enjoy so please be aware of those.