Although the various books in the Caraval Series by Stephanie Garber have been published multiple times by Fairyloot, they seem to have always eluded me. They were published before I was a subscriber, and it’s impossible to find them on the second-hand market without having to pay an arm and a leg. Therefore, I was ecstatic when Fairyloot announced they would be making an Iron Edition of the series in 2025. As I promised myself (and my bank account) not to buy any special edition series anymore without having at least read the first book, I finally dove into Caraval this month. Did it live up to my – admittedly high – expectations? Read on to find out!

Caraval

Caraval introduces us to Scarlett and her sister Tella, the two daughters of the Governor who have absolutely no freedom since their mother disappeared. Some days before her arranged wedding, Scarlett receives an invitation to the magical Caraval show, an annual spectacular game in which the audience can participate. With the help of a sailor, Tella succeeds in getting Scarlett to Caraval, but once there, she is kidnapped by Legend, the mysterious organiser of the game. As it turns out, the winner of the game will be the one to first locate Tella. Luckily for Scarlett, everything that happens within Caraval is only make-believe. Or is it?

Not nearly as magical as I hoped

I had such high hopes for this book. It’s extremely popular within the bookish community, and it’s about a mysterious man at a circus-like magical performance. It has everything to be a new Five-gem read, right?

Unfortunately, this book did not turn out to be what I expected it to be, as I was bothered by too many elements.

First of all, I didn’t appreciate the writing style. There was way too much repetition, and the author seemed to be obsessed with colours. Scarlett, who sees emotions as colours, never stops to add colour descriptions. Literally never. Endless. Never-ending. See what I did there? That’s how repetitive the book came across as well.

Secondly, I simply couldn’t stand Scarlett. Really, what is wrong with her? Same goes for her sister, by the way. These girls are so annoying and they react in such bizarre ways that I was constantly frustrated by them. It got so bad that I wrote one big sentence in the centre of my reading journal: “WTF IS WRONG WITH SCARLETT”. Julian, the main love interest, also didn’t make my heart rate speed up one bit. He just felt off and not at all appealing.

Thirdly, the story itself didn’t make any sense either. It was supposed to be whimsical and magical, but it felt boring and slightly insane from start to finish. It reminded me a bit of Alice in Wonderland. To be honest, I might be one of the only people on this planet who passionately hates that story, so maybe Caraval never got a fair chance due to the comparable vibe.

If I have to find something positive, it would have to be that I did appreciate the way in which letters and list were visually integrated in the story.

I regret it intensely, but I cannot give this book more than two out of five gemstones:

Honestly, I did not see this coming. I was planning to be completely enchanted by this series and to finally own a Fairyloot set. However, as it turns out, I won’t be buying the Iron Edition either, as I cannot justify paying that kind of money for a series I didn’t like.

Note: It probably won’t come as a surprise that I won’t be continuing this series.

Age Category: Young Adult

Trigger warnings (click here, contains spoilers)

Quite explicit child abuse, teenagers growing up in a very unsafe environment, attempted rape

Do you want to discover more?

If my review inspired you to pick up the first book, don’t hesitate to check it out at Goodreads or at the below online stores:

Amazon.nl: Hardcover Edition

Special editions

As I mentioned earlier, Fairyloot has published several editions of this series. It all started out in January 2017, when they included the first book in their Young Adult Fantasy box. Back in the day, the customisations were still very limited, so this book only came with a signed bookplate and author letter. As with other books by this author, there were four different covers available. It’s quite difficult to find this edition on the second-hand market, as there seems to be no real visual difference with the normal early editions.

Next, in 2019, Fairyloot featured Finale (book 3) in a special edition book box. It came with a whole lot of related goodies, including artwork, character cards, a blanket, bookmarks, etc. Like the first book, different hidden covers were available. By that time, Fairyloot had started to increase the customisations, resulting in an exclusive cover, stencilled edges, and an author signature. The box also included an author letter. This edition can be found on the second-hand market for about € 75 – € 100 (but it’s quite rare).

In the same year still, Fairyloot published the “Deluxe Set” of the first three books. These editions have exclusive covers, illustrated endpapers, sprayed edges, and were signed by the author. They originally cost around € 75 but you’ll have to pay AT LEAST € 350 to get them on the second-hand market. The arrival of the new Iron Editions might lower the price a bit in future, however.

In 2025, Fairyloot will publish the Iron Edition set of all four books. These editions will have exclusive covers, reversable dustjackets, illustrations on the endpapers, full colour hard covers, and digitally sprayed edges. Unfortunately, they will not be signed, however. This set can be pre-ordered for € 123, and you can expect to have to pay with your soul or your first born to get it afterwards.

Next to these editions, there’s also a collector’s edition (not by Fairyloot) of the first book that is still widely available online. This edition comes with a slipcase, and extended bonus content (i.e. a scene from Julian’s POV, extracts from the author’s writing journal, and the original ending). It costs about € 25.

Similar to this

If you are looking for circus-like stories, there are two books that come to mind. First of all, the very famous The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I have no idea how it’s possible, but I haven’t gotten round to reading this one yet, even though everyone tells me it’s superb. It’s the story of two rival magicians who must duel in a game where there will be only one winner.

Secondly, I’d like to recommend Cruel Illusions by Margie Fuston. This stand-alone YA fantasy novel tells the tale of Ava, a young girl who dreams of getting revenge on vampires as they killed her mother. During her search for justice, she gets intertwined with a magical circus troupe that is looking to enter a potentially deadly competition. My review can be found here.

Scarlett’s focus on colours also reminded me of two other series I read. Starting out with my favourite of the two, The Fae Isles Series by Lisette Marshall. This is a New Adult Romantasy Series about a human girl and a Fae love interest so it has nothing to do with the topic of Caraval. However, it has an interesting, colour-based magic system and Scarlett’s obsession made me think about this (note: the colours in those books are not at all annoying though). My spoiler-free series review can be found here.

The obsession with colours also reminded me of another obsession that greatly bothered me in another series, namely in The Kingdom of the Wicked Trilogy by Kerri Maniscalco. In book 1, the main character is constantly referencing food, in book 2, she never stops mentioning all kind of sensory information such as colours, scents, textures etc. She annoyed me even more than Scarlett did. Although personally, I didn’t love these books, this is a quite popular series. It’s the story of a witch who gets involved with the princes of Hell. My spoiler-free series review can be found here.

On the Caraval series

As mentioned above, I personally will not be continuing the series beyond book 1. Below, I’ve added links to the Goodreads Entries for the next parts of the series in case you want more information:

• Book 2: Legendary
• Book 3: Finale
• Book 3,5: Spectacular

Furthermore, Stephanie Garber also wrote the Once Upon a Broken Heart Trilogy, set in the same world. As I hear that this series is much better, I’ll be reading and reviewing this one soon.