“Every person has the power to change their fate if they are brave enough to fight for what they desire more than anything.”

I had been looking forward to this book for months. I kept trying to get an ARC of it but no dice, had to wait for the release date like everyone else. Nearly pounced on the the poor UPS guy when he finally showed up with it at 5pm. How could I resist a book that promises magic, mystery, drama, and just a touch of heartbreak? Stick that all in a pot, give it a good stir, and you have yourself the makings of a good book.

Alright. Before I get too far along here, something has been nagging at me. I’ve read dozens of reviews of this books. The lucky ducks who did manage to get ARCs of it have been popping their thoughts up on Goodreads for weeks. Of all of them, I only read one or two that went, “Hey wait, does this remind any one else of The Night Circus?” Yes. Yes, it does. Thank you for saying so. We have the magic circus/carnival, the master/masters overseeing things with their own set of rules, a forbidden love, delicious and extraordinary food that is never seen outside of the venue, and Caraval even goes black and white for a few pages under a magical influence much like Le Cirque des Rêves is. I’m not complaining, mind you,  I just found it odd that no one was mentioning the parallels. Now that that is off of my chest…

We begin with two sisters, Donatella and Scarlett, who live a rather isolated life with their father. He is a hard and cruel man who takes any opportunity to physically and mentally punish them. I wanted to reach in the pages and slap him around. He had even gone as far as murdering a man who was trying to help his daughters. The girls want to escape their oppressive life and Scarlett means to give them that escape by marrying a count who would take them away from the prison they were forced to call home. When tickets arrive for them to get into the magical Caraval, a wrench gets thrown into her plans. She had always wanted to go but she knows her marriage and ticket to freedom are upcoming and if she goes to Caraval those will be taken from her forever.

Donatella has other plans and along with the help of a dashing sea captain, they kidnap Scarlett and head to the mysterious island that is home to Caraval. Upon arriving on the island Donatella immediately disappears which sends Scarlett into a frenzy as she feels it is her responsibility alone to watch out for Tella. That was irksome about Scarlett. Every action she took was about finding and saving Tella. It never occurs to her that Tella is an independent and intelligent woman who, perhaps, is capable of saving herself. So Scarlett along with Julian, the sea captain who took them to the island, enter into Caraval and begin their search for Tella.

Caraval itself is full of wonder and the fantastic. People come from all around to take part in it. During the day the guests are confined to their hotels but at night everything comes alive. The guests take part in solving a mystery. This year, the mystery is the disappearance of Donatella. There are clues, some they are given and some they must find, to lead them to the damsel in distress. Scarlett, of course, is frantic to find her sister. She and Julian follow the clues and find themselves pretty constantly in some sort of perilous peril.

The most enjoyable part of the story for me was Scarlett’s progression as a character. She starts off as this timid, rule abiding mouse but through her trials and tribulations within Caraval she grows into a more confident, strong woman.

There are many twists and turns through the story and with each page you learn more and more that Caraval can be a frightening place. The guests are warned at the beginning that everything is just a show and not too get too enraptured but it feels less and less like a performance with every passing chapter. Scarlett is caught up in the mystery and in finding her own confidence and heart and you will be, too. It is a lovely story that is very character driven. Admittedly, I would have liked a little more focus on the venue as I never did get a clear image of it in my head but overall well worth the read.

Have you ever read a book title and went, “Well, this is going to be cheesy,”? That’s how I felt about this one. It is also listed as YA on Goodreads which was off-putting as that certainly wasn’t what I was in the mood for. For some reason I was drawn to it anyway so I off I plodded to the local library, toddler in tow. Have you ever taken a young child to a library? It is an adventure unto itself and inevitably ends in tears or giggles, there is no in between on that one.

First thing I want to mention is that this book really shouldn’t be listed as YA due to themes as well as vocabulary. Our leading lady, Irene, works for the invisible Library and she with her associates throw words around with more syllables than I have fingers. I actually had to look up the definition of a word while I was reading this. That hasn’t happened in a while. It was exciting.

The invisible Library (I’m using capitals with that on purpose, it’s not a silly error) is an expansive, well, library that exists outside of normal time and space. It is enormous and can take days to travel from one section to the next on foot. From there the librarians travel to different dimensions and alternate realities to collect unique books of historic value. Irene, a junior librarian, is given the task of going to one of these alternate realities to collect a particularly sensitive book. Little does she know how much trouble her assignment is going to be.

Irene is given an initiate librarian, Kai, on his first mission to take with her and train. There was some definite sexual tension sparking between those two which made for some amusingly uncomfortable moments. They quickly learn that the world their mission sends them to is listed as a major no-go-zone. That world is considered one of the most dangerous and unstable in the entire Library network. There the concepts of logic and reason often have little meaning. In their quest for this elusive book they encounter creatures that would have no place in the general concept of a “normal” world including, but not limited to, giant mind controlled crocodiles.

Okay, here we get to the cheese factor. Several mythological creatures are thrown at you and they can feel out of place at times. I think that is part of the point, though. They are supposed to feel out of place. Irene stresses often how this world defies logical rules which allows these creatures to thrive. They are meant to feel out of place because they don’t truly belong. Once you wrap your mind around that and accept it the book has a much better flow.

They battle crocodiles, a shape shifter that can steal someone’s skin, werewolves, and a bevy of other creatures in their attempt to retrieve this book. They do eventually tell you why the book is so important and the reason itself was also interesting. There was not much in this read that wasn’t interesting or entertaining.

Overall it was a very good book. The action didn’t take a back seat and the characters you meet are entertaining if a little odd. For the last third or so I couldn’t put it down because I had to know what happened. The conclusion was also satisfying. Now, there are going to be things left unresolved and a few plot points that may rub the wrong way but as this is the first book of a series I let that go with the expectation that those points would be explained in a later book. It was a quick read and highly enjoyable and I fully intend on picking up the rest of the series.