Caraval by Stephanie Garber

 

Scarlett Dragna has never left the small island where she and her sister, Tella (Donatella), live under the control of their powerful, mercurial father. Now Scarlett thinks her dreams of attending the legendary performance called Caraval—a once-a-year show in which the audience participates in the spectacle—are over, especially because her father has arranged a marriage for her.

Then, unexpectedly, a set of Caraval invitations arrives. With Tella’s help and the assistance of a mysterious sailor named Julian, Scarlett escapes to the magical isles where Caraval is held. But as soon as they arrive, Tella is abducted by the show’s mastermind, “Legend.” Scarlett learns that this season’s game revolves around finding Tella, and the first to do so wins—but in a world of illusions and enchantments, nothing is quite as it seems. Scarlett must navigate heartbreak, danger, magic, and deception to rescue her sister before the game’s five nights are up—and before the boundaries between performance and reality unravel.

The story emphasizes that while Scarlett has been told the whole event is a “performance,” she soon struggles to know what is illusion and what is real—and what the price of trusting or not trusting might be.