Today I’m talking about a book series that has been with me for quite some time: Stephanie Garber’s magical trilogy *Caraval*.  

The first book is about Scarlett Dragna, who wrote a letter every winter for seven years to Legend, the master of a magical performance game. Her greatest wish was to attend the magical games with her sister Donatella to win a prize. After seven years, she finally received a reply from Legend, which included two tickets to the next event, but Scarlett didn’t want to risk being caught and punished by her violent father, since the sisters are strictly forbidden from leaving the island. Nevertheless, Donatella managed to secretly bring Scarlett to the Island of Games with the help of the sailor Julian. When they arrive there, there is no sign of Donatella. At first, they assume Donatella has simply gone to the entrance, but they can’t find her there either. And so begins a desperate search for Scarlett, while the magic of the Games grows more eerie with each passing day.

The book mentions time and again that it’s all just a game (“Remember, it’s just a game”). Yet even I found it hard to distinguish the game from reality. But I could never have imagined that reality and magic would become so deeply intertwined. 

To be honest, I liked the first book best, because the suspense kept building with each subsequent book. And the mystery behind Legend’s identity wasn’t much of a surprise either. I felt like it was missing that element of shock. Still, the waning suspense didn’t stop me from finishing the trilogy, because Stephanie made sure you absolutely had to know what happened to all the characters. 

At the beginning of the second part, it took me a little while to get used to reading from Donatella’s perspective, because it was so different from Scarlett’s. The two girls were complete opposites, not only in appearance but also in behavior. 

All in all, if you’re a fan of worlds full of illusions and magical mysteries, the first book in the Caraval series is definitely worth reading. For me personally, the sequels unfortunately didn’t quite capture the magic of the first book the way I would have liked. Still, the series remains a unique experience—a game you’ll want to play through to the very end, no matter what.