Legendary: A Caraval Novel: 2

Product Information

Other aspects of the plot will also have you frequently questioning yourself. As was true in Caraval, the boundary between reality and make-believe is a bit fuzzy in Legendary. Much like Tella, you will constantly be wondering whether what is happening is actually happening or if it is just a part of Legend’s game. And there are so many twists and big reveals that you are never at risk of boredom; the story retains your interest throughout its entirety. The third book in the Caraval trilogy, Finale, was reviewed by Kirkus as "overwritten, with overly convenient worldbuilding that struggles nearly as much as the overwrought prose and convoluted plot". [14] I liked the Dante/Tella romance, but there wasn't nearly enough. The author teased with this romance.

For it was also said the Prince of Hearts was not capable of love, because his heart had stopped beating long ago. Only one person could make it beat again: his one true love. They said his kiss had been fatal to all but her—his only weakness—and as he’d sought her, he’d left a trail of corpses.”

Other recaps for this series:

Tella trotted up the closest staircase. Her room was on the second floor. With a rounded robin’s-egg-blue door, it was easy to find. It was also impossible to miss Scarlett and Julian, standing next to it, holding on to each other as if they’d forgotten how to say the word good-bye. Tella wakes up days later in Scarlett’s room. She scolds Tella for being swept away by Dante. Tella assures her she isn’t and that he isn’t a very good kisser. Tella confides that she’s going to play Caraval this time and says they should play together. One look from Julian convinces Tella that she should talk Scarlett out of it. Dante finds her at the ball. He says it’s unwise to wear the dress the heir sent. He says his plan to get Tella into the palace was the worst one he could think of. Dante was mad when he heard Tella tell Scarlett how bad a kisser he was. Then Armando (the fake Count) appears. He just told Scarlett the truth. He left her and Julian arguing. Dante follows Tella to a carriage and shares that she means nothing to him…that he discards girls after one use like Tella discards ball gowns. She says she feels the same way about boys. He laughs at her.

Those of you who read that review know that I loved Carval so much because of its AESTHETIC. My aquarius rising LOVES THE VIBES. This book had less of the fairytale vibe and that kind of made me sad but then I came to an interesting conclusion. It's not much of a spoiler (maybe a TINY SPOILER), that in Legendary it's revealed that "everything's now real, it's not a game" and when you read the story from Donatella's POV, you CAN REALLY TELL THAT IT'S NOT A GAME TO HER! Hope that tells you something about how well these books are written. Present day…Tella wakes up in the forest next to Dante the morning after the Caraval after-party. She sneaks away and runs into Julian and Scarlett emerging from their room. Julian wants them to accompany him to Empress Elantine’s special addition of Caraval. i did like tella’s character in this book. i understand her and her motives now, but like do i care about them? debatable. she just didn’t grip me. she’s very impulsive and makes dumb decisions everyday of her life. this is not the type of relatability i wanna have with a character. i also didnt realize she was 16 in this book until the end bye. it all makes sense now.

Personalized picks at your fingertips

the world of caraval is so neat, but the writing was driving. me. up. a. wall. i was this close 👌🏻 to dnf’ing because of the imagery and how messy the story became. During Caraval, Tella hadn’t been entirely certain who worked for Legend. But all of his performers would be on the boat to Valenda—Legend might even be on the boat as well, giving her the opportunity she needed to finally get the one thing her friend required. first off, i want to apologize for taking so long to write this review, school has been so tough, and i haven't found the time <3 Updating this to thank everyone who wrote in Legendary for the Goodreads Choice awards. I was so grateful and excited when I woke up this morning and saw that it had made e it into the Semifinal Round!! You are all the best!!

Also, just about every object, sun stream, and/or fabric is described as “buttery” in this universe.Once I reached the second half of the book, I was kind of finished with it all. I'll talk about all of my dislikes next. I can't even say I liked the ending.

Also, there wasn’t as much of a positive sibling emphasis in this book. Like, Tella was 100% committed to Scarlett, and we know from Caraval that Scarlett was 100% committed to Tella, but Legendary didn’t do anything to help enforce that percentage. Scarlett was honestly kind of a hot mess in this book, from start to (especially) end. I pray that Finale is either entirely in Tella’s point of view or it switches between Scarlett and Tella’s point of view. I don’t think I can deal with another solo Scarlett book after her actions in Legendary. Her father has arranged Scarlett’s marriage and now Scarlett thinks that her dreams might be done for. Scarlett wants nothing more than to see Caraval. It is a performance that happens once a year very far away and the audience participates in it as well. Now it seems that she will have to put any ambitions of going there aside in preparation for an arranged marriage she never wanted in the first place. Honestly, this is one of those books where you have to read it yourself. Decide for yourself. 99% of the people who read this book love it, so what do I know? I felt so meh while reading at least half of this book. And the ending made me so sour. Not just because of the obvious love triangles, but because of the drama, and the cliffhanger, and it was just so stupid. OK. I liked him, not going to lie. But I prefer Julian. If you did not read Caraval, skip until next character please. Ok, what we know about Dante is that he works for Legend, and seems to have a special interest in Donatella. LISTEN. IM BEING BIASSED BECAUSE HE HAS TATTOOS OK. TATTOOS!! And im WEAK FOR THOSE. Cleans drool.

Leave a reply

Scarlett was Tellas person – the one someone in the world whom Tella could always count on. Tella might not have believed in falling in love, but she had literally bet her life that Scarlett loved her." Scarlett is assured that anything that happens during the festival is part of what is an elaborately planned performance. But she cannot help but worry as she goes further into a game that is more complex and engaging than it first appears. With love, magic, heartbreak, and illusion all coming into play, Scarlett is part of a game that seems like it will never end. But again, decide for yourself. I would say that if you're on the fence, maybe just stop with the first book. Wait until the third book publishes and binge-read the series. Or just stop with Caraval. Caraval had a lovely ending and you can imagine an epilogue of Scarlett and Julian 40 years down the road, happily ever after. No need to read about unnecessary drama. I knew I would like Tella, especially after what she did in the first book, but I didn't expect to fall so head-over-heels for this girl. She's way more complex and brave than she lets on. This is a girl you can root for. There's much more to her history and past that you don't get from Scarlett's POV, and oh my heart broke for her over and over. The romantic relationship in it between Dante and Tella had me gasping for water because it was so dry. I was begging for chemistry that I just could not find. Too insta-lovey for my taste. It didn’t help that Dante bored me too. He had some interesting moments in Caraval, and here his only personality traits were obsessive, annoyingly jealous or gone (both in the sense of no personality and because he would just disappear)!