Thank you to Netgalley, Stephanie Garber and Hodder & Stoughton for my ARC of Legendary, the sequel to Caraval.

It's no secret that I wasn't the world's biggest fan of Caraval while I loved the story I thought the world and characters to be very underdeveloped and it never lived up to its potential for me.

So I was a little unsure about whether or not to read Legendary but I thought I'd give it a chance and I'm so glad I did. Everything that was lacking for me in Caraval was present in Legendary. The world building and back story was incredibly detailed and incredibly interesting. I really felt that I was getting to know that world and the characters who inhabited it.

Legendary focuses on Tella who was the prize from the game at the last Caraval. It's only been a short while since the last Caraval but Legend has decided to throw another one in honour of Empress Elantine's birthday. Tella who is desperately trying to find her mother cuts a deal to win the game and get her back, but the deal may be one she later regrets, because this time Caraval is not just a game.

Far more engaging, far more well written Legendary is a gripping story with a fierce female protagonist at its centre. Not to mention a dashingly, dark and dangerous young man.

I'm so glad I decided to give Legendary a go because I am now completely hooked on this series and can't wait to read the next instalment after that cliffhanger!!

When it’s about a sequel following a very good first book, it’s always the first question: Is it as good as the first one? And the answer is a straight YES! It’s as good as Caraval. I really can’t decide which one was better, let’s conclude I love them both 🙂
When I was reading Caraval, the most striking thing was Garber’s imagination and how she brought it to life. There are lots of series with kingdoms, princes, queens fighting, etc. But, Caraval was quite refreshing coming with a different set up. It was one agonising year to wait for the sequel! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher so that at least I read it couple months earlier 🙂
In the second book, we have another Caraval coming right after the first one. This time, Tella needs to win it to see her mother again. The winner also gets to face Legend at the end of the game. Quite soon, we see that Caraval may be real this time with real consequences. So, the concept is a bit different than the first. Tella has a lot to lose if she can’t win Caraval, including the life of her mother or even herself!
We follow Tella’s narrative in this book, and Scarlett takes the back seat. Like the first one, it’s full of energy, mystery and magic. There are lots of twists. And during the book, you keep guessing who the hell is this Legend??? Until the end, there’s no being sure 🙂
Garber masters her atmospheric story telling yet again. I loved Tella as a character. She’s quite different than Scarlett, so it was refreshing to follow her in the second book. We got to know a few more new characters, who were quite interesting as well. The pace was high throughout the book that I couldn’t put it down.
Overall, we have another very rich, delicious, energetic sequel to the first book! I absolutely loved it.

Going into this book I expected a continuation from Caraval but this time focusing on Tella which I did get and I really enjoyed and became invested in right up until the last 3 or so chapters. The twists and turns it took from that point on just left me feeling a little let down. Which is a shame as I really really enjoyed Caraval and hoped to adore this one as much. 3 and a half stars for me.

I absolutely fell in love with Stephanie Garber’s first book Caraval and as soon as I spotted the sequel i pre ordered it straight away! Just from the book description Legendary had me sucked right back into the magical world of Caraval and the mysterious host, Legend!

I have been extremely fortunate to receive this book as an arc and i can not thank the publishers, author and NetGalley for this opportunity.

But as i have said many times before, arc’s are both a blessing and a curse! I will now have to wait even longer to read the third instalment! There better be a third as the way this book ends it leaves countless directions it could take!

Where as the first book centred around Scarlett and Julian, this book centres around the other sister, Donatella and Dante. And i must confess it was Dante that had me intrigued from book one – Think it’s the tattoos that drew me to him!!

Legendary literally kicks off from where book on ended which I loved, so if you haven’t read Caraval yet I highly recommend you do now so you are prepared for this one on publication day which is 29 May 2018!

The magic is so wonderfully brought to life before your eyes and is so easy to get caught up in the flow of the story that you can’t stop reading! I wanted to stay in Caraval and never leave!

Tella is more of a feisty character than her sister but this time around things seem more real than they did when Scarlett took part in Caraval and a lot higher stakes than the first book.

I don’t want to give away any spoilers as this book needs to be read and im sure there will be a lot of different ideas as to who Legend really is and where the story takes Tella to next!

The characters from the previous book are all reunited with the reader with their own running undercurrents of storylines that makes things even more intriguing. I can tell you that Legends identity is finally revealed! I don’t think his identity was a massive surprise but it was nice to know I had it correct all along!

Not only do the other cast members continue through from Caraval, new characters are introduced, the Fates. None of which sound particularly like you would want any of them as friends!

Tella’s reason for joining in with the game has been manipulated by an unknown friend that has been writing to her with the promise of if she wins and learns Legends true identity they will reunite her with her mother who disappeared years ago. But that would make it all a bit easy, who would she be handing Legend over too and for what purpose? Being pulled and manipulated in several directions at once whilst also trying to save her own life kept me engrossed through out, I didn’t even want to put it down long enough to make a cup of tea!

All of this will make sense once you have read the book i promise! I am trying to not give anything away and ruin it for anyone!

It is full of magic, charisma, intrigue and all the time you never know what is real or which bits are just the charades of Caraval and carries you to the dangerous, enchanting world where not all is as it seems!

This is going to be a Must read of 2018 and i can not express to you how good it really is!

I did not enjoy this book as much as Caraval. I think this is in part due to the character of Tella being less likable. I found it unbelievable that such a short time after the events of book 1, the sisters would spend as much time apart. The ending has been left wide open for a third instalment, but with the mystery surrounding Legends identity solved, I'm not sure I would continue reading the series. Such a shame as I loved the world conjoured up in Caraval.

I struggled with this one. As much as I loved the first book, I was a times annoyed with this one. I could not fully immerse myself in the story and found that the characters annoyed me