Review: Legendary by Stephanie Garber
To provide a little bit of context for anyone who is not familiar with this series Legendary is the sequel to Caraval (released back in 2017) and is the second book in the Carval series. The conclusion, Finale, was released just the other week. As it is a sequel I am not going to delve too much into the synopsis but just to pre-warn everyone this review will contain spoilersfor events that take place during Legendary.
When I first heard about the Caraval series a lot of people were saying how they thought it would be perfect for fans of The Night Circus which naturally should have peaked my interest in it but it instead seemed to have the opposite effect! The Night Circus is a book I hold so dear that I didn’t want Caraval to be a lesser version of this story and for me to be constantly comparing the two. I didn’t want to dismiss the series completely though and a few months after it was released I reluctantly picked it up. While I do see where the comparisons to The Night Circus originate, particularly in terms of the setting, for me this is where the comparisons end. When you delve properly into both books they both have vastly different themes and plot lines and are both outstanding books in their own right. I will admit that my expectations for this series were set so incredibly low because of all these comparisons – how could anything, in my opinion, come close to what I feel for The Night Circus? I am now so incredibly glad that I put those worries to one side and gave Caraval a fair chance because I have fallen completely and utterly in love with this series.
I picked up Legendary so that I would hopefully finish it around the time that Finale was to be released (which I achieved!) and I think there is one quote from the book that perfectly sums up what I feel for this series – ‘Caraval can make you fall in love’. I am so totally and utterly absorbed in the magic of this universe and as I turn each page I feel like I am stood there next to Scarlett and Tella discovering the world alongside them. I feel that their awe is my awe and their fear my fear. There were so many jaw dropping twists weaved throughout the story which seemed to give Caraval itself a much darker feel that in had in the first book. The game held a sort of magical innocence the first time around - until the game was finally complete and all hell then let loose! But with Tella’s ulterior motives to free her mother and her bargain with the Prince of Hearts taking place before the game had even got properly underway I knew we were in for a much darker ride this time around.
Throughout the story the stakes and the importance of finding out the true identity of Legend increases, and without this knowledge – until right at the very end – I find that you, as a reader, can very much empathise with the difficulty Tella faces in what she deems to be an impossible decision. Every new bit of information seemed to bring with it more questions and more conflicts until it became totally impossible to see a way out of Tella’s bargain which would not wreak destruction on the world – hand the deck of destiny over to Legend and allow him to inherit the abilities of the Fates to become ridiculously powerful or hand Legend over to the Prince of Hearts and allow the Fates to be freed. Throughout the book this decision came back time and time again to the identity of Legend. If you are going to hand a very large amount of power over to one man then you need to know their intentions. I have been totally fascinated not just by the identity of Legend himself but I want to know his story, where he came from, how he got his power, where the hell did the idea of Caraval come from!
“Every good story needs a villain.But the best villains are the ones you secretly like.”
I don’t think I just like Legend I am absolutely enthralled by him. At the very start of the series he is seen as a sort of ‘god like’ figure and for me anyway I quickly just accepted that he was this important figurehead, presiding over the game and who would build his reputation solely on his illusiveness. But as you delve deeper into the world of Caraval, particularly in this second novel you realise that Legend’s secrets may be closer than you think. The penultimate pages leave you with a tease of these secrets, goading you to come back for more in the third and final book. While reading I often found myself getting completely swept up in the world, and to some extent, the innocence of Caraval and it is only when you stop and remember the number one rule of Caraval that you realise just how immersed you have become.
“You must remember it’s all a game”
It is this which provides the grounds for the impossible task Tella must face upon winning Caraval. Each and every one of Legend’s pawns each have a role to play in order to keep the game moving forward so how can you be totally sure absolutely anything they say/do is real? When playing Caraval first time around this was something Scarlett seemed to be able to keep very much at the forefront of her mind and as a reader you were very much able to separate the real from the make believe however throughout Legendary that line becomes very much blurred both for the characters and myself as a reader. I think this just one of the reasons which highlight the absolutely incredible writing throughout not only this novel, but its predecessor as well.
Legendary is one of the most spectacular books I have read in ages and this series is steadily becoming one of my all time favourites. As much as I want to dive straight into Finale I also want to eek this series out for as long as I can because I don’t want to have to finish exploring this world. One thing is for certain though it won’t remain on my TBR for very long!