Legendary (Caraval #2) by Stephanie Garber (ARC) - Review

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I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Tella and Scarlett should be celebrating the end of Caravel - after all Tella finally escaped her father and she saved her sister from an arranged marriage - yet Tella still isn't truly free. Out of desperation, she's made a deal with a criminal and she owes him Legend's, the master of Caraval's, real name which is something that no one has ever been able figure out. Tella only has one chance to figure out his name and that is by winning the next round of Caraval, usually that would be next year but now the schedule has been has been bumped up. She's still reeling from the events of the last one before she's thrown right back into it. Caraval asks a lot of its players, and this time is different, but for Tella the stakes are greater than ever. In fact, if Tella loses and fails to uphold her end of the bargain she'll lose everything and everyone she cares about, but if she wins Caraval and Legend himself will be destroyed forever.

Legendary by Stephanie Garber is a fantastically imaginative sequel to last year's Caraval, but this time around the stakes are higher than the first time around and more personal. This time around we get to see another round of the game, but now it's much different game altogether. There's a whole new setting, a whole new magical mystery to get wrapped up in, and so many dark twists and turns to wrap your head around. In this sequel, we follow the story from Tella's perspective rather than Scarlett's. Like the first time around, Tella kind of grated on nerves. I don't know if I'm getting old or what. Either way, there are times where she doesn't make the brightest decisions out there. Though I will agree that she has grown as a character over the course of the series, like she says she isn't a silly little girl, but she definitely has a lot quite a bit of growing up to do. One of my favorite aspects in this novel is that we get to find out a little more about the wider world these two sisters inhabit, especially in regards to the fantasy elements like the Fates and the Deck of Destiny.

Overall, Legendary is a more than worthy sequel to Stephanie Garber's debut novel. I love being engrossed in an intricately twisted world where you're never quite sure sure what's real at any given time. If you enjoyed Caraval, I expect you'll want to devour book two as soon as you can. I also expect you'll want to try this series if you liked The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Garber has such a way with words that I was on the edge of my seat with anticipation throughout. After that ending I'm absolutely dying for the third book in this series, Finale!

Thanks again, NetGalley!  I read this ARC from May 12 - 14, 2018 and my review is also on Goodreads.  Legendary by Stephanie Garber will be released on May 29th, 2018.