The Quill & The Cross

Summary

Scarlett and Donatella Dragna are desperate to get off their island and escape their cruel father, so when they receive invitations to the famous Caraval games, they seize their opportunity. With the help of a dashing and mysterious sailor named Julian, they escape the island and arrive at Caraval, where magic and reality collide. Once inside the game, however, Scarlett discovers it is much more than she bargained for. With Julian’s help, she must find Donatella before the time is up; now her sister is the central part of the game.

My Review

My Rating: 4.5/10

My Recommended Age: 14+

Things To Be Aware Of

Violence: 3/5 (Scarlett and Dontella’s father strikes them multiple times. A boy is drowned and the girls are threatened with the same fate. A girl is kidnapped. Characters have bloody wounds. A girl comes across a dead body. A man is slashed across the face with a knife. A girl leaps off a balcony and falls to her death. Someone is stabbed in the chest.)

Sexual Content: 3/5 (A girl is found in the cellar kissing a boy. Scarlett is engaged to a man she’s never met. Julian is a very handsome young man, and there is plenty of talk about that. A young man rips off a girl’s dress, leaving her in her corset, only because her dress is too heavy and she’s drowning. Julian is without a shirt a lot of the time. Scarlett and Julian pretend they are engaged. They are given one room to sleep in, but Scarlett refuses to share the bed. Scarlett is eyed by multiple young men. Legend is known as quite the ladies’ man, and it’s implied he’s been with many women. Julian is also known as a ladies’ man. Scarlett and Julian share some brief kisses. There is a kissing tent in Caraval, and Julian makes jokes about it. A young woman is forced to spend the night with a man, but she threatens him and escapes.)

Language: 1/5 (One use of b**tard.)

Other Negative Content: 1/5 (Most of the characters inside the game are deceptive. There is plenty of magic in Caraval. Two characters “die” for a day, and then come back to life.)

My Take

I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect from Caraval-I barely knew what it was about-but it definitely did not disappoint. It’s magical, adventurous, with a romance and crazy twists and turns galore. I was totally swept into the story. Scarlett is a really fun main character to follow: she’s spunky but also reserved-unlike Donatella, who is the wild sister of the story.

The story was pretty clean, too. There’s implied stuff, but no explicit anything. The character of Julian is quite a ladies’ man, and there’s lots of talk about how handsome he is, etc. He and Scarlett have a romance the entire book, but they only share a couple kisses. Donatella is the opposite-she’s had many implied relationships-but we never learn anything about them. The romance is a part of the story, but it didn’t take over the story, leaving the magical adventure to be at the forefront.

Caraval sure delivered an adventure: I was definitely in open-mouthed shock at a couple of the twists. The story is unique and vivid and very well-written, and all the characters stood out from one another. You couldn’t help rooting for Scarlett and Julian. If you’re up for a magical adventure full of twists and turns and some romance, Caraval is perfect for you!

Remember, it’s only a game…