Episode 66: Let's talk about Caraval

In this our last episode of 2020, Fable and the Verbivore dive into Stephanie Garber’s Caraval series - which is one of our comfort reads.

We unpack how the author pulls the reader in and gets them invested in a book while also telling you up front to “Remember, It’s Only a Game”. By placing a character who is highly careful and a poor liar into a game of deceit and where the stakes are high, she made a delicious and intriguing read where the reader is constantly trying to figure out, like Scarlet, what is real and what is not.

As part of this discussion, we talk about the continuous and well-paced world building she uses to keep the story unfolding over time, and how changing locations between the first and second book allows her to open the story up and introduce new characters that have only been heard about in passing in the first book.

We also talk about some of the other things we enjoy about this series. How her use of efficient, colorful, and distinctive descriptions help the reader feel immersed in her world on a visceral level without feeling bogged down. The visual story telling elements the help further the story in the front and back covers, maps, and through the imagery and symbols sprinkled throughout. The choices of which POV characters to use in each book of the series at any given time are masterfully done, allowing her to give out new information and change the perspective on the action.

Stephanie Garber has published three books in the YA Fantasy Caraval series: Caraval, Legendary, and Finale. She also recently announced a new duology set within the Caraval universe called Once Upon A Broken Heart set to be released on September 28, 2021. Her website has some great writing resources, which can be found here.

We hope you enjoy listening to this episode! Keep reading, and writing, and putting your voice out there!

And we look forward to continuing this journey in 2021!

Into the woods,

Fable & The Verbivore

Notes:

The Verbivore references a post from Fable’s personal instagram that discusses the opening line from different books. Here is the link to that post: https://www.instagram.com/p/CGgBIEgHucf/

  • Here are the opening lines from Caraval: “It took seven years to get the letter right.”

Stephanie Garber has written another story within the Caraval universe, it’s called Once Upon a Broken Heart and publication has been announced for Fall 2021.

Books Mentioned:

Music from: https://filmmusic.io
’Friendly day’ by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

book clubBethany Stedman