Scarlett and Donatella Dragna's father is a tyrant who treats them very badly. Scarlett loves Tella very much and, before she gets married, she wants to arrange a special treat for her sister; a trip to the magical game of Caraval. When invitations to the game finally arrive just before her wedding, Scarlett just wants to play and get home. She needed to be very careful what she wished for... 
 I very much liked the idea behind this novel and I enjoyed the setting of Caraval. Scarlett was a very strong character who was interesting to get to know and the story of her playing the game is a great one. Unfortunately, I just don't like novels where the strong female character swoons into the arms of a passing young man and becomes unable to function sensibly. Although Julian is undoubtedly a fine fellow, I would infinitely have preferred to see Scarlett's character being given the chance to manage on her own as she seemed perfectly capable of doing. 
 In summary, this was an enjoyable story to read but could have had so much more to it - I will be interested to see how the story continues in part 2 but it won't be top of my reading list.