Synopsis:
Set after Stephanie Garber’s #1 New York Times bestselling Caraval series, Spectacular is a delightful novella that will take readers on the ultimate holiday adventure, full of clockwork boys, poisoned candy, impish snow globes, merriment, and-if Tella gets her way-love.
Complete with gorgeous illustrations, this is the perfect edition for collectors, readers, dreamers, and lovers of holiday magic.
Snowflakes are falling.
Invitations are arriving.
And holiday magic is swirling in the Capital City of the Meridian Empire.
It’s Great Holiday Eve Eve. Scarlett Dragna is planning a spectacular Holiday celebration for the city.
Donatella is searching for the perfect gift. Julian is looking ridiculously handsome in green.
And Legend . . .
Well, sadly Legend is not a fan of the Great Holiday. Tella is hoping her perfect gift will change his mind. Unfortunately, she hasn’t found this perfect gift just yet. But it is Great Holiday Eve Eve . . . surely there’s some holiday magic swirling around.
Welcome, welcome back to the world of Caraval, where even holidays are not as they seem.
Review:
Spectacular was a wonderfully festive read, but it’s probably my least favourite Stephanie Garber book to date. Without giving away too much of the story, there’s a section that’s a bit weird with consent and the illustrations make this book seem more mature than it’s being marketed as.
Although saying that, the illustrations are gorgeous. I won’t lie. This book was an instant buy for me, meaning I didn’t read the synopsis, so I didn’t know it was illustrated. I’m not sure why this is the only book in the series with illustrations, it’s a weird choice considering the consent part I mentioned above, but I now wish the entire Caraval series was illustrated.
The art style of the illustrations is stunning. The portrait of Scarlet and Julian is by far my favourite in the entire book. I’m not the type of reader that looks up fan art so seeing them visually realised in this book was wonderful.
No series has ever felt as magical as Caraval for me. Being back in this world, even for a short 100 pages, has been incredible. I love Once Upon a Broken Heart, I think that series is better written, but it’s not quite as fantastical as Caraval.
Story-wise I wouldn’t rate this book very highly, my generous rating comes from how Stephanie Garber is able to infuse magic into every description. Visiting the toy shop was some of the most stunning prose I have ever read.
I don’t understand the need for the Tella and Legend plot though. I would have much preferred Spectacular take place during the Great Holiday Eve celebration with little to no conflict. Just imagining how this would have been described gives me chills, but no, we got a Tella Legend story that was entirely questionable.
I’m not sure whether I would recommend Spectacular or not. The novella starts out wonderfully festive and the illustrations are gorgeous but the story is a little too weird for me.
Check out Young Creative Press on all socials
You can also check out my StoryGraph here
Like this post? Why not read this one too: The Best Of: Festive Audiobooks #3