Book Review: Legendary by Stephanie Garber

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Legendary continues the story of Scarlett and Tella, as this time Tella competes in another of Legend’s games in order to settle a debt. Win, and she could end Caraval forever. But lose, she could end her own life instead.

Intriguing premise. I would advice reading Caraval before approaching this as it starts right where Caraval finishes, and alludes to a lot of the plot from the previous novel and I found I’d forgotten a lot of the tale. That said, I thought this did a good job of building on the mysteries surrounding Caraval and expanded the known mythology well and in a cohesive way. The magical system and religions build on what we already know about Legend and his magic and still manage to describe enough without getting me confused, yet aching for more. It was well done.

The rest of the world building is also good and wonderfully descriptive. I could imagine myself within Meridia walking the streets of the spice district, or exploring the forgotten corners of the Fallen Star temple. I’m hoping that the finished edition will again feature a map, much like Caraval did, as this would be a great way to visualise the distinct districts.

The plot is interesting, and had me wanting to read on until the end. I was actively looking forward to finding out the answers to the game and the mysteries Tella becomes embroiled in, and it’s built up well over the course of the book. If anything, as with the previous book, the game itself seemed to be a little bit too ‘easy’. The threat of death is easily overcome, without any clear answer, and the conclusion was easily reached and not difficult to work out for both the reader and Tella with a ‘Deus ex Machina’ feel about it.

Tella takes over as main character here, a role her sister Scarlett plays in the first instalment. I would say Tella is definitely more charismatic than Scarlett - she’s got a bit more spark, independence and ingenuity. She’s more willing to fight (sometimes physically) for what she wants, and is more selfish than Scarlett’s more ‘perfect’ persona. The only issue I had with her character was the repeated statements declaring she’d never fall in love, and then immediately falling in love with a man she kisses once. For this reason alone, I wasn’t a massive fan of her relationship with Dante, as I found Tella relies too heavily on him for support when he’s around.

The secondary characters are also interesting and enigmatic as you’re never quite sure if they’re part of Legend’s game or not. The introduction of the Fates this time added another level of intrigue and threat that pushed this above Caraval in terms of tension. I really liked their backstory too, and hope it’s expanded on in further novels. In particular I liked the introduction of Jacks and the sort of love triangle that develops. He’s a deeply charismatic character, and carries a lot of the scenes where he’s present. His relationship with Tella is infinitely more original and interesting than the one she shares with Dante.

I wasn’t keen on the writing style. Some phrases used just seem to be there for added flowery effect without making any sense. I want writing that excites me, not confuse me. Good descriptions and less flowery writing will get you a long way. I also found some phrases rather clunky and awkward, such as the one description of Dante by Julian that unravels a certain mystery pertaining to the game that could have been executed better.

Overall, this was better than Caraval in its originality, and has kept me interested enough to continue with the series if there are any more to come. The writing just needs to be a little bit more refined, and this has the potential to really shine.

 - 4 stars