Book Summary of Legendary Book Two of Caraval
Check out the summary of book two of the Caraval series, Legendary, that follows the story of Tella. This summary is to remind you of the main points of the book before you read my full book review. If you haven’t read the whole book, I highly recommend it to get the finer points of the book, especially the romance parts.
If you need a reminder of what happened at the end of the first book, I have a review and summary to check out.
Seven years ago
Donatella Dragna finds what looks like magic playing cards in her moms jewelry box and flips over The Aracle card with a mirror on it. Tells mother finds her and tells her Decks of Destiny like this are dangerous because they predict your future. Tella secretly keeps the Aracle card.
Isla de los Sueños
Chapters 1-2
Tella wakes up next to Dante in the forest outside Legend’s mansion and runs inside before Dante wakes up. When she runs into her sister Scarlett and Julian inside, Julian invites both of them to the next Caraval happening soon in Valenda for Empress Elaine’s birthday. Tella gets Scarlett to agree.
In her room, Tella takes out the Aracle card that always show her things that come to pass which was now showing her mother, Paloma, in a prison cell. Previously, the card had showed Scarlett crying in a ruined wedding dress until Tella set up the Caraval deal with Legend. Tella had been corresponding with ‘a friend’ who helped her write to Legend and now find her mother in exchange for Legend’s true identity.
Chapters 3-6
When Tella goes back to find the coin that was with the note from her friend, Dante finds it for her saying it’s a luckless coin. A luckless coin was made by one of the 32 Fates to keep track of whoever had it, and this coin is associated with the Prince of Hearts. The Prince of Hearts associated with unrequited love, a kiss to die for, and it’s also one of the cards Tella pulled from her mom’s Deck of Destiny seven years ago.
On the island, Tella sees the count, but Julian tells her it’s actually an actor, Armando. They agree not to tell Scarlett, so she won’t go looking for the actual count. In exchange, Tella asks Julian for Legend’s real name, but Julian tells her to try talking to Nigel, the fortune teller.
On the ship to Valenda, Tella finds Nigel who agrees to answer her questions in exchange for her rest. Nigel tells her none of the performers can tell Legend’s name because the witch who gave Legend his magic and banished the Fates forbid it. But Nigel tells her that if she wins this Caraval the first person she sees will be Legend.
Tella is so fatigued from Nigel taking her rest she stumbles into Dante’s room. Days later, she wakes up in her room with Scarlett who warns against Dante because of his well known reputation to get women and then leave them.
The Meridian Empire’s Capital City of Valenda
Chapters 7-10
When they arrive in Valenda, a courier brings Tella a note from her friend telling her he’ll meet her at the opening ball. After taking a sky carriage with a very rude aristocrat to the palace, the head servant says Tella’s name isn’t on the list of performers, so there’s no room for her.
Dante shows up and tells the servant that Tella is secretly the new fiancée of Empress Elantine’s heir. The servant finds Tella a suite in the empress’ golden tower where Tella overhears two servants discussing how the heir murdered his last fiancée and the other heirs in front of him.
The next morning, Tella receives a beautiful dress from the heir with a note saying he can’t wait to meet her at the ball. On the way to the ball, Tella is supposed to meet up with Scarlett, but Scarlett never shows up. Dante stops her to admire her dress and tell her not to go to the fated ball because the heir is actually very dangerous, but Tella thinks Dante is just jealous.
Night One of Caraval
Chapters 11-13
When Dante and Tella arrive at the ball, she’s in awe of the elaborate performance and sees a lot of Legend’s actors she knows dressed as the Fates. Tella finds she’s liking Dante’s company even though he’s pretty cocky when they’re interrupted by the heir. The heir turns out to be the rude aristocrat from the carriage Tella met, and he introduced himself as Jacks.
Jacks seems cold and freightening to Tella now, and Dante growls at him as he pulls Tella away. Then, Jacks reveals he’s the friend sending her letters, and he needs her to continue pretending to be his fiancée during Caraval to keep his reputation in addition to Legend’s identity.
Tella still finds him cold but agrees to pretend with him in exchange for seeing her mother. As they’re dancing, Jacks kisses Tella, and Tella realizes it’s a kiss to die for while she also notices that he doesn’t have a heartbeat. She puts together that Jacks is actually the Fate, the Prince of Hearts.
Chapters 14-15
As Jacks makes time stop for everyone else, Tella knows Jacks’ kiss is fatal to everyone but his true love, so he tells her that she’ll die unless she delivers Legend to him. As time resumes, Jacks announces to everyone that they’re engaged, and Dante looks furious. On the carriage ride home, Jacks reveals that Tella’s mom is trapped inside one of the cards of Destiny, which he gives her, like the rest of the Fates and where he used to be trapped.
Chapters 16-17
After receiving a note on her door from Jacks, Tella goes to a dress fitting with a seamstress, but Dante is waiting for her. Dante knows Jacks is the Prince of Hearts and tries to get Tella to reveal what Jacks wants from her. Because Jacks has already threatened Tella about it, she won’t tell Dante even though he seems genuinely concerned for her.
Back in her room, Scarlett is there waiting for her and asks about the engagement and warning Tella to remember that Caraval is not real. Scarlett is also mad because she saw Armando and knows the truth, but Tella can’t tell Scarlett the whole truth. Then, Scarlett says she got into the room because she accidentally found the secret tunnels under the castle that she’ll show Tella when Tella has the time.
Night Two of Caraval
Chapters 18-20
Based on the first clue from the ball, Tella heads to the Temple District of the city and wanders around until she sees Julian acting as a merchant. Then, she runs into Dante guarding a door, but Tella accuses him of following her even though he says he’s trying to help her. He also tells her that the witch who trapped the Fates took half their power and gave some of that power to Legend. Dante gives her a pair of gloves with hidden razors in them before he hurries away.
After finding the secret entrance to the Church of Legend, Tella finds herself in front of Armando, the supposed starter of the church, who has her pull four cards from the Deck of Destiny. Tella flips the Prince of Hearts, the Maiden Death (symbolizing losing someone she loves), the Shattered Crown (symbolizing the impossible choice between two equally difficult choices), and the Lady Prisoner (symbolizing an innocent woman being caged in the place of someone she deeply loved). Then, Armando shows her the entrance to a secret tunnel that will lead to the next clue.
Chapter 21
As Tella walks down the tunnels, she starts to think that maybe Caraval is real this time, and the Fates really are after Legend for his power. Tella comes to a door that she hears Julian and Scarlett arguing behind and overhears Julian say he’s Legend’s brother. When Julian leaves, Tella comes in to comfort Scarlett who eventually gives her the next clue from Julian.
They discuss that maybe Julian, Dante, or one of the actors they know is still Legend, but can’t be sure about the true identity of Legend.
Night Three of Caraval
Chapters 22-24
Following the next clue to a shop that makes wanted posters, Tella runs into Aiko, Legend’s performer, inside, and she sees a wanted poster with a picture of her mother saying her name is actually Paradise the Lost, the thief, kidnapper, and murderer. Aiko ends up taking Tella’s last memory of her mother in exchange for telling her that Paradise used to be the greatest criminal in Valenda until she stole a cursed Deck of Destiny and disappeared.
Chapters 25-26
After hearing from a young woman that Scarlett went to Jacks’ castle, Tella gets cornered by three people dressed as the Undead Queen and her Handmaidens outside the castle. They start attacking her saying that they need her mother’s deck of cards Tella is giving to Legend, and Tella realizes this is the magical object to find to win Caraval. As Tella fights them off with the razor gloves from Dante, they disappear and reappear, making Tella realize they’re the real Fates.
The Fates break Tella’s wrist in the fight, but she finally beats them when Dante finds her. As Dante carries her away to get healed, Tella admits she only kissed Jacks to make Dante jealous, and Dante admits that it worked and promises to never leave her again. While going in and out of consciousness, Tella realizes she’s drinking blood as she hears Julian and Dante talking about healing her, and Dante calls Julian ‘brother’.
Chapters 27-28
Waking in her room, Jacks is there and tells Tella that him and the other Fates aren’t free yet even though they’re out of the cards. He says the only way out of the cards is for a human to willingly take their place or an immortal with great power must break the curse on all the cards. Then, Scarlett comes to see her, and Jacks tells both of them that he and Tella are having dinner with the Empress tonight, putting Caraval on hold.
What Should Have Been Night Four of Caraval
Chapters 29-30
On the way to dinner, Jacks reminds Tella they need to be believably in love because Elantine will not give her throne to him until he has someone to share it with. At the dinner, Elantine is an extremely friendly older lady that seems to love Jacks and Tella. Elantine comments that Tella’s ring from her mother looks like a key to the Temple of the Stars.
For the entertainment, Legends actor put on a play of the Fates trapping people in cards, and Tella learns that a person can take someone else’s place in a card by writing their name on the card. Then, Tella thinks Jacks plan to free her mother by freeing all the Fates trapped in the deck, and Jacks admits he wants Legend to drink his blood for his power. When Jacks steps out for a minute, Elantine asks what Jacks is holding over Tella, and she admits Jacks has her mom prisoner.
Night Five of Caraval
Chapters 31-32
As Tella approaches the Temple of the Stars dressed as an acolyte, Dante is waiting for her also dressed as an acolyte with no shirt on. Tella is admiring his tattoos when he says they’re to remind him who he truly is during the games. When they enter the temple, the attendant, Theron, tells Tella her ring opens one of the vaults below but the color of the ring shows it’s cursed until Tella pays off her mother’s debt.
When Tella spills a drop of blood with the ring, she sees a vision of her mother promising her second born daughter to the temple in exchange for them holding the deck and another magic object in their vaults. Before she can see the ending, Tella runs away so upset and ends up lost when she tries to take a cloak from a vendor. The vendor catches her and tries to strangle her before Dante throws him off and carries Tella away.
Chapters 33-34
After Dante carries Tella to an abandoned ruin of a courtyard, Dante tells Tella how his mother left him with a group of traveling performers when he was a baby. After talking, they share some passionate kissing. And he admits that this and his feelings for Tella are very real and not part of the game.
Then, Tella admits the whole truth about Jacks, her mother, the desperate bargain, and her impending death if she doesn’t win to Dante. While he seems furious at Jacks, he tells Tella to trust him to fix everything.
Chapters 35-36
Outside the palace, Tella runs into Jacks and attacks him before realizing he has a heartbeat when she touches him. Tella suddenly realizes she must be his true love and her curse from the kiss will no longer kill her. In a letter at her door, Elantine tells Tella that she suspects her mother is Paradise and offers to help find her if she can. For Elantine’s Day tonight, everyone goes in costume as a Fate, but Tella dresses as The Lost Heir, the rumored lost child of Elantine.
The Last Night of Caraval
Chapters 37-38
Tella goes to see Elantine who now looks much older, and Elantine admits Legend has been helping her appear healthy in front of Jacks. She also admits to Tella that the rumors about her heir are true, and the heir is now back somewhere. Suddenly, Tella feels the tower shake and her ring change color, so she knows Dante must have found a way around the debt.
At the temple, Theron tells Tella that if Dante doesn’t honor his deal then he’ll die as they go down to the vault. Inside is full of treasures, but Tella only removes the Deck. She knows she’s now won Caraval.
Chapter 39
As she races out of the temple, Dante is there waiting for her, and, remembering what Nigel said, knows for sure that Dante is Legend. He doesn’t seem to care about the deck as he kisses Tella and apologizes for setting up the game without knowing her mother is trapped in the deck because he had planned to destroy it to get rid of the Fates. Suddenly, Tella has the idea to switch places with her mom, so Tella writes her name in blood on the card as Dante screams at her not to.
Chapters 40-41
After Tella disappears into the card, Legend uses his magic to break the curse on the cards releasing all the Fates and Tella. Tella appears back in Legend’s arms, but after kissing her again, he says he has to leave suddenly, leaving Tella with a broken heart.
Chapter 42
While Tella is sitting on the steps unable to move, Jacks shows up and tells her all the Fates and her mother won’t wake up for weeks because the cards made them so weak. Jacks carries her back to the palace where they find Scarlett and Julian. Jacks leaves promising to find their mother as his end of the deal, and then Tella admits to Scarlett she’s in love with Legend.
Elantine’s Day
Chapters 43-Epilogue
Jacks brings their mother, Paloma, back, but she still won’t wake up. While Tella is sitting next to her in Scarlett’s room, Tella finds a letter from the count, and Scarlett admits she’s giving him a chance along with Julian another chance. Then, they hear mourning bells signaling Elantine has died.
They hear from the servants that Elantine had officially recognized her lost heir, and they were going to appear on the balcony. Tella watches as Legend steps out. The next night, her birthday, Tella receives a rose and a note from Legend saying he’s waiting for her whenever she wants to collect her prize for winning Caraval.
Read The Book Review
Now that you’re reminded of the main plot points of the book, read the full review. If you liked this one or any of Stephanie Garber’s books, there’s other recommendations in the review for what to read next.
Continue the magical world of Caraval with the last book in the series, Finale. I have a summary and review of the final book to check out.
