Review Detail

With a comp like Caraval mees One Dark Window, I was instantly sold.

A Stage Set for Villains by Shannon J. Spann is a YA fantasy novel that's set in a world where the Gods are dead, and in their place are the Players who think the entire world is their stage. The performers of the Playhouse are as worshipped as they are feared, their enchanting shows bending hearts, minds, and even reality itself. Vicious, godlike, lethal. Eighteen-year-old Riven Hesper knows the dangers better than anyone, after her own encounter with a Player resulted in a curse that is slowly killing her. When the Playhouse announces the spectacle of a lifetime—a chance for one mortal to steal a Player’s immortality—Riven sees her last chance to live. Desperate for answers, she infiltrates the competition. There, she finds Jude, the Playhouse’s brilliant, merciless Lead Player, whose charm is as dangerous as his Craft, and strikes a deadly bargain to save her life.
But with time running out and the Playhouse’s secrets unraveling into a disturbing picture, Riven faces a grim possibility: she might not be the hero of her story after all. In fact, she may be the villain. ecause the Playhouse doesn’t just tell stories. It rewrites them. And Riven’s might end in blood.

Okay, okay, this book was a rollercoaster of emotions. Both good and bad. For one, I really liked this book in that it lives up to the concept of it being Caraval meets One Dark Window. In that we get the carnival-ness of Caraval but not so much the dark fantasy of One Dark Window, or at least not the full darkness Gillig presents. Instead A Stage Set for Villains is a nice middle ground between YA and Adult, with it's use of a unsettling narrative and younger characters. Which I ultimately appreciated.

One thing I had a problem with A Stage Set for Villains, was the writing style. I found some descriptive paragraphs repetitive, while others helped propel the story forward. I also found this to impact the overall pacing of the novel, as it made some of the more action-driven sections falter behind.

Regardless, A Stage Set for Villains is a perfect novel for anyone looking to explore the darker side of YA. And for those impatiently waiting for Garber's The Mirror of Infinite Endings.