I’m so thankful for my family, for my mom and my dad and my brother and my sister and my brother-in-law. When I started writing I didn’t realize what a journey it would be for all of us. This book was an especially difficult part of it and I’m not sure how I would have gotten through it without your love, your endless encouragement, and all the times you listened when I cried. I have the best family and I love you all so much.
Sarah Barley, you are truly the fairy godmother of books. Thank you for sprinkling your magic over this story; you have helped make Legendary a better book than I could have written on my own. Thank you for your patience as I sent in draft after draft, for your enthusiasm and love for these sisters and this series, and for knowing the heart of Caraval so well. There were times I really veered off course and I’m glad I had you there to help bring me back.
Jenny Bent, you are amazing. I could fill these pages with a list of all the reasons why I’m thankful to have you as my agent. Thank you for never giving up on me, especially during the moments when I’d given up on myself.
Ida Olson, I will never stop being grateful for you and how you swooped in like a superhero to help me save this book.
To the tremendous team at Flatiron Books, I could not ask for a better home for this series. Thank you so much to everyone who worked on this book, with a very special thank-you to Amy Einhorn and Bob Miller—I’m so grateful to have you as my publishers.
To the wonderful team at Macmillan Audio, thank you so much for your endless enthusiasm and for including Legendary as a part of your list. Rebecca Soler, my incredible audiobook narrator, I’m so thankful for you and for how you’ve brought both Caraval and Legendary to life with your fantastic narration.
Another special thank-you to Patricia Cave. If you ever leave publicity I will cry. Thank you for being the first to love Jacks and for all of your wise words.
Erin Fitzsimmons, you outdid yourself with this cover. Thank you so much for bringing your magic to this book.
Speaking of magic, thank you, Kate Howard and all the delightful people at Hodder and Stoughton, for giving this series a truly fantastic home in the UK. Thank you so much, Molly Ker Hawn, for finding this home and for being a tremendous support.
I feel incredibly blessed for all my amazing foreign publishers; thank you all for putting Legendary and Caraval in the hands of readers around the world.
A huge thank-you to all of my wonderful friends! Stacey Lee, thank you for sharing your creativity with me when mine had run dry, for endless brainstorming, brilliant ideas, and for being the friend I needed. Amanda Roelofs, thank you for always being my first reader and still being my friend, despite all the messy things I’ve sent your way; this story is much happier because of you. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Liz Briggs and Abigail Wen, for reading and so generously helping me with early drafts (readers, you might want to thank Liz, too—because of her there are more kisses). Katie Nelson and Roshani Chokshi, thank you for much-needed phone calls and for dropping everything to read early pieces of this when I wasn’t sure if I was taking this story in the right direction. Kerri Maniscalco, Julie Dao, and Julie Eshbaugh—thank you for the marathon phone chats, the encouragement, and the treasure that is your friendship. To all the lovely and supportive local authors and writers, Jessica, Shannon, Val, Jenny, Kristin, Adrienne, Rose, and Joanna—I’m so thankful for the dinners and to call you all my friends.
I also want to thank all the amazing readers of this series! My heart is so full from your love and support. Thank you for your enthusiasm, your excitement, your comments, your pictures, and for picking up this book.