Caraval

I enjoyed this series. I felt like the premise was original. It’s a page turner with unexpected twists.

All right, I really enjoyed that.

The complex world built by Stephanie Garber in Caraval is nothing short from impressive. And the writing and plotting! To come up with such detail-oriented scenes and then come back to them again without any misstep is quite a talent. I can safely say though, what I was most impressed was that, as the layers are shown and questions are answers, we are left with that sense of awe and joy, but also with much more questions than when we started… because it’s what is in the background, in the behind-the-scenes that contains the deepest mystery. What happens upfront? That’s for show 😉

In other words, I’m super happy the entire series has been released ’cause I can’t imagine having to wait a year for the next sequel haha

Although this was a fun read and I enjoyed most if it, my dislikes run so deep and are so integral to storytelling that I feel totally ambivalent about this book. I loved Stephanie Garber’s emotive style and descriptive passages, but at times it did become too much, eliciting a roll of my eyes every so often.

What bothered me most, though, was the hero rejecting the call to action for three quarters of the book. I am well aware this is a trope of the hero’s journey, but Scarlett’s refusal to accept her call to adventure until page 280 made it incredibly hard for me to become properly involved in the story. It just didn’t drag me in because she was fighting her own adventure so much.

I also found a lot of the characters very flat. The father, for example isn’t even two-dimensional. He’s one-dimensional. Just evil. There is no nuance. He’s made out to be a brute because that is who/what he is. No questions asked. And no attempt is made to go deeper or to even remotely try looking at the world from his perspective. Scarlett points out there was a change in his behaviour after her mother left, but she makes no attempt to investigate (even from her own perspective) what that may have meant to him. Another flat character is the love interest, Julian. He is so obviously “the perfect man” throughout the book. His mysterious and manipulative behaviour felt contrived and insincere.

Lastly, I really disliked the ending. I have dedicated an entire blog post to why this type of ending bothers me, so I’m not going to go into detail, all I’ll say is that it is so sweet it makes me sick. There was a great opportunity to create a good and memorable bitter-sweet ending, but Garber chose the sickly sweet, soppy ending instead. Most disappointing.

This is the story of Scarlett and her sister Tella. They have never left their tiny island where they live with their father. Their father is cruel, and the girls would do anything to escape.

Scarlett’s whole life, she has dreamed of going to Caraval. It is a once a year show where the audience particiaptes, and it is on an island that is not her own. Now Scarlett is grown up, and about to enter an arranged marriage to a man she has never met. She feels she will never have a chance to see Caraval now.

By chance, an invitation to Caraval arrives for Scarlett and her sister. A stranger – a sailor – agrees to take them there, if he can have the third ticket that arrived with Scarlett’s letter (the ticket is for Scarlett’s fiance). Scarlett agrees, and she and Tella take off without telling their father where they are going. When they arrive on the Caraval island, Tella is kidnapped by Legend – the leader or Caraval. It is quickly revealed that finding Tella – by anyone playing the game – will be the winner of this year’s event. And the winner gets…a wish.

Scarlett has only a few days to find her sister, and get back to her island so she can be married. She is told that the game is just that – just an illusion and nothing is real. But Scarlett quickly finds that this isn’t always true. She is quickly wrapped up in the heartbreak and magic that is Caraval as she races to find her sister.

I thought this book was fine. I got swept up in the bookstagram talk about Caraval, and wanted to see what the hype was about. I should have left it alone. The book wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great. Again – this is just my opinion, but I just didn’t like it. If you are thinking that this is like The Night Circus – it is not. This book had a lot that just wasn’t well developed. You don’t really like any of the characters. Scarlett talks about how Tella is her one reason for living, yet you barely get a back story on the two of them. Nothing that would make you think their bond is amazing. Tella is barely in the book. The male characters make very little sense, and their plot lines are all over the place. The love triangle is silly. And Caraval itself? You learn so little about the actual game, and you don’t get a good picture in your head of what it even looks like. Scarlett spends as much time in the hotel in her room as anywhere else.

Sigh. Ah well. It is a really easy read. If you are looking for true fluff with very little depth, then this book will be for you. I had originally put that I will be reading the second book this summer, but I will not. I am glad I only borrowed it from the library and didn’t buy it.

My complete attention was caught right after reading the first sentence, and I love when authors do this because it makes the story more interesting. It makes it seem as though the boring aspects of a story have been skipped. My brother dislikes books because of all of the descriptions and a beginning that isn’t captivating because it starts “too early”. I actually think he would enjoy this book since there are so many mysteries and nothing is truly as it seems.

The book wasn’t overly descriptive and provided just the right amount for me to see what Garber wanted me to see, but also allowed room for my imagination to take hold, too.
I think that the character development was great, and I am glad to see the characters develop into who they become at the end.

By the end of the book, many questions were answered, but there were still a handful left unanswered, and more questions appeared. This was a very enjoyable read and I was honestly very worried that this book was going to turn out to be overhyped. I was in a slight reading slump before reading this, and it snapped me right out of it.

There was never a moment where I was bored of the book, and I don’t recall ever reading parts in the book where the characters actually got a break to allow it to be boring. THIS is what I think makes a great read. If I could, I would have stayed up all night finishing the book. I couldn’t take my mind off of it, I was so enveloped in the story and the characters.

This book has easily become one of my favorites.

A must read for anyone who loves fantasy

Scarlett and Donatella Dragna have lived their entire lives in fear from their abusive father. But, everything changes when Scarlett gets invited to the magical and illusive world of Caraval. Full of mystery, romance, thrills, and twisted games, Scarlett embarks on a journey to seal her and her sister’s fate. Will Scarlett solve the mystery of Caraval in time to save her sister and herself, or will she fall into the traps of Caraval and it’s creator, Legend?

Magic realism! Carefully don’t get lost in it!

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this one, but it was amazing! I need to read the rest of the series ASAP!

This is the first book in the Caraval Trilogy, a gloriously detailed fantasy that may have been inspired by The Night Circus meets Mardi Gras, because the magical ‘carnival’ is only at night, and lasts a limited number of nights before it disappears and the next year will be held somewhere else.

The tale is of two daughters–the older one responsible, loyal, and hopeful. Hopeful and believing that the marriage her hard, cruel father arranged for her could be a good one because her fiancé sounds kind in the letters he sends her.

The younger one, wild, stays out all night with boys. Is disobedient and reckless.

When younger runs off to Caraval, older follows in order to save and protect her, and Things Happen.

Caraval is the oldest daughter’s story and the second book, Legendary is the younger daughter’s story but they are both twisted around in both books. And now that I have finished Legendary, I am salivating, waiting for Finalé, which will be out later this year!