Beware of getting swept too far away
This book was in a way a disappointment, but it was a great read! I had the wrong impression due to the hype over Caraval, but it is not overhyped.
Book Review: Caraval by Stephanie Garber
Rating:
Title & Author: Caraval by Stephanie Garber
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Release Date: January 31 2017
Series: Caraval
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Synopsis
Scarlett Dragna has never left the tiny island where she and her sister, Tella, live with their powerful, and cruel, father. Now Scarlett’s father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval—the faraway, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show—are over.
But this year, Scarlett’s long-dreamt-of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval’s mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season’s Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner.
Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. Nevertheless she becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic. And whether Caraval is real or not, Scarlett must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over or a dangerous domino effect of consequences will be set off, and her beloved sister will disappear forever.
I love Caraval by Stephanie Garber, it a great read, but I only give it four out of five hearts. The story is well written, but falls into a couple of pits I which Stephanie did had found a way to get around.
Scarlett is a stubborn girl and is determent to take care of herself and her sister with a cruel father and basically no future except for marrying a man that will take them both. I liked the developments throughout the novel and where it eventually goes.
Tella, in my eyes, did not do much actively. You mostly retroactively find out what she has done throughout the novel, but mostly during Caraval itself she is just lost.
Even though you do not see Legend all that much throughout the novel, I feel he is a douche and I feel he is worthy “evil”. But he is not as interesting as a lot of the five hearts read “evil”s.
The twist at the last quarter of the book is pretty interesting, because it gets a bit confusing at the halfway point.
I listened to the audiobook for this novel and I liked it being read to me. I had a lot of fun, also because it is read by the same narrator as The Lunar Chronicles were, which I listened to awhile ago. And the way she pronounces certain words reminded me of the other books. But I loved it anyway!
Why I do not give it five hearts is because multiple characters die, I do not have a problem with that. But what I do have a problem with is the fact that those characters come back alive, for no bloody reason! Yeah, Scarlett wished her sister back to live, but did the others have to come back?
Some people compare Caraval to The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, but I feel it is completely not comparable. Yeah, the story is about a circus/carnival too and it has magic, but it is set with only one real main character, I do not know why people talk about Tella so much, she does not do much during this novel, and The Night Circus has multiple. I also felt the stories were so different that I do not think people should compare them too much, but if you liked The Night Circus, please read Caraval, because you will probably enjoy it too!
Overall Caraval is a great read, if you can go into it with no expectations, you will fall in love with it before you have finished the first two chapters (I want to say the first real chapter, the actual first one consists of letters from Scarlett to Legend and one from Legend to Scarlett). You might feel a bit disappointed if you read it, like me, thinking is a brother to The Night Circus. But it might not be bad.
Let me know what you thought of this book!
If you have any requests for which book I should talk about next, please let me know in the comments down below.
For now, let books enrich your life!