Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Summary of Caraval:

A legendary competition.
A mesmerizing romance.
An unbreakable bond
between two sisters.

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.

Welcome, welcome to Caraval . . . beware of getting swept too far away.

Length:

432 Pages

Reading Speed:

5 hours and 30 minutes

My Opinion of Caraval:

I don’t know what sub-genre of Fantasy this is, but whatever it is, I want more and I want it now.

Plot:

Maybe it’s because I haven’t read many books that revolve around a game and figuring out how to process through it but this idea was so new to me and I loved it.

There was a purpose, a destination, steps and most of all, there was excitement.

This is a game that you have to solve one by one. I loved it. Even though Scarlett is deeply motivated to find her sister, she can’t just jump ahead. It forced her to slow down and think. She wasn’t as arrogant in thinking asking for her sister back would be the answer. No, she knew she was being put through this for a reason.

And no spoilers, but it was a damn good reason.

Writing Style:

What I most enjoyed about this book was the pace. This entire thing took place in a matter of days, yet the author really stretched those days to their full capacity. The pace was fast, but only because Scarlett herself was fast-driven to find her sister. Time was of the essence and she had to get to her before the others. There were scenes where I felt as though I was right there with her. Trying to escape or fight or solve the riddle alongside her. That feeling I owe the author for describing it accurately and immersively.

 Side Characters:

Okay, here is where it goes a bit downhill.

Way too one-sided. I mean Tella couldn’t have been using more than 2 brain cells in this entire book. All she cared about was leaving her father and going to Caraval. It was very disappointing. I feel like we needed to give her more attention. Mainly because in order for us to understand Scarlett’s love for her, we needed to love her ourselves. That was just not the case.

The father is also too one-sided. He’s the villain. That’s it. He will do anything and everything for his own arrogance. He has no boundaries and no true tragic backstory. He is simply evil and we should be glad if she gets away from him. I don’t like villains that simply exist to put a wrinkle in the hero’s plans.

 Main Characters:

Julian was… flat. I mean, this was a romance book alongside the magic and fantasy and as far as romance, I didn’t see it. He wasn’t as much a mystery as would have been desired. The writer went a bit overboard with the foreshadowing. He could have been… more. Just more. Like I feel as if the author was hinting at his character instead of showing it.

Which is the opposite of what she did to Scarlett. Scarlett was more described as smart than she was actually shown as smart. Multiple times I had figured out the riddle or the issue and it would take her chapter until she got it, if she ever did. The only redeemable quality she had, was caring about her sister. Yes, she got distracted by Caraval but her eyes remained on the price. It didn’t matter that going there was all she wanted. Her sister was all she needed.

Recommendation for Carval:

Despite what I’ve written about the characters, I enjoyed reading this book a lot. I would recommend this to anyone who is a fan of mystery and magic. The ones whose favorite Harry Potter movie is the Goblet of Fire.