Caraval (Caraval #1) by Stephanie Garber REVIEW

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

Rating: 3.5/5

 

Okay, so I’ve heard so so much about this book and now that the finale is coming out next year, I decided to pick it up and give it a try! I know I rated it kind of low, but I still liked it… it just wasn’t what I expected.

 

So this book is about a girl named Scarlett who desperately wants to visit Caraval run by a man named Legend. She lives with her sister Tella and her father, the Governor. And this is her last chance to go see the magic happen before she gets married to someone she has never met. So the two sisters sneak awy to go to Caraval after Legend invites them.

 

In the beginning, I was just so confused—wait, actually I was confused throughout the book—and that’s what made me keep reading. I just wanted to know how it would end and what was real and what wasn’t! Before the game begins, it’s repeated twice that everything is not as it seems. The reader and the characters are warned to not get too caught up in the fantasy. But it was hard not to get lost. There was just so much chaos and magic that honestly, I was finding it very hard to keep up! It was fun to read about the magic! And that’s what I enjoyed about the book!

 

I liked the idea of the book. And the way it was written, I couldn’t stop reading no matter how confused and lost I felt. I just had to figure out the ending! BUT… I didn’t like the characters. I just found Scarletta bit flat (though I did appreciate how much she cared for her sister, I found her arc to be uninteresting. I just wanted to know what was happening… I didn’t really care about the characters at all.

 

I found Tella to be really annoying, even though she was barely in the book. And Julian was just… I don’t even know. He frustrated me. And the romance element of thisbook just really didn’t feel romantic at all. I just didn’t connect with the characters, and my enjoyment of books is heavily reliant on characters.

 

However, I DID enjoy the twists and turns and not knowing what in the world was happening. (Evenw hen the story was wrapping up and I was supposed to know what was going on I still found myself shocked and confused. It was a real mind eff, if you know what I mean.

 

If you enjoy mystery and magic, plot driven stories, being really confused, and don’t mind overall flat characters, this book is for you! I’m still going to read Legendary eventually because I do want to know the story… I’m just remaining hopeful that the characters will be more developed and overall better in the books to come!