Caraval Book Review // A Beautiful, Mysterious Book That’s Worth All The Hype!

Title: Caraval

Author: Stephanie Garber

Rating: 4.5 stars rounded down to 4 stars

Blurb (GR): 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.

 

Pro’s 

• Magical, Mysterious, and Intriguing Storyline – The story of Caraval gave me The Night Circus, and a(n) Alice In Wonderland feel. More so of the latter, than the previous. I loved all the suspense the author created, and it was not just a pointless story about magical circuses. There was so much magic put in the lines of the story, and I couldn’t help but fall in love with it. It was just really ENCHANTING!
• Plot-twists – This book kept on surprising me on almost no ends. This book was just unpredictable, and I loved it (this word will be popping up a lot). I was always on my toes.  AND THAT ENDING, DOE!!
• Romance The chemistry between out star-crossed lovers was undeniable from the start. I fangirled so much about Julian, and Scarlett. There were such an unlikely pair (that’s what I thought at first), but I grew to love them. The way Julian, and Scarlett felt safe in each other arms was sooo cute.

Con’s 

• Questions, questions – Even though I was wowed by the books amazingness, it left me a bit confused. I don’t want to say my questions because spoilers, but I’m sure other readers are experiencing the same.
• Really slow – The first 50 pages, were so slooow. It was when Julian, and Scarlett entered Caraval was when

Scarlett – I liked her as our MC, but she had a really bad case of paranoia. She got too worked up over little things. But I liked her intelligence, and her character development. She grew courageous over the course of the book, and stood up to her abusive father. I loved her attitude towards people  who played with her. Scarlett turned so kickass towards the end of the book, it was awesome!

Julian – I don’t know what to make of Julian. I thought that he was a good match for Scarlett, but I didn’t get a sense of who he really is. Probably, because he lied about his identity like 5,000 times throughout the book. I hope we get to know more about him in the next books.

Donatella – I’m going to say it as bluntly as possible; I hated her. I thought she was ungrateful to her older sister, Scarlett. I’m an older sister myself, so I know how it feels  how to worry after a young one, and it requires a lot of effort. Tella shrugs off Scarlett like it was nothing. I don’t know how Scarlett manages it, because I would get pissed. 

I looooved how Stephanie Garber wrote Caraval! It just flowed, and sounded wonderful.

How do you feel about Caraval? Did you like this book as much as I did? Did you read this yet? If not, do you plan on reading this soon? Was this review helpful?