Caraval Review

    Scarlett and her sister, Donatella, have never left the island they were born on, trapped by their cruel father after their mother abandoned them. Thoughts of Caraval, an interactive performance, used to help them get through the days. Now grown up, their father plans an arranged marriage for Scarlett, and she hopes that this will be the way she and her sister can escape their father. Before the wedding though, Scarlett receives an invitation to participate in Caraval. Tella and a sailor get Scarlett to go with them to the island the game will take place on, but Tella is kidnapped by Legend, the master of the game, right after their arrival. Now the only way to get Tella back is for Scarlett to play the game. It is supposed to be just that- a game, a performance. However, after a series of events, Scarlett learns that the danger is real, and she must save Tella before the five nights of Caraval are over.

    Keep in mind that everyone has their own opinion. This review is only my opinion, and you may have your own, different one. I would take into consideration what I say, but do not make a decision about the book solely based off of this review. Let's begin:

    I bought this book because I kept seeing it all over different bookstagrams and booktoks. I checked the ratings and reviews on Goodreads and Barnes and Noble and saw they were pretty solid. Plus, I know I am not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but I'm not gonna lie, the cover of this is very pretty, and it drew me in a bit more. I was not too sure if it would be for me or not based off the description, but I got a deal on the series at a store and felt a bit better with all of the recommendations, so I went for it anyways. I became pretty intrigued fairly early into reading. As I continued, I got super invested and ended up absolutely loving it. This was definitely a book that pleasantly surprised me. I mean, I read it one day, that's how good it was.

    I could understand why Scarlett dreamt so much about seeing Caraval. From the moment she stepped on the island, I was very intrigued as well. The whole game is very mysterious and magical. It really drew me in to the story because I wanted to understand the game and see how the characters fared while playing. 

    The characters themselves were also very fun to read about. The balancing dynamic between the two sisters was neat. I loved Scarlett and how strong she is. The love she has for her sister is so pure. I feel like I do not see as much focus on bonds between siblings in YA fantasy books, so the focus on that in this book was extremely refreshing and welcome. Julian was a fascinating character. He was probably the one I most enjoyed reading about because I could never tell what his true goals were or predict how he would react to something. It also helped that there were so many twists and conspiracy theories with his character. Legend, of course, is interesting just because readers know so little about him, and we cannot even tell if what we do know is true or not.

    The plot was very cool. I like the whole idea of Caraval and how everything works. All of the challenges Scarlett faces were exciting and horrible and done so well. The story did not have any boring parts, honestly. Even in the beginning, when books, especially firsts in a series, tend to be more slow and boring, this one was not. Additionally, I personally have never read anything like this before. I believe it was a very unique concept, and Stephanie Garber did an amazing job creating the idea of Caraval. The romance aspect of the plot was also VERY good.

    I mentioned this already, but the cover is so gorgeous. It is kind of simple, but it is a beautiful simple. I can certainly see people walking past this in a book store and stopping to look just because of the cover. Even the starting pages for new chapters and the pages announcing a new night in Caraval were beautiful. I appreciated the map that was included. Due to the significant difference between day and night in the book and the resulting stress about getting back to the hotel on time, it was nice to be able to see how far characters were from La Serpiente so I could better understand the tension. I also was excited to see that the author included a playlist for the different sections of the book, and I loved the false starts section. That was very interesting because I could see how different the book was at first (I am definitely glad it ended up as it did!).

    Overall, the book has an intriguing, unique plot and setting, and the characters are fascinating and fun. Similar to what happened with the Folk of the Air series, I am actually having a lot of trouble putting into words how much I enjoyed this read. I very highly recommend this book, and remember, this is coming from someone who was not sure they would like it at first. Caraval truly is spellbinding.

Rating: 5/5 stars

Author: Stephanie Garber

Publisher: Flatiron Books

# of Pages: 438 (402 if you do not count all of the extra stuff at the end)

Genre: YA, Fantasy, Romance

Series: Caraval Series (book 1)