Reviews with content warning for Suicide - Caraval

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Caraval by Stephanie Garber

350 reviews

bjehbjeh's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Plottwist after plottwist and at the end of the book you’re still not sure what’s true or not. Only the main character has been honest about herself and her intentions. The others are all part of a big game. Frustrating but bittersweet.

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muff1n_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

July/24/2024

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

First i would like to say I LOVE THAT HE CALLS HER "CRIMSON"❤

And can i just say the way stephanie writes is so beautiful i LOVE the way she explained stuff with the colours and feelings 😍 AHHHWKBEJSNWBEH i love it soo much

Overall its a really good book about sisters, freedom and falling in love for the first time and it all takes place in a "everything is not what it seems"/wonderland type world *chefs kiss*

(I read it right after heartless by marissa meyer and 👏IT👏KEPT👏THE👏VIBES👏GOING👏
Caraval was just what i needed im in LOVE with the crazy worlds these books gave me)

There were so many plot twists they were all done so well i can say a audibly gasped multiple times lol it was fantastic

This whole book was a roller coster man so many plot twists and gosh did i enjoy every single tiny minute of it

This is one of the twists that blew my mind it came out of nowhere i stared at a wall for a long time

*Ahem*

THE HECK HE DIES WHO WAS GOING TO TELL ME THAT!!! WTFRICK

"julian!" Scarlett cried, pushing harder against his chest as blood soaked through the cape onto her hands. "I dont care if you lied. If you dont die, i'll forgive you for everything."

Julian's eyes shut, as if he didn't hear her

"Julian, please keep fighting. You've been fighting this whole game, dont stop now."

Slowly his eyes lifted. For a moment it looked as if he was coming back to her. "I lied about how i got bashed in the head," he mumbled " i wanted to get your earrings back. But the man was stronger than he looked. . . . I got into a little trouble. But it was worth it to see your face. . . ." A ghost of a smile moved up his lips " i should have stayed away from you . . . But i really wanted you to succeed. . . . I wanted to -"

Julian's head fell back.

"No!"
Beneath her hands, scarlet felt his chest fall a final time. "Julian. Julian. Julian!" She pressed her hands to his heart but nothing moved.

Scarlet didn't know how many times she repeted his name. She said it like a prayer. A plea. A whisper. A good-bye.
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

What the heck did i do to deserve that i was NOT prepared for that

I relly hated their dad he was really annoying and he has serious issues

Chapter 28
Ahhhh when she FINNALY realizes she loves him and he loves her❤❤
And they kiss *melts into a puddle of awe*😍

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

✨Fave quotes✨

●She imagined loving him would feel like falling in love with darkness, frightening and consuming yet utterly beautiful when the stars came out.
-Scarlett about julian

○She remembered thinking falling for him would be like falling in love with darkness, but now she imagined he was more like a starry night: the constellations were always there, constant, magnificent guides against the ever-present black.
-Scarlett about julian

●The boy who’d saved her from drowning in more ways than one
-Scarlett about julian

○"I forgive you," she whispered.
-Scar to Julian

●"Welcome, welcome to Caraval! The grandest show on land or by sea. Inside you’ll experience more wonders than most people see in a lifetime. You can sip magic from a cup and buy dreams in a bottle. But before you fully enter into our world, you must remember it’s all a game. What happens beyond this gate may frighten or excite you, but don’t let any of it trick you. We will try to convince you it’s real, but all of it is a performance. A world built of make-believe. So while we want you to get swept away, be careful of being swept too far away. Dreams that come true can be beautiful, but they can also turn into nightmares when people won’t wake up."
-Jovan

○"I love you Tella."
"I know you do." Tella looked up with an indescribably tender expression. "I wouldn't be here if you didn't."
-Scar and Tella

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Idk what else to say its 3 am and im basicly sleeping lol

Only this that i hate is ITS A CLIFHANGER (not that im entirely upset abt that now i have an exscuce to get more books)
BUT i am REALLY looking forward to reading book 2 "legandary" 😁and i am excited to see where that takes me

With that said

I hope you enjoy/enjoyed this book as much as i do

Happy reading✨
-Muffin❤

Content Warnings

serenite's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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rochelleisreading's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

5.0

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nuin_giliath's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Overall, this had a pretty intriguing premise and decent execution. I loved the idea of having a week-long "game" where attendees had to search for clues within a kind of magical theme park. There's just so much potential there. Some of the marks hit - such as the dress that altered itself according to the wearer's mood or the idea of selling secrets/years of life to gain information. The writing was pretty good too - not anything spectacular but solid for what this is. I really liked how the author used colors to represent moods or situations. While kind of cheesy at times, I thought it actually worked for a YA novel. The descriptions of the various sights and attractions of Caraval made me wish I could experience it for myself.

My biggest issue and downside of this book was Scarlett. *sigh* She is definitely one of the most boring protagonists I've ever encountered. And the fact that we are stuck in her head 24/7 meant there was no reprieve of her constant distress and whining. Her obsession of finding and "saving" her sister so they could leave was so exhausting. Usually in a fantasy like this, where one character is reluctant to be mesmerized by the magic around them, they usually give in by the 50% mark. Scarlett? Ha! Now I didn't expect her to simply toss Tella aside, but I would have liked for her to interact more with what Caraval offered and engage in gameplay instead of stumbling into things. There were several characters - such as Dante, Aiko, and Caspar - that seemed somewhat wasted given that their time in the story was so short. We learn almost nothing about them and that's not my complaint because Scarlett doesn't really want to know anything about them and since we're stuck in her head/perspective, we don't. I get her protectiveness, especially given the upbringing that she and Tella had, but I wanted to see some actual growth from her and it never came.

Other parts that were just kind of "meh"... the romance. There were maybe one or two moments that I actually enjoyed between the romantic leads. Other than that, I didn't care for it. I also didn't particularly care for the "finale" with the multiple fake-outs. Even in the scenes that were supposed to be dramatic/tragic, the severity of what had happened was never emphasized so I wasn't impacted when the reveal showed up and everything was made better. I get the whole "It's just a game" tagline, but when the stakes aren't really present, it's hard for me to become emotionally involved when something "terrible" happens.

So yeah... it was a decent read. I don't regret picking it up and based on the reviews of later books, it sounds like the author/story do improve (and include less Scarlett 🙌) so I look forward to that.

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aysha_blake's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

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em_cam's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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cherlin's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

⋆⭒˚｡⋆ 3/5 stars.

"He's never stared at her like this before. Sometimes he gazed at her as if he wanted to be her undoing, but just then it was as if he wanted her to undo him."

this was alright. super easy to read, difficult to put down but once it’s put down, it was equally as difficult to pick back up again 😪

───── ⑅ my pros ⑅ ─────
☾ liked the world most of the time. seemed beautiful and equally f*cked up in my head
☾ actually ate that romance the up even though at times it seemed so random
☾ julian. hey julian. wink.

───── ⑅ my cons ⑅ ─────
☾ father doesn’t get what he deserves.
☾ character deaths happen but there is no real shock. i didn’t care for anyone except one lol
☾ “Every touch created colors she had never seen. Colors as soft as velvet and as sharp as sparks that turned into stars.” huh. “He tasted like midnight and wind, and shades of rich brown and light blue. Colors that made her feel safe and guarded.” why are we referencing colors as metaphors every 5 seconds please we’re kissing not drawing
☾ scarlett was so dumb sorry
☾ the magic system is never properly explained at all. lazy. everything is explained away with the word "magic" but we don't know where this magic comes from or what price it has. how is magic this accessible when at the start, scarlett believes that it's all just a story? you get what i mean.

───── ⑅ the protagonists ⑅ ─────
Scarlett Dragna is our elsa. she wants to marry some random man because she wants safety. boom, she ends up in caraval because of her sister. the entire time she was so stupidly stubborn that i just didn’t know what to think because wtf? people would literally SPOON-FEED her good advice and she would completely ignore it because…because…my sister!!! where is my sister??? she's a hypocrite too because b*tch what do you mean "how could you fall in love with somebody after 5 days of knowing them???" after you just did the same exact thing AND you were about to marry a man you'd never seen before? ohhh but he seems nice in his letters! HAHA

Donatella Dragna is basically our anna. she wants adventure! to have fun! she wants to be free! she’s smarter than she lets on, though we don’t really see much of that because all we ever see is her acting all cool and ooo silly and ooo i'm having so much fun with men!!! i think i’ll like her point of view a lot more though. maybe. emphasis on maybe. tella was crazy for putting them through all of that and there were other ways to go about it lol

Julian Santos is our husband. what are his flaws? couldn’t tell you. i meannnn, look at him. look. my only gripe with is that we just don't know anything about him at all. i understand we're not really supposed to, but i feel like there's just not much going on with the character. i'd say that's why i just don't have anything bad to say about him.

all in all, caraval was a fun read. the world could have honestly been explored a little better, it's high fantasy with a magical carnival game. that is a difficult thing to write well, and it wasn't done very well here. we have a world, it has a map, but the entire world is never really described. everything we think is real is actually fake? i don't know, i just didn't really like that. i think this has the potential to get better assuming the author improves her writing and stops with those damn metaphors, but honestly i very nearly lost my damn mind. interesting premise, interesting enough world, bad execution.

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_mnm_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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mj_86's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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