Reviews with content warning for Torture - Caraval

Scarlett and her sister Tella escape their abusive father and plunge into the magical game of Caraval…but when Tella goes missing, Scarlett soon learns everything is not as it seems.

This book took me AGES to read for reasons that are not remotely its fault, so the buddy read very much left me behind (and I can’t blame them). That said, I really enjoyed this one and had a great time discussing it once I was finally able to do so!

The world building here is particularly fun to me—the entire setting felt super trippy and made my brain hurt a bit, but in a good way. This is more complex (and a bit darker) than YA sometimes skews, but I enjoyed both of those things!

A lot of the folks in my buddy read were frustrated by the ending and/or by the character of Tella, but I actually loved both. I’m excited to see where this trilogy goes next (as of this posting I’ve already finished and really enjoyed Legendary but have Finale left to go)!

CW: Kidnapping; physical and emotional abuse; blood/violence/death; suicide

Content Warnings

crgrace's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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michelle_l_d's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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teardropsonmypaperback's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring tense 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

5.0

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chiaraculpo's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.75

<verso la metà del libro mi stavo un po' stufando però mi è piaciuto il colpo di scena finale. Tella non mi piace come personaggio, nonostante volesse aiutare la sorella si è presa gioco di lei e l'ha fatta molto soffrire, alla fine ha esagerato. Mi è piaciuta l'evoluzione di Rossella e mi piace Julien come personaggio anche se non so se l'avrei perdonato così velocemente alla fine.> In generale mi è piaciuto, l'ho letto abbastanza velocemente, credo che proverò a leggere anche il secondo perché il finale mi ha incuriosita.

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ana_maria5's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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ankiaisreading's review

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mysterious tense medium-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

3.25

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wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No

2.25

This book was very much whimsical nonsense tied up in a mystery that was reminiscent of a studio ghibli movie. You question what is real and what is not, if what has happened actually did happen.

There was enough mystery and world building to keep me interested in reading more, though the characters were a bit one dimensional they managed to hold my attention.

Other books I've read with this vibe did not have strong enough characters to keep me engaged and since this was a debut novel it has a lot of promise for what comes next.

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