Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - Caraval

Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

77 reviews

rensreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

i thought all might have been lost on the last day of caraval but i really should have known better.

oh, there were so many twists and turns! some i could see coming and others were a huge surprise. still, i'm left with a lot of questions left unanswered but i think that might be cleared up when i read the sequel.

sometimes, scarlett annoyed me due to how defenseless and naive she thought her sister donatella to be. it felt more like her projecting since she's the eldest and has had to protect her sister from their abusive father since their mother abandoned them. i feel for her but at the same time, it felt a little repetitive since that seemed to be her main concern with her sister until the history between her grandma and legend was revealed. i didn't like donatella though. i think in the epilogue we're
supposed to feel sorry for her but i just felt annoyed.

she kidnapped her own sister, staged her own fake kidnap, gaslit her sister into thinking she had gone insane, died then came back to life because her sister loved her so much and we're supposed to feel sorry for her because she didn't end up getting a love story like scarlett? that's some manipulative shit right there and i'm not down with it. it
really pissed me off actually.

i know the sequel is meant to be from her point of view so i think ill hold off on reading it for now.

it took me a while to realize julian was going to be the love interest, but once i did i was all for it. i could tell he had a lot more secrets than he was hinting at yet my mind ran wild with possibilities after scarlett

traded those 2 days of her life away

. i loved the tender moment they had when she did that though since it pushed julian enough to show his true feelings by

giving her one day of his life so they only had to waste one day at caraval instead of two. and gods, when he died, my heart broke. i knew he was going to betray her in some way, but by taking that knife to his face for her sake, i knew his feelings were real too. i was devastated by his last words and how she begged him to keep fighting. a death scene has not spoken to me so much in such a long time so i did get a little teary- eyed. AND THEN HE CAME BACK!

i loved him so much as a character and i'm happy they got a promise of a happy ending. i hope to see more of him, especially, in the sequel.

4.5 stars from me (:

Content Warnings

bookishflower's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

helpme71's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-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? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

whatswithrandy's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

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

4.75

Content Warnings

katvou's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-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

4.5

Content Warnings

ridleyreadsthings's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

While I enjoyed this overall, it didn't grab me the way it seemed to grab other people. At times it felt it was moving too fast to really appreciate anything but with the whole mystery aspect, I was intrigued enough to keep on reading. The twists I didn't see coming and I enjoyed that while things seemed like they would play out predictably, they instead did the opposite.

I feel a bit guilty for giving it three and a half stars, but I think the love and hype for this book all over bookstagram (plus my feeling slumpy when it comes to reading this month) really overshadowed my experience. I went in with the mindset of "you have to love this book." when at times I wasn't sure if I wanted to read on as I wasn't connecting to any of the characters, aside from Julian.

However, that being said, overall it was an enjoyable read in a whimsical world full of magic where you couldn't tell what was real and what was a show. If it wasn't for the mystery aspect I don't think I would have kept reading but the ending and deliverance of the twist upon twist more than made up for it.

Also the fact that I've been told numerous times "wait till you meet Jacks, Jacks is amazing, you'll love Jacks, Jacks is everything," and he never even made an appearance? So I was a bit disappointed in that BUT I do plan to read on as I've also been told the second book is much better and I like to make my own opinions.

Content Warnings

izzie_chamomilletea's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

First of all, finally a fantasy book that doesn’t have an elaborate and borderline incomprehensible beginning!! Now is that due to lack of general development… maybe but oh well. I saw some of the reviews on goodreads and they were pretty harsh but honestly to me this book was really good. It has a mysterious and dangerous mood, and a great romance arc. This book toys with the lines of what’s real and what isn’t which makes the book all the more interesting— it’s a puzzle. The ending did give me a headache and lots of anger like

they’re dead then they’re not dead, is Julian even the same if he’s not calling her Crimson anymore??? What is going on with Donnatellla shhdhshshs

but that’s just more motivation to read the second book. Don’t forget to check the content warnings :)!

Also yeah a lot of the reviews critiqued the ending and I agree with them. I love a good twist but this was practically nonsensical, it left me frustrated rather than awe struck, didn’t even know what to think.

Content Warnings

nightfell's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This book basically tells you the big plot twist at the end but somehow I was still shocked.
The GASLIGHTING IN THIS BOOK INVOKED RAGE IN ME SCARLETT SHOULD HAVE PUSHED TELLA OFF THAT BALCONY AND KILLED HER FOR REAL ISTG.
The way Tella was barely in the book but she managed to annoy me the whole time. She really ensured Julian's death, which Scorlett had to witness and grieve over, to then deliberately jump off a balcony in a fake suicide attempt when she knew Scarlett was watching and knew all the hardships Scarlett went through throughout the entire book to suddenly reappear and act like SHE WAS THE VICTIM WHEN SHE WAS THE VILLAIN THE WHOLE TIME.
Scarlett deserves the world and a new sister but whatever.
There were so many twists towards the end of the book I was literally numb to everything. I'm glad Julian came back to life he was a good character I ship him and Scarlett despite his LIES.
Overall I liked this book although not much happened, and the pacing was quite slow in the middle of the book. I wish there had been more side characters that stayed for longer that we could connect with, the side characters that were there for a time I didn't really like as most of them were antagonists.

Content Warnings

kyrstin_p1989's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

While this isn’t my usual choice for a book, I enjoyed escaping into a world of fancy and fun, with a dash of danger. Now I have to get the other two books to see what the Dragna sisters get into!

Content Warnings

bookishgoob's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-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

“Every person has the power to change their fate if they are brave enough to fight for what they desire more than anything” Caraval was such an immersive experience. I was kept guessing the entire time which made it so hard to predict and also kept me completely invested from start to finish. the secrecy and the world reminded me of Spirited Away and the game reminded me of the move The Vampires Assistant (John C Reilly movie)

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