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alora_kasi3's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
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? No
5.0
heidihakedal's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
illiteratewench's review against another edition
I decided to give Caraval a try since Once Upon a Broken Heart is so extremely popular and well liked. I know some have read OUaBH without reading the Caraval trilogy, but I wanted to at least give it a chance. While I didn't love the first book, I would consider continuing the series since the next book will be following a different main character, which could change up the experience.
Caraval is a weird read because it definitely reads as quite young YA most of the time, but the mild sexual content* and violence feels more older YA. (*No explicit smut on page, but allusions to sex from time to time). The mishmash of vibes and maturity level makes it a confusing read. The main character, Scarlett, is 17 or 18, while her sister Donnatella is 16. It's definitely implied that Donnatella has snuck around with boys a fair amount, which is normal for her age, but it's a case where it feels icky because of how immature Donnatella is portrayed otherwise. (Which again, is normal for the age, it's just with how young the writing feels that when these things crop up, it feels a little weird or icky.)
The main love interest nicknaming Scarlett "Crimson" is also... just not clever? He thought he ate but the oven was off.
Glancing at the reviews, Garber's purple prose has already been critiqued a lot, particularly the amount of weird metaphors and descriptors that don't make sense, so I'm not going to harp on it. I listened to the audiobook so it was easy for me to hear a weird phrase and then shrug it off. I found the writing to be just okay.
I didn't know that this book was a Spanish-inspired fantasy, so hearing the audiobook accents added some fun to the listening experience.
3 stars. The type of YA that makes me feel too old for YA, despite giving a different YA book 5 stars this year.
Caraval is a weird read because it definitely reads as quite young YA most of the time, but the mild sexual content* and violence feels more older YA. (*No explicit smut on page, but allusions to sex from time to time). The mishmash of vibes and maturity level makes it a confusing read. The main character, Scarlett, is 17 or 18, while her sister Donnatella is 16. It's definitely implied that Donnatella has snuck around with boys a fair amount, which is normal for her age, but it's a case where it feels icky because of how immature Donnatella is portrayed otherwise. (Which again, is normal for the age, it's just with how young the writing feels that when these things crop up, it feels a little weird or icky.)
The main love interest nicknaming Scarlett "Crimson" is also... just not clever? He thought he ate but the oven was off.
Glancing at the reviews, Garber's purple prose has already been critiqued a lot, particularly the amount of weird metaphors and descriptors that don't make sense, so I'm not going to harp on it. I listened to the audiobook so it was easy for me to hear a weird phrase and then shrug it off. I found the writing to be just okay.
I didn't know that this book was a Spanish-inspired fantasy, so hearing the audiobook accents added some fun to the listening experience.
3 stars. The type of YA that makes me feel too old for YA, despite giving a different YA book 5 stars this year.
doodayoussef's review against another edition
5.0
I am madly in love with this book! I had fallen in world of magic, mystery, games , love and a lot of challenges and faith and omg I am just speechless and amazed
idiothan's review against another edition
5.0
major spoilers!!
WOW!!! just finished reading this for the second time and whew!! i did have a slight prediction for the surprise ending (julian being part of the game), but i completely forgot about so many of the little things. i loved scarlett's growth throughout the book. towards the middle i started to loathe her, feeling like she was pretending to care about her sister to make herself feel better. however, in the end, it was clear she really did care. she never actually wanted to marry the count, she just saw that as the only possible option for safety from their father. i sympathize with scarlett since as the reader i went through all the same emotional whiplash as she did. everytime i thought i knew what would happen next, the idea was ripped out from under me like a rug. the sickness of making scar watch such awful things was truly unexpected, but to make it worse by basically saying "haha jk bestie!" truly some evil genius work right there. and can i just say i love julian?? i may be a lesbian but damn that's a nice character! i love the way he opened up to scar despite that not being the plan, and how he got in a fight for some earrings and took a large cut from scar's dad with a straight face and SACRIFICED A DAY OF HIS LIFE TO SAVE ONE OF SCAR'S?? *chef's kiss* the only good men are fictional ones. that's my thesis, period, end of.
WOW!!! just finished reading this for the second time and whew!! i did have a slight prediction for the surprise ending (julian being part of the game), but i completely forgot about so many of the little things. i loved scarlett's growth throughout the book. towards the middle i started to loathe her, feeling like she was pretending to care about her sister to make herself feel better. however, in the end, it was clear she really did care. she never actually wanted to marry the count, she just saw that as the only possible option for safety from their father. i sympathize with scarlett since as the reader i went through all the same emotional whiplash as she did. everytime i thought i knew what would happen next, the idea was ripped out from under me like a rug. the sickness of making scar watch such awful things was truly unexpected, but to make it worse by basically saying "haha jk bestie!" truly some evil genius work right there. and can i just say i love julian?? i may be a lesbian but damn that's a nice character! i love the way he opened up to scar despite that not being the plan, and how he got in a fight for some earrings and took a large cut from scar's dad with a straight face and SACRIFICED A DAY OF HIS LIFE TO SAVE ONE OF SCAR'S?? *chef's kiss* the only good men are fictional ones. that's my thesis, period, end of.
joy_the_elephant's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.25
A magical, sparkling, fairytale adjacent story. Definitely worth a read
littleredmacks's review against another edition
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? It's complicated
2.0
Overall, I was very disappointed with this story. Theoretically it has so many things I love: mystery, intrigue, mind games, morally grey characters, a strange circus like game. However, all of that fell extremely flat. It felt extremely juvenile, even for a YA book, and I'd expected it to grip me more.
The main characters (the sisters) fell a bit flat for me. It felt like Scarlett's only personality trait was being a sister and not being improper which got to be redundant at times.
The author also loved to hold our hand through every single tiny reveal, not trusting the readers to put two and two together on their own, which was very frustrating. On top of this we had much more telling than showing throughout the entire novel.
Good concept. Poor execution.
The main characters (the sisters) fell a bit flat for me. It felt like Scarlett's only personality trait was being a sister and not being improper which got to be redundant at times.
The author also loved to hold our hand through every single tiny reveal, not trusting the readers to put two and two together on their own, which was very frustrating. On top of this we had much more telling than showing throughout the entire novel.
Good concept. Poor execution.
tatyanavogt's review against another edition
4.0
Okay, so I read the once upon a broken heart trilogy and really enjoyed it. Found out that this came first and heard that it wasn't quite as good and is spoiled by the other series but wanted to give it a shot regardless. I went in with low expectations.
But I was pleasantly surprised so far. Really enjoy the writing and although I'm not as hooked by the romance I did really enjoy the story and am super interested in seeing where things go. I wont lie that some things were kind of annoying to me but I didn't think too much about it. Really interested to see where things go from here.
But I was pleasantly surprised so far. Really enjoy the writing and although I'm not as hooked by the romance I did really enjoy the story and am super interested in seeing where things go. I wont lie that some things were kind of annoying to me but I didn't think too much about it. Really interested to see where things go from here.
sophieshhhhh's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
My favourite book.