Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

21 reviews

readingwithcas's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging hopeful mysterious fast-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes

5.0

We all know you either die a hero or live long enough to become a villain, but can you loop back around to become good again?

Caraval is a game few can play, where magic lives in everything, and you cannot trust what you thought you knew. After an unfortunate accident last time, Master of the game, Legend wants to discover if there is any good left in him, and letters from sisters Scarlett and Donatella give him the perfect opportunity to find out.

The book focuses on Scarlett, a loving girl stuck in a life where misfortune and pain surround her. Stories of Caraval bring her comfort, but is the game all it is cracked up to be? She is forced to make impossible decision after impossible decision and is confronted with hard truths and unexpected secrets that may just save her. But is her loving nature enough to win the game?

If you haven't started this series yet, what are you waiting for? There is an invitation to the games with your name on it!

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bbmaan's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.5


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aharper's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

3.75


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readwithsophsx's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

3.0


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mcc004's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious tense fast-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

4.5


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steen19's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This is totally YA for a reason. The main character is painfully immature. 

The final ~15% of this was really fucked up. Like serious psychological trauma. 

This book is like 80% telling and only 20% showing. The MC kinda just walks up on situations and people recount it all. There weren’t really game-like challenges or carnival ambiance.

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jessicaludden's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted 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

“Hope is a powerful thing. Some say it’s a different breed of magic altogether. Elusive, difficult to hold on to. But not much is needed.”

I loved Scarlett. I loved Julian. I loved how this world was so unpredictable and full of risk. The magic left me with a simultaneous feeling of wonder and unease. The ending felt a little rushed and there was a lot going on. Everything in Caraval is truly not what it seems and I’m excited for the rest of the series.

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abortress's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

the main character is insufferable. but the intrigue surrounding the story itself kept me going; i really wanted to see how it could end. i can't possibly read the next book kuz i spent the entirety of this one annoyed.

WARNING: there is an age-gap trope
one of the male characters is decades older than the female character he gets romantically involved with, like old enough to be her grandfather, but i guess it's fine kuz he LOOKS her age due to mAgIc

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gretchen_lynn's review against another edition

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adventurous tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The plot twists in this book were excellent and were foretold nicely so that they were believable. The cliffhanger was slight, but not too much, so one could conceivably stop after the first book and perhaps end on a decently wrapped-up ending. It was not everything that I was expecting it to be if I'm being honest, but perhaps that is on me for having the expectations that I did.

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glorytowers05's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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