Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

32 reviews

aamina's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Suicide attempt, Blood, Death, and Suicide

Minor: Alcohol and Cursing

thecatconstellation's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

Overall, I enjoyed this, but at times I felt like one too many things was happening and some of the information towards the end felt very rushed, especially compared to the pacing of the rest of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, Murder, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Blood, Child death, and Kidnapping

Minor: Sexual violence, Alcohol, and Abandonment

helloimjacq's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-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? Yes

4.5

That was honestly such a rollercoaster of emotions… so many twist and turns and I’m not sure I trust anything still. Full review to come once I sort through what I just read!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Child death, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Suicide, Child abuse, and Death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Abandonment

Minor: Alcohol

clevelandbookgirl's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, Emotional abuse, Blood, Domestic abuse, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Abandonment

Minor: Alcohol

mayas's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It's been a day since I finished this book. And as the hours have passed, I've felt more grateful that I read it. I was able to see parts of myself in this story, and I've also learnt more about me. 

I experienced so much joy and excitement reading this. The kind of ADHD joy/excitement that dances through your whole body and feels euphoric. The kind that makes you scream and cackle because the tension is just right, the twists are endless, and you just figured out that clue right before it was revealed. 

I love the concept of this book. I love the setting. The characters. The descriptions. I have synesthesia, and so it was a DELIGHT to read the senses blend so many times. One of my favourite synesthesia-like moments in this book was the comparisonred velvet red curtains to chocolate cake
soaked in wine. I've never tasted that, or thought about this, but I SO understand this comparison!!! So much. Heheh

I was a little disappointed with the ending at first, and sort of still might be? But I also find it SO COOL. What Stephanie Garber did and how she did it was very clever and I love it. I really love it.

Thank you, Stephanie, for this story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gaslighting, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide, Murder, Blood, and Death

Minor: Alcohol, Sexual violence, Drug use, and Sexism

rape threat, anxiety

angstifies's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense

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

4.75

this book was so unique and magical, i had a lot of fun trying to unravel the mystery which turned out to be very different than i thought it did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Kidnapping, Murder, Abandonment, Blood, Torture, Violence, and Suicide

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Confinement, and Grief

katvou's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Murder, and Blood

Minor: Sexual content, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gaslighting, Violence, Kidnapping, Body horror, Medical content, and Physical abuse

leahlovesloslibros's review against another edition

adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Scarlett Dragna has always wanted to go to Caraval. When her sister Donatella finds a way for them both to go, and for Scarlett to escape her arranged marriage and their dangerous father, she has a hard time declining the offer. When she finally arrives, Scarlett is quickly whisked into the magic of the game, and has a hard time keeping a grip on reality, despite the constant warnings that Caraval is just a game. Can she and Tella make it out alive before she gets too caught up in the world of Caraval and has no way to escape?

After having read it years ago and it being one of my favorite books, I reread this book in 2021 in anticipation of the release of Garber's new book, Once Upon a Broken Heart. Even the second time around, it did not disappoint. This will be one of my go-to recommendations for anyone looking for a fantasy set in a magical world where everything seems just a little bit too good to be true. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Child death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Murder, and Suicide

crunchycrystals's review against another edition

mysterious

2.5

this book gaslit me and not in a fun way



but a genuine review, i think it would've benefitted from focusing on the family dynamic instead of romance.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Suicide, Blood, Abandonment, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol and Sexual assault

it's heavily implied that the main character is going to be SA'd at one point but it doesn't actually happen. a character commits suicide by falling and there's a lot of references to a character who threw themself off a balcony offscreen. there's graphic depictions of abuse from a father, who hurts people they love if a character does something wrong.

annabeedell's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

This book had been recommended to me by a friend who had hyped up this book as being one of the best books ever which may have affected how I viewed the book as I had pretty high expactations going in.

I found the book a little difficult to get into and it took me about one-third of way through to get hooked. In the first portion of the book I felt like the writing style felt a little too young for my liking but then by the end there were events that wouldn't necessarily be appropriate for a younger audience. 

None of the characters I really enjoyed or connected to, but overall I liked reading this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Blood, Death, and Murder

Minor: Alcohol