Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

36 reviews

anjasfairylights's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

It‘s a nice story but most of the time I did not have a clue what the heck was going on. There were too many twists and lies and mysteries, I just couldn‘t keep up.

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ashybri's review

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective fast-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

4.5

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readbyjaimes's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? Yes

4.0

Glad I finally got around to reading this!!

I read OUABH first so I'm finally going back and reading the Caraval trilogy! I really liked Scarlet and Julian I thought they were so cute and I loved the whole scene of the magical carnival. Trying to decipher what was real and what wasn't was super interesting. Tella really pissed me off for most of this book so I'm interested to see how I like the next book. As always though Stephanie can write magical worlds like nobody else. I'm so in love with her writing style and always will be. Just the way she writes about and describes clothes is enchanting. I'm super excited to see this world fleshed out more in the next books!

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amarhefke's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

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jillreads55's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

My absolute favorite book!

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rileydobereading's review

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

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hannahmarkby's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect with Caraval, but it’s been on my TBR for quite some time, and I was pleasantly surprised! I’ve been in a reading slump for the past several months, starting many books and finishing none, but Caraval was able to break that.

The first book was a lot of fun to read, especially since I couldn’t predict what was going to happen. Every time I developed a new theory, it was soon disproven, and Garber did an excellent job convincing me of a false story so that I was completely shocked when the true ending was revealed. Caraval itself was fascinating, reminding me of Wonderland and Holly Black’s version of Faerie, with deals that were too good to be true and magic that made it difficult to distinguish what was real. My favorite aspect of this was the way that secrets and time were the preferred currency, especially how time was transferred through blood (and the resulting scene between Scarlett and Julian).

There were definitely a few YA clichés sprinkled throughout, such as the abusive father/dead mother, the adultification of the eldest daughter, and Julian’s personality, but in general I did not mind. Scarlett and Tella’s quest to get away from their father at all costs added an extra level of depth to the story, and I really appreciated Scarlett’s personal growth as she learned to take risks and no longer be ruled by fear and overcautiousness. Also, I’m unashamed to admit just how much I loved Julian.

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cowboylikebrie15's review

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adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

Content Warnings

nclausel25's review

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adventurous hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

ineffable_bookworm's review

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The blurb of the book intrigued me. However, when I read the book, the characters didn't appeal to me and nor did the writing or the plot. All of it felt flat. The setting was quite boring and confising. The long descriptions full of purple prose even put me off more. I disliked the characters. Not only that, the dynamic of Scarlett and Julian was very bland. They didn't have any romantic chemistry and it felt forced. The insta love situation only added fuel to the fire. The pacing was way too slow paced for me. I thought if I read more, it would get better and everything would fall into place and I would finally understand everything but after a few more pages, I decided not to subject myself to more torture.

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