Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Caraval

The mystery and plot twists are pretty intriguing and fun but the writing is kindof cheesy and the author really over uses similes. The conclusion is also infodump-y.

personally I would never forgive them for any of that

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booktrovertreader's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

4.0

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gaietta's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No

2.25

This book was very much whimsical nonsense tied up in a mystery that was reminiscent of a studio ghibli movie. You question what is real and what is not, if what has happened actually did happen.

There was enough mystery and world building to keep me interested in reading more, though the characters were a bit one dimensional they managed to hold my attention.

Other books I've read with this vibe did not have strong enough characters to keep me engaged and since this was a debut novel it has a lot of promise for what comes next.

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kcmg710's review against another edition

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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? No

4.0

WARNING // Minor spoilers like baby ones I'm sorry 🤗

I really loved this book so much, the writing as a whole was so beautiful it was like a feast for my eyes and some of the descriptions/metaphors I re-read over and over again because they were so beautiful.

Loved the characters and the development (well Scarlett’s - I’m assuming we will see the others in the rest of the trilogy).

Like in the beginning Scarlett really bugged me

with how obsessed she was with her sister and getting married and all that palava I actually (stupidly) thought she was quite boring and I understand because of her trauma and stuff and in reflection I was probably abit too harsh on her just because of my views on marriage but that doesn’t mean that other peoples are wrong // I saw on TikTok one of the characters from little women? Say something similar and thought she has a frickin point actually) and seeing how brave and resilient she was in the end and strong for standing up to her father and going after her actual dreams (adventure and stuff)

was truly amazing. 👏🏼👏🏼

Even though I loved this book and it didn’t really have many faults but it’s just not quite 5*for me and I can’t figure out why ☹️

As you can tell from my rambling I am not a writer but I hope my review was helpful
(I also don’t know if I’ve used the spoiler tags properly so sorry in advance)

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xandrav'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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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mayas's review against another edition

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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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faeire_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

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? No

2.75

Well at the beginning I found the book infuriating at times it feels like it talks down to the readers and some of the metaphors do not make any sense at all. It repeats a lot of the same things which feels demeaning, for example it felt the need to explain a sailor could swim 3 times. At first I wanted to strangle the main character since she continually makes stupid decisions and acts selfishly a lot of the time. And is the exact opposite of what the book is trying to tell you she is which can be annoying at times. She gets more bearable near the end thankfully. And it can be a bit cringy sometimes too. Even though I had many problems with the book I was never bored at all while reading it in fact it was quite fun and I learned a lot while reading The environment she creates is incredible and is worth the read just for that. It was a fun read and I will read the sequel. If you plan on reading this book precede with caution.

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