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randomthing's review against another edition
4.0
When I first received this book from a giveaway participation back in 2017 or 2018, I was under the impression this would be another one of those "girl falls in love with the leader of a sinister cult" kind of trope. Then the book resurfaced on the internet suddenly, but this time it felt like it would be revolved around a circus show/game kind of setting from the reviews/summaries- which intrigued me a lot! After collecting dust on my shelf for 4 to 5 years, I finally decided to pick it up for the first time on a rainy day at 2 AM in the morning. I finished this under 24 hours, even!
It was similar to a lot of other dystopian/sci-fi novels with a young adult as one of the main characters, but it is unique. I prefer it when characters don't make their romantic interests obvious from the beginning of the story, but somehow I still loved it for this one :) It was an interesting, clever tale with many twists and turns, and did not resort to romance as quickly- which was really nice. It did start out a bit slow and felt cliché, but I loved the mysteriousness and all the tiny twists. Human characters you could dislike and sympathize with, which also made it worthwhile! It may not have been a story revolving a circus to be exact, but it was sure damn close to it :) I think I will continue to read the latter books as well.
It was similar to a lot of other dystopian/sci-fi novels with a young adult as one of the main characters, but it is unique. I prefer it when characters don't make their romantic interests obvious from the beginning of the story, but somehow I still loved it for this one :) It was an interesting, clever tale with many twists and turns, and did not resort to romance as quickly- which was really nice. It did start out a bit slow and felt cliché, but I loved the mysteriousness and all the tiny twists. Human characters you could dislike and sympathize with, which also made it worthwhile! It may not have been a story revolving a circus to be exact, but it was sure damn close to it :) I think I will continue to read the latter books as well.
kaths_veiga's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
linda101's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-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
4.0
areed23's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
5.0
Love, love, love this book. It is full of so many new and fresh ideas that I’ve never even considered and everything was fascinating. The book describes a carnival-like game where everything is like magic, and this book felt magical reading it. Very well written, everything looping into each other, every detail important and well-stated. New ideas and philosophies that make you rethink how you think. Character development is natural and satisfying. The book wants you to feel like you are being pulled around in a whirlwind of color and action without knowing why, and it is really fun to just follow along. Every time there was something that happened that seemed like a plot hole, it was immediately stitched up in a satisfying way that was cohesive to the story as a whole, which isn't something you see very often these days.
There was the part at the climax the pain the main character had to go through was excessive, however it was explained why it ended up that way and the explanation was plausible. Despite that one part, I would definitely recommend, worth all 5 stars.
There was the part at the climax the pain the main character had to go through was excessive, however it was explained why it ended up that way and the explanation was plausible. Despite that one part, I would definitely recommend, worth all 5 stars.
happycrafter207's review against another edition
3.0
I'm not going to lie in regards to this book, I'm slightly disappointed. I've read so many good things about this, and out of all the reviews I only saw one that had a 1 star rating, the rest had praised this so highly. I'm not necessarily saying this was a bad book. But it wasn't something wonderful.
The characters didn't really do anything for me, what I normally love about books, is how much I enjoy characters and love to see them grow. Scarlet was okay, Julian I kind of liked and I really didn't like Tella. The rest were kind of characters in passing that didn't add things to the story but could have. I wish there was more details about the setting as well
The idea of the game is clever but I am not sure it went into enough details about the actually game. I thought it was clever that you couldn't really trust what people said, everything seemed to be in riddles, and I personally was always questioning what was and wasn't real.
The epilogue has me intrigued but I am not sure I want to read the next book.
The characters didn't really do anything for me, what I normally love about books, is how much I enjoy characters and love to see them grow. Scarlet was okay, Julian I kind of liked and I really didn't like Tella. The rest were kind of characters in passing that didn't add things to the story but could have. I wish there was more details about the setting as well
The idea of the game is clever but I am not sure it went into enough details about the actually game. I thought it was clever that you couldn't really trust what people said, everything seemed to be in riddles, and I personally was always questioning what was and wasn't real.
The epilogue has me intrigued but I am not sure I want to read the next book.
literallyilliterate's review against another edition
4.0
original rating (2018): 3 stars
new rating (2022): 4.25 stars
i read this book so long ago that i forgot everything that happened, so naturally i had to read it again.
WORD WAS THIS EMOTIONALLY DAMAGING BRO DON'T MESS WITH ME LIKE THAT!! AND THE CLIFFHANGER NO WAYYYYY
--------------------------------------------------
Caraval is the story of two sisters, Scarlett and Donatella Dragna, who live with their incredibly overprotective and abusive father on an island in the middle of nowhere. It has always been the sisters' dream to participate in Caraval, a game of magic and mystery ran by an even more mysterious man called Legend. So Scarlett and her sister are whisked away to Caraval by a sailor named Julian Santos. Tella is then kidnapped, and it turns out that the game revolves around finding her and rescuing her in exchange for one wish. So now Scarlett needs to find her sister with the help of Julian, who in her eyes is nothing more than a scoundrel (a handsome one at that), and she must return home in time to marry the count her father has chosen for her.
I guess I was too young to appreciate the beauty of this book when I first read it 4 years ago, because this is a wonderful book. It kept me on my toes and messed with my emotions way too much, but it was still so good. While it started out a bit boring, it quickly picked up about halfway.
Now, regarding the characters, Scarlett wasn't the best protagonist I've ever encountered. But she did have amazing character development in the end when she realized she didn't have to submit to her father and could make her own choices.
Tella was much more interesting. although we didn't see much of her. I heard the second book in this series is from her point of view, so that's exciting at least. She served as an impulsive, carefree contrast to Scarlett's more cautious and reserved personality.
And now. Julian. JULIAN. I LOVE HIM. I'm not even sure why because he's a pretty standard love interest. But the narrator of the audiobook gave him an accent and that...was amazing. He's just kinda hot okay I don't know how to back up this claim. I'm not trying to write an essay I'm trying to write a review!
The plot twists tore out my heart and put it back into my chest. They made me feel many emotions. I will say they ended up being a bit anticlimactic, but it's fine since they still made everything more interesting.
My only complaint is that the writing was sometimes a bit flowery and hard to understand. I guess the author was just trying to make Scarlett have synesthesia or something??
Anyway, amazing book and I can't wait to read the rest of the series.
new rating (2022): 4.25 stars
i read this book so long ago that i forgot everything that happened, so naturally i had to read it again.
WORD WAS THIS EMOTIONALLY DAMAGING BRO DON'T MESS WITH ME LIKE THAT!! AND THE CLIFFHANGER NO WAYYYYY
--------------------------------------------------
Caraval is the story of two sisters, Scarlett and Donatella Dragna, who live with their incredibly overprotective and abusive father on an island in the middle of nowhere. It has always been the sisters' dream to participate in Caraval, a game of magic and mystery ran by an even more mysterious man called Legend. So Scarlett and her sister are whisked away to Caraval by a sailor named Julian Santos. Tella is then kidnapped, and it turns out that the game revolves around finding her and rescuing her in exchange for one wish. So now Scarlett needs to find her sister with the help of Julian, who in her eyes is nothing more than a scoundrel (a handsome one at that), and she must return home in time to marry the count her father has chosen for her.
I guess I was too young to appreciate the beauty of this book when I first read it 4 years ago, because this is a wonderful book. It kept me on my toes and messed with my emotions way too much, but it was still so good. While it started out a bit boring, it quickly picked up about halfway.
Now, regarding the characters, Scarlett wasn't the best protagonist I've ever encountered. But she did have amazing character development in the end when she realized she didn't have to submit to her father and could make her own choices.
Tella was much more interesting. although we didn't see much of her. I heard the second book in this series is from her point of view, so that's exciting at least. She served as an impulsive, carefree contrast to Scarlett's more cautious and reserved personality.
And now. Julian. JULIAN. I LOVE HIM. I'm not even sure why because he's a pretty standard love interest. But the narrator of the audiobook gave him an accent and that...was amazing. He's just kinda hot okay I don't know how to back up this claim. I'm not trying to write an essay I'm trying to write a review!
The plot twists tore out my heart and put it back into my chest. They made me feel many emotions. I will say they ended up being a bit anticlimactic, but it's fine since they still made everything more interesting.
My only complaint is that the writing was sometimes a bit flowery and hard to understand. I guess the author was just trying to make Scarlett have synesthesia or something??
Anyway, amazing book and I can't wait to read the rest of the series.
wolfmouse's review against another edition
1.0
I finished this book last year and started to write a review on it, which devolved into a multi-page draft on Google docs, where it shall endure in perpetuity because I emotionally exhausted myself writing it and wound up hating this book even more by the end of it.
All I have to say about Caraval now is that it is insulting to The Night Circus to compare it to The Night Circus. Also, read a good damn book.
Addendum: Actually, you know what, no. I am not done.
The most offensive (yes, offensive, because we all should be offended by confidently bad writing) aspect of this book is that it tries to be smart--it works very hard to convince you that it's smart--but is in all actuality stupid as hell when you think about it for longer than 2.5 seconds.
All I have to say about Caraval now is that it is insulting to The Night Circus to compare it to The Night Circus. Also, read a good damn book.
Addendum: Actually, you know what, no. I am not done.
The most offensive (yes, offensive, because we all should be offended by confidently bad writing) aspect of this book is that it tries to be smart--it works very hard to convince you that it's smart--but is in all actuality stupid as hell when you think about it for longer than 2.5 seconds.
Spoiler
Also, Tella should've stayed dead. Waste my gd time 2022.melissavb's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0