Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - Caraval

Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Caraval by Stephanie Garber

119 reviews

emilywemily6's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

For a YA fantasy series, I really enjoyed it and wanted to continue the series asap! I loved how sinister and magical Caraval is, though I still have lots of questions about why. The ending gutted me and I really hated how everyone manipulated Scarlett and doesn’t see anything wrong with it. I wasn’t super convinced about the romance though. This book is a lot of vibes and pacing, not a fleshed out plot. But I am really intrigued for the next book, this book really sucked me in despite its flaws!

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carrotnyx's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious tense

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

3.0

I don’t know how to feel about this book… The beginning felt so slow and I honestly I was getting kinda bored. For the entire first half of the book I didn’t care about any of the characters. Literally none. Scarlett was kinda bleh, Donatella was annoying in all of her scenes and Julian seemed like a douchebag.
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However, I know it felt a bit out blue but I enjoyed reading Scarlett’s and Julian’s relationship. I loved (past tense) their dynamic. And when the plot picked up I couldn’t stop reading. Then the plot twists went little overboard. Basically every other page had another twist and I started getting desensitized to it. I think that was the downfall of this book.

I wish it just had a sad ending where it ends after Tella dies.

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Julian became bland

because we find out he was acting this whole time aND HE DIDNT ACTUALLY GIVE UP HIS LIFE FOR HIS CRIMSON. HE STARTED CALLING HER “SCARLETT” (which absolutely broke me) AND HE DIDNT EVEN HAVE THE SAME SMILE. YOU’RE TELLING ME HE DIDNT HAVE A CUTE TWISTED GRIN THIS WHOLE TIME???? To me, the Julian Scarlett fell in love with is dead. Hah. Sorry got a bit heated there

. Their chemistry just vanished. Yet they still ended up together (-_-).
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And omg Donatella.

I don’t even care if she ‘did what she had to do’. She still put her poor sister through SO MUCH TRAUMA.That is not “sisterly love”. She didn’t respect Scarlett’s choice and she came off selfish. ESPECIALLY when she expected Scarlett to pick her over Julian.

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Well the only character I actually enjoyed reading about was Julian before the plot twist and, surprisingly, Legend.

EXCEPT IT WASNT LEGEND IT WAS SOME GUY NAMED CASPER.

Reading about madness is so fun.
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I didn’t mean be so negative but I swear I enjoyed a good part of the book when the plot twist started kicking in

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annabananadel's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

3.5

“I think you’ve forgotten how to live, and your sister is trying to remind you.”

Good to be back to reading a fantasy book once again! I’ve gotten a copy of Once Upon A Broken Heart by the same author and was told that to get the full experience, I had to read this series again, so here I am.

To be honest, I started this book thinking it was just pure fantasy so I was somewhat surprise to see a little bit of romance in it - although it was a little falling in love too fast in my opinion. The caraval story was done alright but the ending was sort of anti-climactic. I don’t really have much to say other than, I’m surprised to see that the next book is not Scarlett’s POV since I was already heavily invested on her now so it’s sad to have another character’s point of view. But I do love Tella and I really hope and am excited to see her story with Legend!

Overall, it’s a good story but at the moment, not one I would immediately recommend to people. Maybe once I’ve read the next few books?

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dealfea's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-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? Yes

3.5

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ashybri's review against another edition

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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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astrotulip's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious 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

3.25

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torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

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kirrakira's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

3.5

I liked this book but I didn't love it. I read the OUABH series by Stephanie Garber before reading Caraval (which is backward, I know). I really enjoyed the whimsy and magic of the world in OUABH, and Carval is supposed to be in the same universe, so I thought it would be the same. However, the world didn't feel nearly as magical, and the magical elements weren't exactly explained, so I felt confused. Both the Caraval series and OUABH series are written in 3rd person point of view, which didn't bother me so much in OUABH, but in Carval, it left me feeling disconnected from the characters. In Caraval Scarlett is our main character. She's a very cautious, protective older sister. Who is set on obeying her abusive father (out of fear) who has given her an arranged marriage to a mysterious Count. Throughout the story these are Scarletts main concerns and they are repeated constantly. However, near the halfway mark, her personality does progress, and she becomes a more interesting main character.

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plbchau's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

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awkwardimagination's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

3.0

I have never been more angry at a fucking ending in my entire life. I was having so much fun, a little confused and amused at how this plot was developing, but oh my god a "happy ending" has never filled me with such rage before. If this had ended even slightly differently this would be 4 stars, but bc it didnt and i genuinely had fun with the rest of the book its only 3

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