Scan barcode
A review by stilestastic
Caraval by Stephanie Garber
5.0
“Every person has the power to change their fate if they are brave enough to fight for what they desire more than anything.”
[4.5 stars]
here's the thing: was this the best book i've ever read? no. was it entertaining? heck yes. the main reason why i was able to read this entire book in a day was mainly because, for me, it never got boring. however, the reason why has both its ups and downs. on one hand, it made for an exciting read filled with twists and turns. but it also meant that the book was so focused on action that i felt some character strengths were lacking. to me, there could have been more meaningful interactions with characters or even more of scarlett's inner monologue about what was going on. sometimes the characters could be two-dimensional, which can suck.
another downside was the story started very quickly. there was little to no worldbuilding. i don't know the geography of wherever they live (for it was not given a name. are the islands different countries?). i also felt that there could have been more scenes with scarlett and tella at home so we could get a feel of the place before being whisked away.
however, aside from those points, i thought the story was interesting. a main point of the story was that you shouldn't trust anyone in caraval, which is a risky thing to do in a book because it can make the plot twists anticlimactic if your readers aren't attached to the characters (aka if they're constantly being told not to trust them). however, there were more twists than i was expecting and the climax made me so stressed out, but it was great.
all in all, this book was an exciting, fun read! (it also gave me major [b:The Night Circus|9361589|The Night Circus|Erin Morgenstern|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387124618s/9361589.jpg|14245059] vibes)
[4.5 stars]
here's the thing: was this the best book i've ever read? no. was it entertaining? heck yes. the main reason why i was able to read this entire book in a day was mainly because, for me, it never got boring. however, the reason why has both its ups and downs. on one hand, it made for an exciting read filled with twists and turns. but it also meant that the book was so focused on action that i felt some character strengths were lacking. to me, there could have been more meaningful interactions with characters or even more of scarlett's inner monologue about what was going on. sometimes the characters could be two-dimensional, which can suck.
another downside was the story started very quickly. there was little to no worldbuilding. i don't know the geography of wherever they live (for it was not given a name. are the islands different countries?). i also felt that there could have been more scenes with scarlett and tella at home so we could get a feel of the place before being whisked away.
however, aside from those points, i thought the story was interesting. a main point of the story was that you shouldn't trust anyone in caraval, which is a risky thing to do in a book because it can make the plot twists anticlimactic if your readers aren't attached to the characters (aka if they're constantly being told not to trust them). however, there were more twists than i was expecting and the climax made me so stressed out, but it was great.
all in all, this book was an exciting, fun read! (it also gave me major [b:The Night Circus|9361589|The Night Circus|Erin Morgenstern|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1387124618s/9361589.jpg|14245059] vibes)